Electric siphon pump

sushi_and_sashimi

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I have a bare bottom tank that stays pretty clean, however overtime I do get a sort of silt build up as shown in the attached picture.

It's very hard to get that out during regular water changes using a regular siphon.

I've always wanted a slim electrically powered siphon that's a little more powerful then just the gravity powered siphons.

That way I could run it when I don't even want to do a water change and just allow it to run into a filter sock.

Have any of you used or do you know of such a tool?
3141.jpg
 

PhishEDELIC

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I have a bare bottom tank that stays pretty clean, however overtime I do get a sort of silt build up as shown in the attached picture.

It's very hard to get that out during regular water changes using a regular siphon.

I've always wanted a slim electrically powered siphon that's a little more powerful then just the gravity powered siphons.

That way I could run it when I don't even want to do a water change and just allow it to run into a filter sock.

Have any of you used or do you know of such a tool?
3141.jpg

Yup get the same thing. It’s erosion from the crabs and snail and water movement over the live rock. I do weekly water changes to siphon it out.

I find the suction power on those electric siphons to be really for freshwater gravel. The force from a good old water change siphon is much stronger
 

UncommonSense

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Even a cheap little maxijet pump or similar small submersible pump with a tubing fitting on the inlet works fantastic as a vacuuming device!

The only thing to watch out for is picking up big chunks of solids, like sand/rock rubble… everything you suck up has to pass through a pump impeller!

(There are technically pumps designed to move suspended dense solids, often referred to as “macerator” pumps, though they aren’t prevalent in the aquarium hobby/usually aren’t intended for this specific application!)
 
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sushi_and_sashimi

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Even a cheap little maxijet pump or similar small submersible pump with a tubing fitting on the inlet works fantastic as a vacuuming device!

The only thing to watch out for is picking up big chunks of solids, like sand/rock rubble… everything you suck up has to pass through a pump impeller!

(There are technically pumps designed to move suspended dense solids, often referred to as “macerator” pumps, though they aren’t prevalent in the aquarium hobby/usually aren’t intended for this specific application!)
Not a problem in my case being bare bottom but I could sometimes run into shell frags or baby snails.

Thanks all! I do have about a dozen of these small pumps and I am now thinking with some super glue, tubing and a long stick i could right something up.

If there isn't enough head pressure to get it over the lip of the tank I could attach a bag to it underwater and when finished use my arm to lift it up.
 
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sushi_and_sashimi

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I did have a feeling nobody could recommend an all-in-one solution. I seem to recall seeing one once that had bad reviews. I think it ran on AAA batteries too which didn't sound like that would work well.
 
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sushi_and_sashimi

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Milwaukee makes a stick transfer pump as does Ryobi, and probably Dewault.
Woah! I checked those out. Maybe a bit too heavy duty for my 50 gallon tank & application.

One mistake and say goodbye to your fish!

Funny they were demonstrating one using a hot tub and I'd just bought a sump pump to drain mine a few days ago.
 

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Have you tried a smaller diameter tube ran into a filter sock in your sump? You can work all day. This is how I go after bubble algae. Never ran bare bottom so maybe a no go.
 
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sushi_and_sashimi

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Have you tried a smaller diameter tube ran into a filter sock in your sump? You can work all day. This is how I go after bubble algae. Never ran bare bottom so maybe a no go.
No, that's another great idea actually. I'll try that first. (I'm actually moving into a new house right now and checking back here in between breaks; that's why you can see that glass heater in the picture I took; most of my equipment and sump are on the patio in citric acid)
 

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