Posting this as it may help someone like me, who poured a bucket of aquarium water into the toilet forgetting there was this rubber pump aka Python Squeeze Siphon Starter somewhere in the bucket.
So, if you figured your toilet stopped flushing and the python pump somehow disappeared - that's a bad sign. Don't panic, it's likely solvable, but you will need some tools.
The first thing I tried was a toilet auger. Theoretically could help, but didn't in my case. The metal spring at the end couldn't get much traction against the rubber.
The next thing was a plunger. Don't forget you need to pull the clog out of the toilet, not try to push it through, otherwise things can get worse. Push gently, pull fiercely. Didn't work either.
After those two things I went to Amazon and ordered a wifi endoscope to understand what's going on inside there. The good news were that the pump was stuck in the upper bend of the drain so I could control the head of the endoscope relatively easy. These endoscopes often come with little attachable hooks, so you can not only see but also try to drag something out. I spent about an hour trying to hook the pump by the green hose connector, but it was sitting snugly.
Then I googled for something resembling flexible pliers and found this thing called Great Neck 24 in. Telescoping Rod. It's far from pliers, but allows you to grab smaller things remotely. Got it the same day from a hardware store near my house. And then about 30 minutes of surgical work with endoscope and the rod - and it's done. Not really much work, but toilet was unusable for a few days.
Here is photo of that little *******:
So, if you figured your toilet stopped flushing and the python pump somehow disappeared - that's a bad sign. Don't panic, it's likely solvable, but you will need some tools.
The first thing I tried was a toilet auger. Theoretically could help, but didn't in my case. The metal spring at the end couldn't get much traction against the rubber.
The next thing was a plunger. Don't forget you need to pull the clog out of the toilet, not try to push it through, otherwise things can get worse. Push gently, pull fiercely. Didn't work either.
After those two things I went to Amazon and ordered a wifi endoscope to understand what's going on inside there. The good news were that the pump was stuck in the upper bend of the drain so I could control the head of the endoscope relatively easy. These endoscopes often come with little attachable hooks, so you can not only see but also try to drag something out. I spent about an hour trying to hook the pump by the green hose connector, but it was sitting snugly.
Then I googled for something resembling flexible pliers and found this thing called Great Neck 24 in. Telescoping Rod. It's far from pliers, but allows you to grab smaller things remotely. Got it the same day from a hardware store near my house. And then about 30 minutes of surgical work with endoscope and the rod - and it's done. Not really much work, but toilet was unusable for a few days.
Here is photo of that little *******:
