Siphon Pump

[Gary Ellis]

What's a good hand held Siphon pump to use for cleaning out the bottom of my AIO sump? The Python siphon is not good for this purpose.

 

[Rover]

What's a good hand held Siphon pump to use for cleaning out the bottom of my AIO sump? The Python siphon is not good for this purpose.

Bottoms of sumps are super-rough, as they are low to the ground normally which makes a siphon pump like a python hard.

I suggest investing in a 'bucket head' shop vacuum and a 5 gallon bucket! I bought one off amazon, and it works beautifully. It does sometimes struggle to pull water once it gets very low, but I exclusively use it to vacuum the bottom of my sump. Just take the bag off and it works like a charm. I've been using mine for about 5-6 months with no issues. It only pulls about 3ish gallons of water into the bucket before it stops though, as it has an autoshutoff to prevent overflowing

 

[Gary Ellis]

I should have been clearer in my question. I have the Red Sea Max E360. The sump is in the back and to the bottom is the same height as my gravel bed. I use the Python to clean the main display but can't get the siphon to start when doing the sump. I've seen siphons with a squeeze pump on them. Just wondering what a good one would be.

 

[doughboy]

you can fill the hose with tank water from the output end using a turkey baster. then when the hose is full, just place the hose end in a bucket and siphon will start.

 

[Rover]

Oh I'm sorry, I misunderstood!

I've seen the ones with a squeeze pump, but I opted for the bucket-head vacuum instead, because I was fed up with siphons and wanted something powered. :P

Good luck! Hopefully someone has more experience with them.

 

[Gary Ellis]

After looking at the bucket head it doesn't seem like a bad idea. Thanks... It's the way to go. I didn't know what the heck a Bucket Head was....lol