Vacuum cleaner for an aquarium: a clean bottom without difficulty

Each owner of the aquarium, and experienced, with experience, and a beginner, must have in his arsenal the necessary kit to care for him.

The bottom is the most polluted surface, where the fish live, the dead leaves of plants, the remains of uneaten food, and much more can be found at the bottom of the tank.

All this must be removed, so that the aquarium residents feel healthy and the water has a normal performance.

Benefits of application

To do this, we will help a vacuum cleaner for an aquarium, or, as it is also called, a siphon. This is a kind of device with which you can easily get rid of unnecessary particles under rocks and driftwood, get to any other hard-to-reach place by sucking garbage into the cavity of the vacuum cleaner together with a part of the water. And not much at the same time disturbing the inhabitants of the aquarium.

Thus, we get two results at the same time: pumping out some of the water for a substitution and cleaning the soil.

Types of aquarium vacuum cleaners

Currently, the market offers us two types of vacuum cleaners for cleaning the aquarium: mechanical and electrical.

The most primitive mechanical model consists of a flexible hose, at the end of which there is a glass or a wide cavity of the pipe. It also sinks into the soil itself.

But it often happens that the vacuum cleaner can capture not only dirt particles, but also small pebbles or decorative elements (small shells, asterisks and other light objects) with the water flow. Therefore, some manufacturers have modified simple models and added auxiliary parts that allow to regulate and manage the cleaning process.

For example, the flow of confluent water can be controlled by a tap. Or added fasteners - holders for fixing the hose in the bucket and the vacuum cleaner itself near the walls of the aquarium.

In electric models with a motor the principle is slightly different. The hose is missing here. They work not from the network, but from the batteries.

The water is swallowed in the siphon itself, the dirt particles enter the trap compartment, and the water, which has already been purified, returns to the aquarium.

So you do not lose a part of the water. This is convenient if you do not want to change and top up frequently.

It seems that the vacuum cleaner for battery-powered aquariums is much more successful and practical to use, but there is one thing: it does not fit all types of aquariums. Only for those whose height is not more than 50 cm, otherwise the water will fall into the compartment where the batteries are located, which is unacceptable.

Recommendations for selection

Buying or choosing a vacuum cleaner for an aquarium, you should consider several important points:

1. Choose models with a tall glass, from 15 cm and above, to tighten the ground. So with a stream of water small pebbles can not rise above, than on 10-12 sm, and will return under own weight.

2. You should also consider what edges the glass has. Ideally, it should be either oval, or with torn edges. This will allow penetrating into the most difficult places and not damaging the root system of aquatic plants.

There are also special siphons available for certain types of soil: for sandy, with dense vegetation, large pebbles or shallow, for a mixed type of soil.

3. The hose should be long enough. Take into account the height of the aquarium and the length to the floor or at least to a chair, on which you can put a bucket or a basin to drain water. If you keep the hose above the bucket, and it's short, which is already uncomfortable, the water will splash.

4. The hose and the construction of the glass must be transparent and smooth to see blockages and take measures to eliminate them.

5. The thicker the hose tube, the stronger the water pressure. It is necessary to consider the volume of the aquarium.

With your own hands

Also you can make a vacuum cleaner for an aquarium with your own hands. This will require simple equipment: the cut off part of the plastic bottle and the hose. But, in our opinion, it's easier to buy such a design, because the price of the issue is not so high, for the simplest siphon of about 150 rubles.

Procedure for use

The wide cavity of the tube is vertically immersed as much as possible into the soil itself and, by vibrating the air in the tube, causes fine dirt particles to rise upward along it. Since they are the lightest, they merge with a stream of water through a hose into a special container: a bucket or a basin. To force water to flow along the tube it is possible with the help of a pear, which is available on the hose.

Open ground surfaces are cleaned without much effort, but the corners of the aquarium or the places where snags are located and plants are planted, require accuracy.

If the scenery is small and easy to move, always move them, there you will find many interesting things that need to be removed. So the plot behind the plot you vacuum the whole bottom.

Carry out this procedure if necessary and depending on the number of inhabitants in the tank, on average 1 time per week.

note

If a simple vacuum cleaner is used for the aquarium, then make sure that the drained water is not more than 30% of the total volume.

If the head is strong and the water leaves too quickly, you can pinch the hose pipe with your finger, thereby adjusting the water pressure.

Do not forget that such cleaning should not be ideal, as the mud and mucus that are on the bottom also have a useful function and are saturated with bacteria that participate in the life of the aquarium.

This device must certainly be for every lover of the water world to keep it clean. You can buy a vacuum cleaner for aquarium soil in any aqua store.

If you perform such cleaning regularly, then this procedure will not take you much time.