anyone use battery gravel vacs?

[kimmers318]

I have a 20 gal long tank that is on the bottom portion of a tank stand and has a sand substrate. I would like to find a battery operated gravel vac that can withstand the small amount of sand that it is liable to pick up, and have the power to suction well in a short tank. I tried the pennplax super..not realizing the tubing was too long to even consider getting very far...although I did like the option of being able to attach a hose for water removal with the vac.
Today I picked up the aquatic gardens battery vac and it seemed to lose alot of power if a little sand went in....I am still getting the "sand cleaning" issue as a learning experience! Again...a hose can be attached for water removal, which is why I took it over the Eheim, since the Eheim didn't say you could do that.
I have also tried the python sink hose deal, and still don't get alot of suction....maybe water pressure is too low, although hubby loves it for refilling his large tanks.
Since the tank is on the bottom of the stand the siphon acheived with a standard gravel vac leaves alot to be desired so I want something that will siphon well, and hopefully not get too problematic if I do get some sand with my vacuuming!
Anyone have any battery gravel vacs....and any opinons on ease of use....durability and suction would be greatly appreciated!

[William]

This is just my 5c and i really hope that you can prove me wrong but I have found that battery powered (or air powered) siphons never workl very vell and that that home made (or store bought) alternatives which just a hose and some type of widening in one side (such as a platic bottle attached to a hose) works best even if you rick getting some wate rin your mouth every now and than.

(a transparent hose reduce the risk)

[kimmers318]

Risking getting water in my mouth doesn't worry me....it is the fact that I get very little suction using a hose from a tank that is only a couple of inches off the ground to a bucket that is sitting on the floor. Some of the larger debris kinda hangs mid stream in the suction and never makes it thru the hose to the bucket. I didn't realize how bad it was until I had the pleco quarantined that was given to me so it wouldn't die in that tank. Pleco's sure can poo!!!
The pleco by the way is doing great...fattening up and getting gorgeous markings on it. I tried to snap some pics today with his fins all extended but he is still camera shy. Hopefully constant exposure to the camera in front of the tank will make him more comfortable with it and I will get some good pics soon.

[William]

good to hear that he is fatting up.

What kind of hsoe are you using? A wider hose allows for more suction

[modda]

if you can use a small hose on the tank end then expand it to a larger hose to get better suction due to inertia and crosssectional area the larger hose will always try and stay full there for it has to suck more water through the smaller hose to achieve this

or maybe its the other way around give it a go dont know for sure it will work but it just might you never know

[kimmers318]

I have tried the little hose and the big hose....the bigger gravel vac I think is around 1/2-5/8 inches in diameter. Both are your standard gravel vac hoses with the larger "tube" attached to the hosing for sucking up the gravel into the tubing and then the gravel tumbles back down to the aquarium floor and the debris keeps going up.