Need a Cleaning Technique for Bare Botton Debris

[AKL1950]

My DT is bare botton. Fairly easy to scrape any algae off that shows up on the bottom. My problem is removing things that have a little weight to them. Mostly old Pineapple sponge shells, precipitant, and tiny rock pieces that have accumulated in certain spots. Tried a syphon hose, but the pieces are too heavy to pull up through the syphon. Any ideas on how to easily remove the heavier debris?
I know if I don’t worry about it, I’ll eventually have a sand bottom, but not really wanting that.

 

[Dan_P]

My DT is bare botton. Fairly easy to scrape any algae off that shows up on the bottom. My problem is removing things that have a little weight to them. Mostly old Pineapple sponge shells, precipitant, and tiny rock pieces that have accumulated in certain spots. Tried a syphon hose, but the pieces are too heavy to pull up through the syphon. Any ideas on how to easily remove the heavier debris?
I know if I don’t worry about it, I’ll eventually have a sand bottom, but not really wanting that.

Not sure why siphoning does not work unless it does not fit inside the siphon hose. Is that the issue? Are you using 1/2 inch siphon hose?

 

[AKL1950]

Yes, 1/2“ Tube. Particles climb up a bit and fall back down. Guess they are heavier than the syphon can keep suspended.

 

[V A R I A N T]

I would occasionally use a canister filter full of floss or batting material to clean the bottom and rear chambers of my old Nuvo. Made it easy to keep vacuuming and not impact water level.

 

[Jeeperz]

Your syphon tube has too big an id vs hose diameter. My syphon is roughly 1" with 3/8 id hose and I could remove a sandbed and crabs/snails with it. I've never found another syphon that had this kind of suction

 

[AKL1950]

Your syphon tube has too big an id vs hose diameter. My syphon is roughly 1" with 3/8 id hose and I could remove a sandbed and crabs/snails with it. I've never found another syphon that had this kind of suction

Yeah, I suspect there may be a little user error going on here. Since I’ve never done it before, I may not have found the right technique/equipment. I used a gravel cleaning attachment instead of just a hose. I’ll give it another shot with just the hose.

 

[Waters]

I agree with @Jeeperz .......I use a siphon to clean my BB and I pull up full size snails by accident. There is nothing that can't be pulled up as long as it fits in the tube. The stuff that doesn't, I just reach in and grab.

 

[Breadman03]

I just picked up a Maxijet 1200, VCA vacuum nozzle, 7 feet of tubing, HOB filter sock holder, and a 4" filter sock. I have a 270 with basement sump, so siphoning becomes very water-changey quickly. Part of my issue is there was about a year where I didn't have the time to care for the system properly and now I've got to put in the sweat to get it back in line. I'm going to use it for the first time today, so maybe I'll have an idea on the effectiveness by this afternoon.