Why is water changing so hard for me

[TriggerFinger]

So...I have two tanks. 29 tall and 90g. The 90g is easy to change water. The 29 is making me rethink my life choices. I don’t know if it’s the placement/height of this tank compared to my dirty water bucket or my water changing tube/primer bulb, but I CANNOT keep a siphon going on this tank. I want to vacuum the debris from the bare bottom and it works for a few gallons and then the siphon breaks and I can’t get it restarted. I have an aqueon gravel vac with the primer bulb. is this the problem or is it user error?

 

[mfinn]

Checkout python water change hoses.
It may work better for you.

 

[TriggerFinger]

I don’t have a faucet to hook a python up to. The tanks are in my basement

 

[LiveWire]

Is it possible that the hose has a pinhole in it and when the water gets below that point that the siphon breaks?

 

[Pickwun]

You must have a major air leak someplace. A siphon can't break as long as it's full of water.

 

[TriggerFinger]

I guess that’s possible. This is the 2nd one I bought because I thought the first one might have had a hole I couldn’t see.

 

[TriggerFinger]

I’m guessing the primer bulb has a leak somewhere? What other option do I have besides sucking a mouth full of saltwater?

 

[Greybeard]

I'd check the fittings around that bulb, and the bulb itself. Notorious for leaking air, which can break siphon. I like to use a solid silicone tube, 3/4" or 1", about 6 feet long. Works much better for me than the siphons made for the purpose. Bare bottom, especially.

 

[S2G]

Sounds like your trying to siphon water out of a low tank or something at the same height.

 

[fish farmer]

I’m guessing the primer bulb has a leak somewhere? What other option do I have besides sucking a mouth full of saltwater?

Fill up the entire tube by submerging it in water, keep one end in the tank and cap the other end with your finger, bring the capped end down to your bucket, release finger, that should start the siphon.

 

[Pickwun]

I’m guessing the primer bulb has a leak somewhere? What other option do I have besides sucking a mouth full of saltwater?

I have a couple of the siphons (forget the brand) that claim to be self-starting. They have a little flap in the neck and theoretically you shake them up and down to start the siphon. I've maybe gotten that to work once, but I found that one good suck will start them every time.

 

[lapin]

Maybe try a small pump attached to a stick. You will get suction for sand and rocks and wont have to drink tank water.

 

[Markxc]

I do it this way

 

[TriggerFinger]

Fill up the entire tube by submerging it in water, keep one end in the tank and cap the other end with your finger, bring the capped end down to your bucket, release finger, that should start the siphon.

This worked! Dripped water all over but it worked each time I lost the siphon. At least it’s a concrete floor and not carpet. I think my gravel vac is junk and I’m going to have to use the silicone tubing. Thanks everyone!

 

[fish farmer]

This worked! Dripped water all over but it worked each time I lost the siphon. At least it’s a concrete floor and not carpet. I think my gravel vac is junk and I’m going to have to use the silicone tubing. Thanks everyone!

If you can get a hard piece of plastic tubing that can fit to your existing tubing that works well. I use the hard tubing to reach into crevices, etc better than the gravel vac setups. The gravel vacs are fine....for gravel in my opinion.