vaccuming a low/floor tank?

[Friendlyfishies]

I notice my gravel vac wont get suction with a floor or low set tank...im debating on getting a double stand, but that would put one tank on the bottom shelf...how would I use my gravel vac???

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/produc...fm?pcatid=9883

[finnfinnfriend]

unfortunately if you got that stand, I don't think you would be able to siphon the bottom one. The bucket needs to be significantly lower than the tank for you to be able to get enough suction.

[Viva]

Apparently it is possible with some innovative techniques, or it is done extremely slowly once you finally get the flow going. Here's a forum thread where I found several different ideas.

[LittleBettaFish]

How low to the floor are we talking? I have a triple shelf stand and the bottom shelf is maybe two-three inches from the floor with the tank on top of that.

I have just cut the tube end of a cheap gravel siphon extremely short and I use that. The shorter the tube the stronger the suction and so I have no issue with draining a tank completely using this method.

Even tanks right on the floor can be siphoned at least partially. I always used to have tanks on the floor and did their maintenance with a regular gravel siphon. It is just usually a more slower process than if they are elevated and you can't drain the tank completely as it usually would cut out after a certain depth had been reached.

[finnfinnfriend]

How does a shorter tube make stronger suction?

[LittleBettaFish]

I don't know, probably because it has a shorter distance to go. I just found if I cut my tube shorter I get a faster flow on my lower down tanks then if I left the tube long. Could also just be like a placebo effect in which I think water is coming out faster haha.

Anyway, you should still get enough suction for water to come out of a tank on the floor with a normal sized siphon.

[Friendlyfishies]

Awesome! Thanks

[babystarz]

I just use a siphon with a priming pump, it does very well even on my tank that is 2 inches from the ground. That stand is awesome by the way, I think I might need to get one for myself!