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Best Vacuum for Pico Tanks?


Wattman

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Hello, I'm wondering what vacuums are recommended for pico sized tanks?

 

Right now I'm just using a piece of airline and the fine sand tends to clog it up, but I love that the flow is low and I can "spot clean" without draining the tank too fast.

 

I'm a gadget guy and wondering if there's a battery powered option that might be worth looking into? My tank recently finished cycling and the only inhabitant is a zebra turbo snail. He poops a lot and it would be nice if I could target certain areas of the tank.

 

Anyways. just wondering what solutions members have come up with. Thanks for sharing!

 

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Buy a media mesh bag.

 

Cut a small piece of it and place it firmly over the end, then CA glue it in place.

 

It will still suck up sand, just pinch the airline tube and they drop off.

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Remove sand and airline tube works just fine. Sand is death to pico tanks. I use a turkey baster to blast the detritus first, a fresh piece of filter floss in my pico hob filter and this gets enough of it to keep the tank from crashing. If I still had sand in my pico it would be over a long time ago.

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Get a $2 section of rigid airline tubing one size up from your airline tubing. It will require heating the end of the airline tubing up with hot water and possibly stretching it out slightly with some needle nose pliers so it will fit over the rigid tubing. It reduces the flow at the very end of the rigid tube to help minimize drawing up sand, but will still allow you to pull up ditritus.

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MrBrightside

I use the back end of my turkey baster to vacuum mine. Fit the hose over the tip of the baster, after basting your rocks of course and go at it. Works a lot like the real thing, you can find different sizes, and you won't suck out snails by mistake. I use my thumb at the end of the hose to control suction since pinching can be more difficult with certain types of tubing.

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