Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Rookie design mistake.

I can't seem to syphon the water out of my dart tanks. I do have an area where to syphon from but I try and only a bit at a time comes out. i can't seem to get a constant flow. I tried using those aqaurium gravel vacuums but the whole device needs to be in the water and I just don't have that big of an area. Is their a pump or something that people use??? anything anyone recommends for me to use???where can I get it??? Thanks

As long as there is now gap for air to get in (IE between the gravel vacuum and tube) there should really be no problem. Unless of course the output side is above the input side.

I would try using just the tube, and make sure to keep the output side below the input (that is submerged in water)

As far as pumps any power head for aquaria should work fine but they aren't designed to run dry, there are small water pumps but they may cost more.

I myself always did the whole suck on the end trick, just be careful not to get any in your mouth it tastes bad. LOL
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Jeremy

"I am become death, the destroyer of worlds" July 16, 1945 Robert Oppenheimer

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Get a long section of aquarium airline tubing and cut it off to fit the following: Put one end of it down to the bottom of your tank in the corner, using your finger to clear away gravel, etc. so it doesn't clog. Put the rest of it up the corner and down the the ground below. Now cut it off from there. Put this end into a bottle, bucket or whatever you will collect it in. Attach a 60 cc veterinary syringe with a cannula that just fits into the airline tubing. You can get these syringes at a vet supply store such as Cal Ranch. Pull back the plunger. If the water doesn't start at first, remove the plunger, reapply it, and force air through the line to clear it, then try again. As soon as water starts coming into the syring, remove the airline tubing and place it in the container, and the water will syphon out to the bottom, as long as the waste container is below the original water level. Water tends to rise to its own level.
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Patty
Pahsimeroi, Idaho

4 D. auratus blue
5 D. galactonotus pumpkin orange splash back
7 D. imitator
6 D. leucomelas
4 D. pumilio Bastimentos
4 D. fantasticus
6 P. terribilis mint and organe
4 D. reticulatus
4 D. castaneoticus
2 D. azureus
4 P vittatus
2 P. lugubris

How much water are you trying to syphon out? I used a turkey baster when I needed to get excess water out or just wanted to change a bit. Keep a bucket nearby and you can remove quite a bit of water.
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phflame
kingsnake.com host

Thanks...

Turkey baster worked perfectly. I have my dart tanks on the floor so that was making it hard to suck the water out. It wasn't to much water but I am no longer a fan of the fall bottom, Im stickiing to a water dish in the future.

Thanks for all your help

cresty

You should still have a couple of inches of gravel for a drainage layer for your plants, even with just a water dish, or not open water at all, which you may or may not have to siphon out occasionally. Turkey basters are indeed great for this if your tank isn't raised at all for convenient siphoning.
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Patty
Pahsimeroi, Idaho

4 D. auratus blue
5 D. galactonotus pumpkin orange splash back
7 D. imitator
6 D. leucomelas
4 D. pumilio Bastimentos
4 D. fantasticus
6 P. terribilis mint and organe
4 D. reticulatus
4 D. castaneoticus
2 D. azureus
4 P vittatus
2 P. lugubris