Home Made Fish Tank Vacuum

Is a Happy Tank.

Cleaning the bottom of your fish tank or bowl is very important. I used to have a vacuum for my larger tank. It worked great, but it\\’s long gone. I had it back in the nineties. However, I do remember how it worked. I now have baby fish in a 2 gallon tank. A vacuum that large would probably be very difficult to use in a tank that small and be a risk to the li\\’l fry. So, I decided to make my own smaller, gentler vac.

Looked Similar to This:

It functions by using the rising bubbles from an air pump to lift water through a filter bag.

More Like Some Sort of Penis Pump...

But pay no mind to that. o.O It works perfectly for my needs. If you have baby fish or a small tank that you need to clean, you can make your own vacuum and save some money while keeping the scale of the vacuum in proportion to your tank.

Anyway, on with the show.

• Knife (or appropriate drill and bit)
  
• Skewer (or pencil)
  
• Scissors
  
• Thin-walled plastic tube (I used a candy container)
  
• Air pump
  
• Air valve
  
• 3/8 vinyl tubing
  
• Fish tank air line
  
• Filter floss or cartridge element

Start by cleaning out and carving two holes in the bottom of the candy container:


When done, they should look like this:


Now thread your air line through the larger hole, like so:


Next, slip the 3/8 tubing over the air line, and into the candy container:




Pull the air line back so it\\’s recessed about an inch within the 3/4 tube:


Then pull it all into the container:


Time to cut some filter. Cut enough to completely block the container\\’s opening when wrapped around the 3/8 tube...


...wrap it and stuff it in with the skewer/pencil:


This is what it should look like so far:


Cut a couple inches off the other end of the air line:


Use that short piece to connect the valve to the pump, and connect the vacuum to the valve like this:




That\\’s it! To use it, simply plug in the pump and prod the gravel with the piece of 3/8 tube. The crap will get sucked up with the bubbles into the chamber above the filter floss and become trapped. The water will flow through the floss, back into the tank. The air will escape through the small vent in the top.