Understanding how to make a siphon for an aquarium with your own hands or buy a ready-made one? Siphon for sparkling water: a storm in a teacup.

Content home aquarium- this is an exciting activity that allows you to relieve stress after a working day and get aesthetic pleasure from the sight of healthy inhabitants of the aquarium. To care for a home aquarium, the owners of this beauty have to acquire special aquarium equipment. To create comfortable living conditions for the inhabitants of the aquarium, it is necessary to periodically clean it, change the water and, of course, clean the soil of the aquarium from the accumulated sludge and waste products of fish. Since manually changing the water and cleaning the soil in the aquarium is quite difficult, and is a lot of stress for the fish, many aquarists recommend using a siphon for aquariums.

Not many novice aquarium owners know how to use this unit. The bulk of the siphons consists of a hose, a glass nozzle with a filter, a pump or a locking tap and an additional container for dirty water, there are, however, more "cunning" devices. If it is not possible to buy a ready-made siphon in a store, there are several options for how to make a siphon for an aquarium with your own hands. If we are talking about the simplest version of a siphon with a faucet - a latch can be installed with two enough simple methods. In the first case, the end of the hose with a glass nozzle is placed in the ground, and the second end of the hose is placed in a container for draining dirty water and air is sucked out. Thus, the water will begin to flow, sucking in silt and water by gravity. The air from the free end of the hose must be sucked out very carefully, as you can accidentally swallow dirty water. Not many novice aquarium owners know how to use this unit. The bulk of the siphons consists of a hose, a glass nozzle with a filter, a pump or a locking faucet and an additional container for dirty water, although there are, however, more “tricky” devices. If it is not possible to buy a ready-made siphon in a store, there are several options for how to make a siphon for an aquarium with your own hands. If we are talking about the simplest version of a siphon with a faucet - a latch, you can install it with two fairly simple methods. In the first case, the end of the hose with a glass nozzle is placed in the ground, and the second end of the hose is placed in a container for draining dirty water and air is sucked out. Thus, the water will begin to flow, sucking in silt and water by gravity. The air from the free end of the hose must be sucked out very carefully, as you can accidentally swallow dirty water.

Since not everyone will like this installation method, the question arises of how to install the siphon differently. How to install a siphon safely for a person is easy to understand, however, the installation process itself is more technically complicated. It is necessary to place the entire siphon in the aquarium so that the entire tube is filled with water, then the end of the siphon with a nozzle - a glass is left in the water, and the other end is clamped with a finger so that the water does not flow out. It is pulled out of the aquarium and placed in a vessel to collect dirty water. There are certain subtleties in how to use the siphon. It is necessary that the vessel is below the aquarium, then you can release the end of the hose clamped with your finger.

Water will begin to flow by gravity into the container. To stop the flow of water is simple, just close the faucet-clamp. If there is a pump on the siphon, this simplifies the task of installing the siphon. The siphon is placed in the ground with a nozzle, and the free end is installed in a container for receiving dirty water. Then, with the help of a pump, air is pumped out and the hose is filled with water. In addition, siphons with an electric pump and a supercharger powered by batteries or accumulators are sold on the market. Assembling this version of the siphon is for many beginner aquarists, as it is as difficult as assembling a siphon for a sink, so to assemble and install such a siphon, you need to follow the instructions that come with the siphon.

Everyone knows that the aquarium should always be kept perfectly clean. It is needed not only to preserve the aesthetic beauty of the aquarium, but also useful for the well-being of its inhabitants. The most versatile and in a simple way cleaning the soil is to install a siphon.

Beginning aquarists do not always pay attention to the choice and purchase of a siphon, considering it an extra costly element, and in vain.

During the life of fish and other inhabitants of the aquatic fauna, the bottom is gradually clogged with particles of uneaten food, feces and other small debris. This fact cannot be ignored. Clogged soil will quickly begin to turn sour, saturating the water toxic substances and ammonia, which will eventually lead to the death of the fish.

Of course, you can maintain cleanliness on your own: constantly change the water, clean the walls of the structure, wash the plants and pebbles. But this process is quite laborious, time-consuming and will not bring any benefit to the fish, only stress.

Principle of operation

This device is a curved tube with a tip. The principle of its operation can be compared with an ordinary pump or vacuum cleaner, which pumps out liquid from a container along with waste particles and dirt.

• One end of the tube sinks to the bottom close to the pebbles, and the other is placed on the outer surface above some kind of container.
• In order for the pump to start working, a vacuum must be created in the tube, which will need to be filled with water. Many modern devices are equipped with a special pear for water supply. If it is not there, you can carefully lift the liquid in the tube by sucking in air with your lips.
• The liquid will flow out and fill the container until its level drops to the very edge of the curved tube and air enters it.

What are there?

Currently, simple mechanical models and electrical models are presented in stores. What is their difference?

1. Mechanical - made up of hose different lengths(depending on the model) and two tips. They can be equipped with a soft pear that starts the process of draining water and a tap. A bucket or basin is used to drain the liquid.

1. electrical - more modern, battery operated. The principle of operation here is slightly different and resembles a compact vacuum cleaner. Water is not pumped into the tank, but passes through the siphon, is cleaned and flows back. Dirt settles in a special compartment (trap). The advantage of such devices is ease of use, and the disadvantage is that they are suitable for cleaning only small containers.

Advantages and disadvantages

The device greatly simplifies the process of caring for the aquarium, helps to remove excess organic matter, dirt and waste, and prevents the process of acidification of the soil. These areas are dangerous for the inhabitants of the aquatic fauna, as dangerous putrefactive bacteria settle on them, causing irreparable harm to health.

What are the disadvantages of the device?

• Care should be taken when handling the siphon, as the tip may accidentally injure the roots of plants.
• It also poses a danger to small inhabitants (crustaceans, fish), which can accidentally get inside the tip. Some models are equipped with a special mesh at its end, which avoids this problem, as well as clogging the tube with small pebbles.
• During the operation of the device, the ability to biofilter decreases, since the colony of nitrifying bacteria living in upper layers soil.
• You need to know that along with the waste are removed and nutrients that are beneficial to plants.

Do it yourself

To save yourself from unnecessary costs, you can make this device yourself at home, using the most common materials at hand. A homemade siphon will not be inferior in performance to a purchased mechanical device. We prepare materials:

• a tube with a diameter of 5 mm and 45-50 cm long;
• two medical syringes with a volume of 10 ml;
• plastic bottle from beer waters or carbonated drinks;
• brass outlet for hose;
• electrical tape and a kitchen knife.

Step-by-step instruction

1. We take syringes, remove them from the needle and pull out the pistons.

2. On both sides, carefully cut off the protrusions from the first syringe to make an even tube, and from the second syringe we cut off only the part into which the piston was inserted.

3. Now you need to make a hole with a diameter of 4.5 mm in the place where the needle was and connect the tubes prepared from syringes with electrical tape.

4. Please note that the hole made must come out. We insert a hose into it.

5. Then we take a plastic bottle. It is necessary to make a hole in the cover 5 by 5 mm and insert a brass outlet for the hose into it.

6. It remains to attach the other end of the hose to the brass ledge and our device is ready.

To start the device, you need to immerse the wide end of the tube in water and press on the bottle. When the draft appears, you can unscrew the cap from the bottle and lower its other end into the bucket.
Advice: You can upgrade your device by attaching to homemade device medical pear (enema, syringe). Then you don’t have to blow into the hose, but just squeeze the pear 3-4 times with your hands and the mechanism will start working.

You can also make a siphon by following the instructions in the video course

Ready-made overview

In the departments of products for aquarists, a wide selection of devices from various companies is presented. Let's consider some of them.

• Xilong with pear — a mechanical device consisting of a tube, a tip and a rubber pear. The simplest and a budget option, the cost of which is 130-150 rubles. Suitable for small structures. Manufacturer - China.
• Xilong B with pear and tap - a similar mechanical model, but more advanced than the first version. Manufacturers equipped it with a plastic faucet to regulate the water supply. The price is 220-270 rubles. Made in China.
• Tetratec GC 40 model for cleaning deeper structures, designed for 50-200 liters of water. Convenient to use. Presented in three sizes. Unlike previous models, it is equipped with a special protective mesh that allows you to avoid getting into the tube of small crustaceans, fish and soil particles. Produced in Germany. The price is 900-1200 rubles.
• JBL AquaEx Set 20-45 — a device designed for cleaning containers with a height of 20 to 45 cm. It is also available for containers with a height of 45 to 70 cm. The kit includes two hoses, 2 JBL ClipSafe clamps and a stopcock. Model with water suction control. Equipped with a round diameter that allows cleaning in the most inaccessible places. The cost of the model 20-45 is 1300-1500, 20-45 from 2200 rubles. Produced in Germany.
• Hagen Marina - a series of German devices that allows you to choose best option for cleaning structures different heights(depending on the type and purpose of the model). It features non-kinking hoses, an oval siphon section, a clamp for fixing the hose and adjusting the outflow of water. The cost is from 450 to 1800 rubles.
• EHEIM- battery operated electrical device. It looks like a compact, quiet vacuum cleaner with high cleaning power. The design is made of safe, high-quality materials. This vacuum cleaner allows you to clean aquariums of different lengths and capacities. The cost is 5000-5500 rubles. Made in Germany.

Beginners often ask themselves: “What should I look for when choosing a siphon”? Simple and helpful tips help to cope with this task.

1. The first step is to choose the right device size. To do this, you need to know the capacity, the height of the aquarium and the length of the hose of the selected device. Most manufacturers indicate the dimensions of the siphon on the packaging, as well as the dimensions of the aquariums for which it is designed. If there is no such information, you need to measure the tube manually.
2. It is better to give preference to a transparent design in order to notice in time if pebbles get inside or a crustacean gets inside.
3. Pay attention to the nozzle. The rounded design and open spaces are conveniently cleaned with a round nozzle, and for processing corners and other hard-to-reach places, special glass nozzles are suitable.
4. If they allow cash, give preference to a model equipped with a special protective mesh. This will get rid of the hose blockage problem.
5. Pay attention to the material from which the tube is made. For aquariums, polyvinyl chloride structures are best suited. They are lightweight, compact and flexible. Reinforced products are not suitable.

How to use?

The cleaning process is quite simple. To do this, take the following materials:

• Aquarium vacuum cleaner
• Container for draining liquid. For large structures, a bucket is best, and for small structures, a basin.
• Towel. It will be required to wipe hands, floor and cabinets.

We have already got acquainted with the principle of operation of the device, but we will dwell on it briefly again:

• We lower the first end of the tube into the aquarium and bring it close to the ground, and throw the second end into a container to drain the water.
• We start the vacuum cleaner with a pear. If it is not there (as in a homemade mechanical device), we carefully draw air from the hose with our mouth. When the liquid fills the required space in the hose, we pull its end out of the mouth and place it in a bucket.
• When the cleaning is finished, you can simply remove the end of the tube from the aquarium. The remaining water will merge into the container and the process will be completed.

Important: the water tank must be below the level of the aquarium stand in order for the gravity flow process to work smoothly.

We proceed to the process of siphoning. First, we pass along the surface of the soil, and then we make short-term immersions of the tube into the pebbles for 2-3 seconds and back. It is not worth deepening too much, unless of course the container is too dirty.

How often should you siphon?

• In an aquarium without vegetation, inhabited by large fish, cleaning should be carried out regularly (at least once every 7 days).
• In aquariums where fry are grown, cleaning is needed almost daily. This is due to the fact that the fry are kept tightly, feeding is carried out often, and biofiltration in such containers is not fully established. Pebbles for such structures may not be used, so food debris and feces are removed directly from the bottom.
• At in large numbers plants, especially those with a root type of nutrition (ephinodorus, cryptocorynes), cleaning is carried out much less frequently and more accurately.
• In other cases, it is recommended to approach the cleaning process individually as it gets dirty. An experienced aquarist can determine the cleaning time by eye, and a simple test will be useful for a beginner.

Soil Contamination Test

• We prepare a saturated concentrate of potassium permanganate. A teaspoon of potassium permanganate must be dissolved in 25 mm of water. Next, add a little more potassium permanganate crystals until they stop dissolving.
• Now, using a syringe without a needle, we make an extract from the soil (50 ml of liquid) and add one drop of potassium permanganate concentrate to it. We put the resulting sample in a dark place for 45-50 minutes and evaluate the color.
• If it is pink or orange, then the degree of contamination (soil oxidization) is within acceptable limits and you can wait with the siphon process for the time being.
• If the color has changed to yellow or brownish, then it's time to start cleaning.

• In order to siphon less often, try not to overfeed the fish and give food exactly as much as they can eat at a time. The settled particles of food quickly lead to acidification of the soil.
• Many aquarists prefer sand over pebbles. It's better not to. With each cleaning, a small proportion of sand will decrease, but this does not threaten stones, and the siphon process in this case is much easier.
• Take care of the aquarium correctly and in a timely manner, because cleanliness is the key to the aesthetic beauty and health of aquatic inhabitants!

Every aquarist, even a beginner, probably knows that it is necessary to purify water. However, not everyone is aware of what a siphon for an aquarium is and why it is needed at all. In this article, we will try to fill this gap.

Need

An aquarium siphon is needed to clean the soil, which is why it is also called a soil cleaner. The fact is that as the fish are kept, food that they do not have time to finish eating, excrement, plant remains, etc. leads to siltation of the soil. The result is the formation of hydrogen sulfide and ammonia in it, which can even cause the death of aquarium fish.

That is why you need to periodically clean the soil in the aquarium. However, there is one caveat. Usually the soil is not cleaned if the aquarium is completely planted with plants (moss, etc.), since damage to the plants is inevitable here. In addition, silt just contains nutrients for plants. But if there are open areas, then they still need to be cleaned.

Regarding the frequency, then opinions differ - from 1 time per week to 1 time in several months.

How to clean the soil?

Previously, when siphons for aquariums were not on sale, aquarists had to take out all the soil, rinse it thoroughly, and then lay it back again. But this method is very laborious, time-consuming, and it also provoked the death of beneficial bacteria and the active development of pathogens.

Now everything is much easier. Any aquarium store has a variety of soil cleaners. Therefore, buying a siphon for an aquarium is not a problem.

Types of siphons for an aquarium

Soil cleaners are divided into 2 large groups:

1. Mechanical - they consist of a hose, a funnel that is immersed in water, and a pear that needs to be pumped by hand. Water is drained into a container prepared in advance. However, it is important to keep an eye on the level in the aquarium so as not to drain too much.
2. Electric - the device passes the liquid through the filter, where all the sludge and debris settle. Runs on mains or batteries. There are models both with water drain and without it.

On the question of which siphon for an aquarium is better, there is no consensus. Some prefer mechanical products for their simplicity, unpretentiousness and cheapness. In addition, they do not depend on batteries. Others choose electric soil cleaners because they are more convenient and make the whole process much easier.

The only point is that if you are afraid to suck mollusks into the purifier along with the sludge, it is better to choose a model equipped with a mesh.

Soil cleaning

To clean the soil in the aquarium with a siphon, you need to arm yourself with this device, and lower its funnel into the water. If you are using a soil cleaner with a water drain, the other end of the hose must be below the aquarium to allow the liquid to drain, although when using electrical appliance it's not obligatory.

Drained water must be defended, after which it can be poured back.

The key is regular maintenance. Fish, like all other living creatures, leave waste products behind them, so cleaning the bottom is a must. In addition to the filter, there are many special devices, but you can make one simple one yourself. From our article you will learn how to make a siphon for your own hands. The process will not take much time, and the materials will cost mere pennies.

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What is a siphon?

This device works on the principle of a conventional pump and is designed to pump liquid from one tank to another. In our case, a homemade siphon for an aquarium, along with water, will suck up dirt from the bottom surface. Its main part is the suction tube.

The siphon is used as follows: one end of the tube is lowered into the aquarium, and the other end into a bucket below the bottom. It remains to draw water into the tube and the process will begin. As soon as you collect all the garbage (about a third of the volume of water will go with it), let it settle and pour clean water back in the same way. You can learn more about the operation of such a device from the video from DIY CAM.

View overview

Do-it-yourself siphon for an aquarium is an extremely simple device, but its factory counterparts may differ in some intricacy. Let's consider several options.

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We make with our own hands

To keep the aquarium clean, it is not necessary to buy an expensive device. Now you will learn how to make a siphon for an aquarium, and what you need for this. Let's first look at a few important points. First, it is better to use a transparent hose to visually control the suction of debris. Secondly, the diameter of the hose must be such that the debris is sucked in without problems and does not clog it. A very large diameter, on the contrary, will accelerate suction, which is also not very good.

Materials and tools

• A piece of silicone tube;
• plastic bottle 0.5 l;
• silicone sealant.

Step-by-step instruction

1. cut off upper part bottles, about 3 cm.
2. We make a hole in the cork according to the diameter of the silicone tube.
3. We insert the tube and fix it with a sealant. Let's dry.
4. In such a simple way, you will get your own hand-made cleaning device. Who knows, maybe next will be a do-it-yourself siphon for carbonating water, but for now, get down to cleaning the aquarium.

Photo gallery

Video "The principle of operation of aquarium siphons"

In the video from the PAR channel you will see a small overview of siphons. Perhaps this video will help you choose the right model or prompt you to make a DIY fixture.