Fluval GravelVAC Multi Substrate Cleaner Large (60cm)

I have a 155 litre cube tank, so the water is deep, around 55-60 cm. With the extension tube this cleaner is the ideal length for me. I use the supplied clip to hold the outlet tube in my 25 litre bucket, then allow the tube to fill with the rate set to maximum. Once going, I can start cleaning my sand. It is easily able to lift the sand in the tube but you can slow it and drop the sand back. I like this, as the sand is then not compacted, and gets a good clean. You can reduce the rate a bit to help manage how much sand is drawn up before falling back.Obviously, as a syphon, you need to make sure you have the exit tube a good deal lower than the inlet of the cleaning tube. I put the bucket on the floor, and my tank is about 60cm higher, which keeps it flowing nicely. On maximum, it can draw about 5 litres a minute, and on minimum it is probably about half a litre, but it may stop frequently. The flow rate control will not immediately stop the flow, so keep an eye on your bucket! I would recommend this for quite big volume tanks. For my regular 25% water changes, this kind of rate is ideal as I need to drop out about 40 litres. Not had it long, so can’t comment on the durability, but so far it seems well made and functions as expected.

This gravel vacuum is a much easier option than the tradition gravel cleaning method. This was my first time cleaning the gravel of our new tank.The kit comes with a big pipe that goes into your tank, it has a filter to ensure you don’t suck gravel through the pipe and a hose you can put into a bucket at the end. There is a clip to secure the pipe to the bucket. There is also a dial to change the suction.It was difficult to get the siphon going at first, you have to squeeze the pump a lot to get the water to flow. Once you get the suction going water moves quickly and you have to work fast so you don’t take too much water out of the tank. I put it on the lowest setting, but the dirt wasn’t travelling up the pipe and instead working it’s way back into the tank.. so I had to increase the flow to remove the filth. This means that a lot of water is going out of the tank.I worked my way around the tank, pushing the gravel around which lifted a lot of dirt from the stones. The water turned a really murky green colour after doing this. I was shocked at how filthy it was in there.A few tips.. Keep checking the water in your bucket because I got caught and ended up with water everywhere! Also the clip that attaches it to the bucket doesn’t secure it tightly so the hose flops around everywhere, just make sure it doesn’t slip out of the bucket. If your substrate is smaller it may escape through the filter, I have bigger gravel so I didn’t have this problem.I had to give up after a while as the fish were a bit stressed and I had removed so much water. When I finished, the water was still full of dirt and scum (see photos), but I didn’t want to repeat the process over and over because of the fish. Now that I have this cleaner, Ill be doing it weekly, so I’m sure it will eventually get cleaner each time.There is also the option to change the pump around and filter clean water back into the tank rather than tipping it in from a bucket. I thought this was a calmer method for the fish. But upon trying it was even harder to get the water siphoning and I gave up in the end.Overall this is a great product which did remove so much filth (see photos). It was less stressful for the fish not having to take them out of the tank. I’m hoping my gravel clears up completely after a few weeks using this. Once you get the hang of it it is pretty simple.The price was good compared to other gravel cleaners and it does do the job. I would recommend this product. If it had come with a better clip for the bucket and if I could have cleaned efficiently with a slower water flow it would have had 5 stars.I definitely recommend this product.

I've used other gravel cleaners before but this is brilliant, really easy to use, easy to put together. Love the flow control, the gravel hasn't been this clean for ages

Tried it a few times, idea was is great with the value for the flow to siphoning water however to clean the substrate didn’t work. Very disappointed and have stopped using it.

Easy to use , a few things need to be done during assembly. The piping ends need to be heated slightly, softened with hot water to ensure the hoses fit securely, The red bulb is diectiional and marked on the item, and must be fitted so that the out end feeds to the bucket. I found this can move a large amount of mulm and the valve is opened and closed as required so that the gravel and any sand is released back into the tank.Note the valve must be opened to start the flow going. My tank gravel is dirtier than I thought so I'll be combining cleaning with a water change,

After 10 months of use the red hand squeezer pump has split

I bought this after reading some mixed reviews but I have to say I'm glad I went with my gut it's brilliant and cleared the heavy debris from my plecos a few pumps and it draws the water up and really cifts through my gravel to clean it, if I can offer any advice when using is you will need a heavy weight bucket to catch the water because the hosepipe that attaches to the bucket is thick and not the most flexible , overall it performs well and you adjust the speed the water flows too

I bought this thinking it'd be an improvement to the cheap one I had from China (for about £1.50) - but alas, it seems no better at all, though perhaps there's a noticeable difference in plastic quality (not that this particularly affects performance). Not worth the extra cash, in short - get a cheap one from China.