AqueonAquarium Siphon Vacuum Gravel Cleaner Medium - 9 Inches

Does the job as described. Wish I splurged to get one with a hand pump or something but 100% works perfect for the price.

Efficient cleaning, easy gravel siphon—keeps tank pristine!

I went to Home Depot and got two garbage pails (to make igloos with the kids) - it snows enough to be a pita but not enough to make igloos) so the pails sit.My daughter wanted a fish tank for her birthday and we got 36 gal. one.I have two 3500 gal Koi Ponds that I have slowly learned how to maintain but the fish tank was new.This works GREAT with the garage pails. (I messed up and didn't have the arrow going in the right direction on the bulb - Doh - quick fix)I had put down a layer of (???) whatever it is called so plants can grow under the gravel. So I was worried this would suck up the gravel and expose that stuff. Nope. It moves the gravel around a little but leaves it in (more or less) place. BUT OMG - the poop. We have had the tank about 1 1/2 weeks, I was amazed at the amount of poop this thing was sucking up. Of course the fish see it too and try to eat it through the clear tube. (be careful putting the tube in as some of my bolder fish go right up to it and I worry about sucking them in)It works really well - I could see how you might get so focused at the gunk coming up that you might over fill the bucket or pail.BUY THIS OVER SINK VERSION:I am always using the gunk from the ponds to feed my plants around the yard. It works GREAT. So with this device I do the same thing. Rather than pouring all that free fertilizer down the drain, I take it out and pour on the flower beds. (I am not to sure about using INSIDE the house) as the smell might be too much.Cons: my tube is kinked - really doesn't effect flow much but there is no way to undo it.IN SHORT:Glad I got this and resisted the desire to get the sink model.

It works great! I have a 40 gallon tank and a 55 gallon tank, the 40 contains 3 hatchling turtles, the 55 contains a 1 year and 3 month old snapping turtle that I rescued. She is a pig lol makes such a mess, she's about 6 inches in diameter. Now this vacuum sucks up water nice and fast but not so fast that you can't get all the sludge out before it drains the entire tank empty. It sucks up some gravel just enough to loosen the sludge and syphon it out of the gravel then gravel falls back to the tank floor, not to mention it didn't clog up on me, not once. I am very pleased with this vacuum. I've tried others and they either empty the tank too fast, or they get clogged because the suction is too strong and it sucks the gravel ALL THE WAY UP the tube and gets clogged at the top.... (Which is extremely annoying) I've tried other vacuum's and most of them are all just terrible. Some won't even start syphoning! Even if you try and suck it through with your mouth. The size of this is perfect! The diameter of the tube opening is and inch and a half, where most others are 2 inches (unless you're using a mini) I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS VACUUM FOR ANY TYPE OF AQUARIUM! Whether you have fish, turtles, whatever.... If you have no substrate on the bottom of your tank it'll work, if you have gravel substrate, great! If you have even SAND I would still recommend this vacuum. It has a powerful suction but not so powerful that it'll suck all the sand out. Hope this review helps someone! I rely on reviews just as you all do, I try to leave my most honest opinion possible to ensure you guys have something to read so you can make your purchase with knowledge of the item you're buying!

There is no priming bulb so essentially this is a clear hose with a wide end.

If I could give it zero stars, I would! This is the second one I’ve bought in the last 6 months. They are terrible! The priming bulb is so stiff that it’s extremely difficult to get the air pocket out and a good water flow going. Once I do get the water flowing, it’s so slow that the poop doesn’t even make it out of the cylinder and out of the tank. I had one of these for 20 years and used it every water change with no problems until the membrane in the primer broke and I was forced to replace it with these cheaply made defects. Clearly the quality of Aqueon has gone down hill over the last several decades! Now I will be forced to look for another brand to buy for my THIRD gravel cleaner. Thanks for nothing Aqueon!

A wonderfully simple and easy to use tool for maintaining a healthy aquarium. Use this unit for both a 20 and 8 gallon aquarium. So simple, just place the hose clip on the side of your drain bucket, place the end of the hose into the clip to keep the hose from accidentally falling out of your bucket, place the vacuum tube into your aquarium and start the flow by gently shaking the tube up and down a few times until the flow starts. I pinch the drain hose to adjust the flow rate as I maneuver the vacuum tube around the substrate of my aquariums. The design of this unit also insures you do not accidentally suck up your tank inhabitants since the tube is intended to remove water and detritus from the substrate and not in the open water column. Highly recommended for great aquarium husbandry.

Way better at cleaning my tank than my old one. I was expecting it to have a hand pump to start the suction but this just relies on doing a strange jiggling motion to start the suction. I didn't like it at first but it was able to do such a good job at sucking up large chunks of algae and not getting clogged that I have decided to keep and like it. Not having the hand pump also means one less thing to break (which is what happened to my old siphon). Anyways, if you are okay with having to jiggle it to get the siphon going then, by all means, give this a try, I was not disappointed in it.