Fluval Gravel Vac not working!

[pollyandpear]

My fluvial gravel vac is driving me mad.

No matter how hard I tried, it just pumps out air bubbles and will not get any suction.

Tubes look fine (it is brand new).

Swapped the pump round encase I had it wrong way.

Tipped tube upside down in tank to get rid of air.

What am I doing wrong?

 

[pollyandpear]

Delete I worked it out!

 

[OllieTY]

You have to tell us what went wrong!

 

[G mac]

I've got one of the little fluval gravel vacs that is supposed to work by giving the body a few gentle shakes in the aquarium. They lie

 

[Bradders]

I have, quite literally, promised myself never to clean the gravel!

 

[MichaelJ]

I have, quite literally, promised myself never to clean the gravel!

Yes, we generally recommend to leave the substrate undisturbed. But if you use a vac just be super gentle. If you have a massive build up of detritus that would call for vacuuming it's usually due to inadequate maintenance, over feeding etc. However, there are always spots around in a densely planted tank where it can be an issue due to lack of flow. What I do during WCs, is to wave my hand around the trouble spots to stir up the detritus while I am draining water. Some of it will get sucked up by the hose and some will get sucked up by the filters when they come back on, but often just the redistribution will eventually make it "go away".

Cheers,
Michael

 

[hypnogogia]

I do similar, or just waft the hoover above the gravel to suck up detritus. I have one corner where, owing to water circulation, all the muck collects and it’s easy to suck up there.