TOM Aquarium Maintenance Mr. Cleaner Battery Operated Gravel Siphon

I originally had my heart set on the Eheim Quick Vac Pro, which was over $60. I saw this priced at less than a third of the cost and decided to give it a shot. I had to search online for instructions on how to assemble but was surprised that it went together just how I thought that I should have kept tinkering with it and I would have had it.

This was tested out on a 20 gallon long bare-bottom tank with tons of detritus that my siphon never seemed to remove. At first, the thing takes a little help to get suction. I had to tilt it over into the water right up to the "Water Line" indication. Once I had the water level to where it had suction, I began to move the gravel washer head around. It seemed to pick up better when the detritus was already afloat not laying on the bottom of the tank.

I was not too terribly impressed with the suction UNTIL I removed the gravel washer head. It is totally unnecessary and decreases the efficiency of this vacuum. I had to stop to rinse the net out twice, and to fiddle with the impeller to remove dead snail shells. (puffer tank) To avoid pulling things into the impeller I placed a brine shrimp net over the intake pipe. This also helped me "steer" the intake pipe around the tank because the vacuum is a little oddly balanced.

Be aware that this does not put the water back into the tank internally. Water is pulled up through the pipe, towards the impeller, and into the waste collection net, then back into the tank on the OUTSIDE of the pipe it just went up. You will have to pay attention so that you don't move the vacuum too close to the edge of your tank thus holding the collection net over the edge of your tank and siphoning sediment free water onto your floor.

****mine came with an algae scraper head, which I have yet to use

****mine came with a hose adapter, for use in siphoning water, which I have not used

In summary for $16 this product did great (without the gravel washer head)

This vacuum is the best thing since sliced bread. It goes together easily, has great pick-up suction, the tubing is long enough to reach the back corners of a 20 inch tall tank and does not lose power. The on/off switch at the top if convenent and easy to get to. I have dropped the entire vaccum in the tank, dried off the batteries and continued cleaning.

The only issue this vacuum has is the "sock" for catching debris. I replaced that with a knee-high nylon, you know the womens sock for pants and dress shoes, held it on with a rubber band and clean without debris that someone else complained of.

This vacuum makes tank maintenance so easy and I tend to "tidy up" almost daily. Thank you Tom Aquarium Supply and give a raise to whoever came up with this idea.

Kathryn

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The company that I purchased this from, Strictly Pet Supplies, sent the item very quickly and it was packaged well as well.

The siphon works great and is easy to use. When it touches the bottom it won't pick up the aquatic soil or rocks, but it will pick up all the crap and fish excriment that has accumulated there. The tube has an adjustable length so I can use it in my tall and short aquariums. You can also purchase replacement filter bags.

Some other reviewers on other sites complained that the item is fragile and can break. This is true. Some parts looks like they're made from thin plastic and can break if you drop it. But its not the manufacturers fault, you just have to be careful when using it.

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This device actually has decent suction. It had no problem picking up all the debris off the bottom of my fish tank and depositing them in to the 'sock'. But unfortunately the fine particles of debris blew right through the cloth sock and back into the water. After a minute of vacuuming, my whole fish tank was clouded. The debris in my tank consisted of mostly goldfish poo, which tends to break apart easily. If you are picking up courser debris, it might work better, but I feel that the 'sock' filter bag really does not provide adequate filtration. Not recommended.

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Putting it together was easy, albeit there were no directions other than a diagram on the back of the package, but it is very obvious from looking at the picture how to put it together. There was one thing the diagram doesn't mention, and that is this: there is a small black piece that is on top of the piece where you have to put the piece with the little "sock" on it. The piece with the "sock" will NOT go on if you don't take off the little black piece first. I believe that was the issue that one of the reviewers here had and ended up breaking it trying to get the sock piece on without taking off the black piece first. So just make sure you remove the black piece and it will be as easy as eating pie. :)

Also, at first I thought it didn't work because it wasn't creating any suction. I read a few reviews here and saw a mention to tip it to help create suction. As I went back to try it again, I noticed it has a "water line" on it and the water was not reaching that line, hence no suction could be created. When I put it into the tank again and angled it so it was under the water at the water line, the suction started up no problem. So if you are having issues, just make sure you have enough water and angle it until the unit has water up to the water line and it will work like a charm! Also, once it has suction it will keep suction until water reaches the portion on the gravel foot where air can get under it or until you lift it up to the point where air gets in there. It has REALLY good suction, and I even moved it around in the water to suck up old food particles still hanging around. It took care of them very easily as well.

I used this for cleaning the gravel at the bottom of my 30 gallon tank and IT WORKED WONDERFULLY. Anyone who says otherwise wasn't using it correctly. I even used it to do a water change in my tank, all the while my fish were HAPPY. They even came to check it out and went right up to it with no stress. I used to dread water changes because catching the fish in the nets and putting them in a bucket completely traumatized them, but now I don't have to do that ever again. Just make sure when you are using it to remove water or put water in, that you have a bowl nearby to catch the water as it first comes out (especially if you have to tip it to start it up) so water doesn't get all over the place as you are trying to move it over to where you want the water to go.

I also added an extra "sock" on as mentioned in another review (used the foot end of a knee high) and this helped to catch the finer particles that were making it through the original sock and back into the water. I used a rubber band off a bunch of broccoli and put the pantyhose sock on with it and then put the original sock over it, so I had double filtration.

Overall it is a STEAL for the price and works really, really well once you get used to it. If you follow the tips here, you should have a great experience with it. I know the tips helped me, and I hope they help you! :)