# DIY Power Vacuum



## dregan29 (Oct 3, 2012)

Thinking out loud:

Years ago I had a 20 gallon long with a juvenile Jack Dempsey. One of the "messier" fish as we all know. Rather than sucking up and wasting water I took a small funnel and cut down the cone, then attached it to a flexible hose about 4 feet long. If memory serves me right I got the poly hose at a local hardware store for a couple dollars. At the time I was running a whisper power head with a circular suction. The hose simply slipped over the end once I removed the intake screen. The filter caught just about all the particulates, then I simply rinsed it out in a scoop of water I collected from the tank with an old ice cube holder. Now I have a set of Marineland Emporer 400's on a 55gal. They have rectangular intakes. I was wondering if anyone had something common they may have found that could be used as an adapter to accomplish the same thing. I normally vacuum at water changes but to do a thorough job I would like to recycle the water while doing so... Make sense? lol

I look forward to input or alternative ideas.

I also had the hose attached to a dowel rod with tie wraps so i didn't have to submerge my hand, or now in this case arm, while cleaning.

Edit: 
If anyone decides to try this note the 20 gal long had a 4 foot hose. That was so I could hold the end closest to the filter steady, as not to make the impeller chatter or stop, and still have plenty to work with


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