fatal mistake

[algae]

Its been well over three months since I first introduced fish into my new aquarium but I still consider myself a newbie. I must admit with the expert advise from the more experienced guys on this forum I found the whole procedure to be pretty straight forward. But yesterday when I did a larger than normal water change I lost one of my Guppies. If like me your tank is sited several metres from your discharge point you probably use a hose to siphon the water out same as me. I've always made sure the end of the hose is up against the side of the tank to prevent small fish being sucked up. Yesterday the hose must have been disturbed and one of my Guppies found its way down the pipe and was stranded on the patio. Unfortunately by the time he was discovered it was too late. So from now on I will fix a net over the end of the pipe to prevent something similar happening again. Just thought I'd pass this on just in case you're using an open ended pipe

[Redpanda]

I’ve sucked one of the otos once when trying to siphone around plants at the back he then got stuck in the wider bit of siphon, I dismantled it and placed him back in the tank. He seemed fine at the time, but then found him dead couple of weeks later. these things happen..
I’m particularly scared with my shrimp tank as they are tiny ..

[Stephen]

Sorry you lost a fish.

When syphoning water from my aquariums the water goes outside.
To prevent fish getting sucked up the hose I attach the hose to a shepherds hook with a strainer, attached as in the image below.
The strainer prevents fish getting sucked up.



Hope it helps

[plankton]

Sorry for your loss.
My guppy fry are always going up the syphon, I have to check the bucket before I pour it on the garden.....

[keithmart]

Hi

I use one of these. No probs starting the syphon. There is a grille at the tank end to stop suicidal fish.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/353425192490 ... SwoHFgVGIM

And the price won't break the bank!

[Jon_D]

@keithmart "...I use one of these. No probs starting the syphon" Me too! One of the better buys I made in the hobby.

[MasonJ19]

I use a python, all my fish seem to stay away from it when it's in there.

[jammedfool]

I was using a small pump to refill the tank from a bucket, the flow/lift wasnt strong enough and started to siphon back from the tank...
Before I noticed the water level was dropping in the tank, one of my cherry barbs somehow got sucked sideways at a 45' angle. Unfortunately lost him

These things happen, you're not the first and won't be the last, but we all learn from these different mistakes!

[Art]

My shrimp tanks are 60 liters. These are cleaned every week. I suck off 20 liters. Before doing this, I take out the waterplant pots and the filter.
Then there is only the sand. 5mm layer, white. Trade name "Snow".
The dirt particles lie on top of the sand and are easy to vacuum off.
I clean the inside of the front window (because of photos).
Then I put the plant pots and the filter back in and add 20 liters of new water.
I decant the extracted water and pour the dirty rest into a white bowl. I turn the water.
The dirt collects in the middle. I suck it off with a small hose. When the bowl is clean, I swirl the water to keep the shrimplets from sticking and pour it back into the basin.
The filter only needs to be cleaned every 3 weeks. I make sure that the shrimplets between the pebbles are not lost.
I made the suction cup from a ketchup bottle.
The screw cap fits well into the 12mm- hose. I made a circle of 6 mm holes in the bottom.
Yes, it happens that shrimps are sucked off as well. but nothing happens to them. I win her again.

[BAINBRIDGE]

I get my partner to swish a chopstick around the open end of the pipe while I'm out in the garden starting the siphon, I really should get a gauze covering though.