Siphoning Help

[Daniel Phillips]

I bought a relatively inexpensive siphon that's for aquariums, the
Ultra Gravel Vac. Unfortunately, I must be doing something wrong
because it barely siphons. The picture displays putting the siphon at
an angle and apparently the siphon's tube must be lower than the
aquarium--the latter which wasn't really met. I put both together in
a test trial after trying it in the water garden, and it only barely
worked one time. I didn't want to mess around with it more in the
water garden today after making the two fish jittery when they seemed
to have recovered. I did heed the advice of a sales rep to be careful
to not suck one of the guys in. However, the fish stayed clear of the
siphon.

I'm thinking that maybe I don't have the right tool for the job. If I
do, though, I'll just try tommorrow. When I was thinking of a siphon,
I was thinking of just what I have, with the exception of there being
a compressor to help pump water through.

Daniel Phillips

[+]bandito[-]spam = [-]toppler.[+]zworg.com
Be warned, may mistakingly bounce back as spam.

[~ jan JJsPond.us]

Is this gravity powered or a venturi powered syphon? ~ jan


>On Tue, 27 Apr 2004 18:52:35 GMT, Daniel Phillips > wrote:

>I bought a relatively inexpensive siphon that's for aquariums, the
>Ultra Gravel Vac. Unfortunately, I must be doing something wrong
>because it barely siphons. The picture displays putting the siphon at
>an angle and apparently the siphon's tube must be lower than the
>aquarium--the latter which wasn't really met. I put both together in
>a test trial after trying it in the water garden, and it only barely
>worked one time. I didn't want to mess around with it more in the
>water garden today after making the two fish jittery when they seemed
>to have recovered. I did heed the advice of a sales rep to be careful
>to not suck one of the guys in. However, the fish stayed clear of the
>siphon.
>
>I'm thinking that maybe I don't have the right tool for the job. If I
>do, though, I'll just try tommorrow. When I was thinking of a siphon,
>I was thinking of just what I have, with the exception of there being
>a compressor to help pump water through.
>
>Daniel Phillips

>[+]bandito[-]spam = [-]toppler.[+]zworg.com
>Be warned, may mistakingly bounce back as spam.

~ jan (Do you know where your water quality is?)

[~ jan JJsPond.us]

Is this gravity powered or a venturi powered syphon? ~ jan


>On Tue, 27 Apr 2004 18:52:35 GMT, Daniel Phillips > wrote:

>I bought a relatively inexpensive siphon that's for aquariums, the
>Ultra Gravel Vac. Unfortunately, I must be doing something wrong
>because it barely siphons. The picture displays putting the siphon at
>an angle and apparently the siphon's tube must be lower than the
>aquarium--the latter which wasn't really met. I put both together in
>a test trial after trying it in the water garden, and it only barely
>worked one time. I didn't want to mess around with it more in the
>water garden today after making the two fish jittery when they seemed
>to have recovered. I did heed the advice of a sales rep to be careful
>to not suck one of the guys in. However, the fish stayed clear of the
>siphon.
>
>I'm thinking that maybe I don't have the right tool for the job. If I
>do, though, I'll just try tommorrow. When I was thinking of a siphon,
>I was thinking of just what I have, with the exception of there being
>a compressor to help pump water through.
>
>Daniel Phillips

>[+]bandito[-]spam = [-]toppler.[+]zworg.com
>Be warned, may mistakingly bounce back as spam.

~ jan (Do you know where your water quality is?)

[Benign Vanilla]

"Lee B." > wrote in message
...
> Easiest way I found to start a siphon comes from my waterbed days: with a
> water hose, run water INTO the "to be drained" item, until the air bubbles
> stop. Then disconnect the end at the water spout and drop the hose. It
will
> drain immediately!
<snip>

There are also devices sold in waterbed stores and pet stores that screw on
to a spigot. You rotate the device in one direction and it directs water to
down the hose, rotate it the other and the flow of the spigot is used to
start and force a siphon. Works very well.

--
BV.
www.iheartmypond.com

[Benign Vanilla]

"Lee B." > wrote in message
...
> Easiest way I found to start a siphon comes from my waterbed days: with a
> water hose, run water INTO the "to be drained" item, until the air bubbles
> stop. Then disconnect the end at the water spout and drop the hose. It
will
> drain immediately!
<snip>

There are also devices sold in waterbed stores and pet stores that screw on
to a spigot. You rotate the device in one direction and it directs water to
down the hose, rotate it the other and the flow of the spigot is used to
start and force a siphon. Works very well.

--
BV.
www.iheartmypond.com

[Daniel Phillips]

On Wed, 28 Apr 2004 05:12:44 GMT, ~ jan JJsPond.us
> wrote:

>Is this gravity powered or a venturi powered syphon? ~ jan
>
>
>>On Tue, 27 Apr 2004 18:52:35 GMT, Daniel Phillips > wrote:
>
>>I bought a relatively inexpensive siphon that's for aquariums, the
>>Ultra Gravel Vac. Unfortunately, I must be doing something wrong
>>because it barely siphons. The picture displays putting the siphon at
>>an angle and apparently the siphon's tube must be lower than the
>>aquarium--the latter which wasn't really met. I put both together in
>>a test trial after trying it in the water garden, and it only barely
>>worked one time. I didn't want to mess around with it more in the
>>water garden today after making the two fish jittery when they seemed
>>to have recovered. I did heed the advice of a sales rep to be careful
>>to not suck one of the guys in. However, the fish stayed clear of the
>>siphon.
>>
>>I'm thinking that maybe I don't have the right tool for the job. If I
>>do, though, I'll just try tommorrow. When I was thinking of a siphon,
>>I was thinking of just what I have, with the exception of there being
>>a compressor to help pump water through.
>>
>>Daniel Phillips

>>[+]bandito[-]spam = [-]toppler.[+]zworg.com
>>Be warned, may mistakingly bounce back as spam.
>
> ~ jan (Do you know where your water quality is?)
Not sure what a venturi siphon would look like, so I'm guessing
gravity-powered. There's a simple chamber at the front connected to a
hose, and the hose is meant to empty in a bucket.

Daniel Phillips

[+]bandito[-]spam = [-]toppler.[+]zworg.com
Be warned, may mistakingly bounce back as spam.

[Daniel Phillips]

On Wed, 28 Apr 2004 05:12:44 GMT, ~ jan JJsPond.us
> wrote:

>Is this gravity powered or a venturi powered syphon? ~ jan
>
>
>>On Tue, 27 Apr 2004 18:52:35 GMT, Daniel Phillips > wrote:
>
>>I bought a relatively inexpensive siphon that's for aquariums, the
>>Ultra Gravel Vac. Unfortunately, I must be doing something wrong
>>because it barely siphons. The picture displays putting the siphon at
>>an angle and apparently the siphon's tube must be lower than the
>>aquarium--the latter which wasn't really met. I put both together in
>>a test trial after trying it in the water garden, and it only barely
>>worked one time. I didn't want to mess around with it more in the
>>water garden today after making the two fish jittery when they seemed
>>to have recovered. I did heed the advice of a sales rep to be careful
>>to not suck one of the guys in. However, the fish stayed clear of the
>>siphon.
>>
>>I'm thinking that maybe I don't have the right tool for the job. If I
>>do, though, I'll just try tommorrow. When I was thinking of a siphon,
>>I was thinking of just what I have, with the exception of there being
>>a compressor to help pump water through.
>>
>>Daniel Phillips

>>[+]bandito[-]spam = [-]toppler.[+]zworg.com
>>Be warned, may mistakingly bounce back as spam.
>
> ~ jan (Do you know where your water quality is?)
Not sure what a venturi siphon would look like, so I'm guessing
gravity-powered. There's a simple chamber at the front connected to a
hose, and the hose is meant to empty in a bucket.

Daniel Phillips

[+]bandito[-]spam = [-]toppler.[+]zworg.com
Be warned, may mistakingly bounce back as spam.

[Susan H. Simko]

Something you might want to try, also cheap, is a drill powered syphon.
I bought one at Lowes for under $10. It's just a little device that
hooks up to the drill and has connections for a hose on both sides. I
stole the connector hoses (relatively short) that run from my hose reels
to the spigot for use on either side. It worked great.

The pump was in the sump pump area at Lowes. I didn't even know about
them until I described what I wanted to do and what I optimally wanted
to spend and the guy told me had the perfect thing for me and grabbed
the box off the shelf. He was right.

Susan
shsimko[@]duke[.]edu

[Susan H. Simko]

Something you might want to try, also cheap, is a drill powered syphon.
I bought one at Lowes for under $10. It's just a little device that
hooks up to the drill and has connections for a hose on both sides. I
stole the connector hoses (relatively short) that run from my hose reels
to the spigot for use on either side. It worked great.

The pump was in the sump pump area at Lowes. I didn't even know about
them until I described what I wanted to do and what I optimally wanted
to spend and the guy told me had the perfect thing for me and grabbed
the box off the shelf. He was right.

Susan
shsimko[@]duke[.]edu

[Daniel Phillips]

On Wed, 28 Apr 2004 12:22:33 -0400, "Susan H. Simko"
> wrote:

>Something you might want to try, also cheap, is a drill powered syphon.
> I bought one at Lowes for under $10. It's just a little device that
>hooks up to the drill and has connections for a hose on both sides. I
>stole the connector hoses (relatively short) that run from my hose reels
>to the spigot for use on either side. It worked great.
>
>The pump was in the sump pump area at Lowes. I didn't even know about
>them until I described what I wanted to do and what I optimally wanted
>to spend and the guy told me had the perfect thing for me and grabbed
>the box off the shelf. He was right.
>
>Susan
>shsimko[@]duke[.]edu

Sounds like a good plan! But...hooks up to the drill? It needs a
standard power drill, right? Does it have to be a specific type of
drill?

Daniel Phillips

[+]bandito[-]spam = [-]toppler.[+]zworg.com
Be warned, may mistakingly bounce back as spam.

[Daniel Phillips]

On Wed, 28 Apr 2004 12:22:33 -0400, "Susan H. Simko"
> wrote:

>Something you might want to try, also cheap, is a drill powered syphon.
> I bought one at Lowes for under $10. It's just a little device that
>hooks up to the drill and has connections for a hose on both sides. I
>stole the connector hoses (relatively short) that run from my hose reels
>to the spigot for use on either side. It worked great.
>
>The pump was in the sump pump area at Lowes. I didn't even know about
>them until I described what I wanted to do and what I optimally wanted
>to spend and the guy told me had the perfect thing for me and grabbed
>the box off the shelf. He was right.
>
>Susan
>shsimko[@]duke[.]edu

Sounds like a good plan! But...hooks up to the drill? It needs a
standard power drill, right? Does it have to be a specific type of
drill?

Daniel Phillips

[+]bandito[-]spam = [-]toppler.[+]zworg.com
Be warned, may mistakingly bounce back as spam.

[Bill Oertell]

Didn't see the whole thread, but the easiest way to start a siphon is to lower
one end of the hose into what you want to siphon, fill the hose with water from
the faucet, turn off the faucet, and disconnect the hose at the faucet. Once
the hose is disconnected, the water will start siphoning, as long as the faucet
is lower than what you're trying to siphon. And even if it's not, as long as
some part of the ground on which the hose is resting is lower than the source,
once the open end is lowered to that level, the siphoning will start. This is
much easier than trying to use a pump, which is unnecessary, anyway.

"Daniel Phillips" > wrote in message
...
> On Wed, 28 Apr 2004 12:22:33 -0400, "Susan H. Simko"
> > wrote:
>
> >Something you might want to try, also cheap, is a drill powered syphon.
> > I bought one at Lowes for under $10. It's just a little device that
> >hooks up to the drill and has connections for a hose on both sides. I
> >stole the connector hoses (relatively short) that run from my hose reels
> >to the spigot for use on either side. It worked great.
> >
> >The pump was in the sump pump area at Lowes. I didn't even know about
> >them until I described what I wanted to do and what I optimally wanted
> >to spend and the guy told me had the perfect thing for me and grabbed
> >the box off the shelf. He was right.
> >
> >Susan
> >shsimko[@]duke[.]edu
>
> Sounds like a good plan! But...hooks up to the drill? It needs a
> standard power drill, right? Does it have to be a specific type of
> drill?
>
> Daniel Phillips
>
> [+]bandito[-]spam = [-]toppler.[+]zworg.com
> Be warned, may mistakingly bounce back as spam.

[Bill Oertell]

Didn't see the whole thread, but the easiest way to start a siphon is to lower
one end of the hose into what you want to siphon, fill the hose with water from
the faucet, turn off the faucet, and disconnect the hose at the faucet. Once
the hose is disconnected, the water will start siphoning, as long as the faucet
is lower than what you're trying to siphon. And even if it's not, as long as
some part of the ground on which the hose is resting is lower than the source,
once the open end is lowered to that level, the siphoning will start. This is
much easier than trying to use a pump, which is unnecessary, anyway.

"Daniel Phillips" > wrote in message
...
> On Wed, 28 Apr 2004 12:22:33 -0400, "Susan H. Simko"
> > wrote:
>
> >Something you might want to try, also cheap, is a drill powered syphon.
> > I bought one at Lowes for under $10. It's just a little device that
> >hooks up to the drill and has connections for a hose on both sides. I
> >stole the connector hoses (relatively short) that run from my hose reels
> >to the spigot for use on either side. It worked great.
> >
> >The pump was in the sump pump area at Lowes. I didn't even know about
> >them until I described what I wanted to do and what I optimally wanted
> >to spend and the guy told me had the perfect thing for me and grabbed
> >the box off the shelf. He was right.
> >
> >Susan
> >shsimko[@]duke[.]edu
>
> Sounds like a good plan! But...hooks up to the drill? It needs a
> standard power drill, right? Does it have to be a specific type of
> drill?
>
> Daniel Phillips
>
> [+]bandito[-]spam = [-]toppler.[+]zworg.com
> Be warned, may mistakingly bounce back as spam.

[Susan H. Simko]

Daniel Phillips wrote:

> Sounds like a good plan! But...hooks up to the drill? It needs a
> standard power drill, right? Does it have to be a specific type of
> drill?

Sorry to take so long to respond but I was out of town and did *not*
take a computer. Any drill will work. Just like drill bits work.

Susan
shsimko[@]duke[.]edu

[Susan H. Simko]

Daniel Phillips wrote:

> Sounds like a good plan! But...hooks up to the drill? It needs a
> standard power drill, right? Does it have to be a specific type of
> drill?

Sorry to take so long to respond but I was out of town and did *not*
take a computer. Any drill will work. Just like drill bits work.

Susan
shsimko[@]duke[.]edu

[~ jan JJsPond.us]

IMO. Get rid of the bigger chamber and use just the hose (if that's
possible). I use just 1/2" diameter clear hose part on my 35 gallon patio
pond. Course I start it by sucking on the hose till I almost swallow water
and then I drop it in the bucket or cap it with my thumb, then drop that
end into the bucket.

You do realize that the siphon will stop when the level in the bucket is at
the same level as the pond, right? ~ jan


(Do you know where your water quality is?)

[~ jan JJsPond.us]

IMO. Get rid of the bigger chamber and use just the hose (if that's
possible). I use just 1/2" diameter clear hose part on my 35 gallon patio
pond. Course I start it by sucking on the hose till I almost swallow water
and then I drop it in the bucket or cap it with my thumb, then drop that
end into the bucket.

You do realize that the siphon will stop when the level in the bucket is at
the same level as the pond, right? ~ jan


(Do you know where your water quality is?)