A gravel cleaner is the most useful gadget you will buy for your fish tank!  It allows you to hoover out the waste and debris from your gravel and substrate without stirring any of it up into your water.  Your water stays crystal clear, and all that sludge that would otherwise pollute the water and cause algae ends up in your bucket!

How do they work?

Very simple!  One end of it is a hose, which you place in your bucket on the floor (maybe put a towel down in case of any drama!).  Dip the wider end into your tank and let it fill up completely like a cup.  Slowly raise it above the water level until the water starts to flow down the tube, then slide it back under the water.  You now have water siphoning down the tube into the bucket without spilling a drop (hopefully!) so all you need to do is turn the cup part over (keeping it underwater) so the open end is facing down.  You'll notice if you hold it near the gravel that it starts to suck up waste and tumble the gravel a bit, so just work slowly and carefully over the gravel until it's all clean.

For full instructions, download our Gravel Cleaner User Guide.  

What size?

Choose one suitable for the depth of water in your tank and for the space you have to manoeuvre (some tanks only have narrow lid access so a long gravel cleaner isn't an option).  For really narrow aquarium openings you will have to use the squeeze-start siphon.  The extra small gravel cleaner is ideal for precision-cleaning between plants and decor, or for where you need more control (e.g. trying not to hoover up fry or shrimps!).  Remember that "the bigger you go, the faster the flow" so sometimes it's better to choose a smaller size and go slow rather than having half your tank empty before you can blink!

There is definitely a knack to it.  Always move across the gravel in a slow up-and-down 'dabbing' motion rather than sweeping the gravel side-to-side (which would just stir waste up into the water and make a mess).  Roughly, each press down into the gravel should last 5 seconds, then you slowly lift up high enough so that it lets the gravel drop back and move onto the next bit, and down for another 5 seconds, etc.  If you keep the hose in your spare hand, you can use that like an emergency brake to pinch/kink the hose if you need to stop the flow quickly.   Keep an eye on the water level in your bucket or you'll get wet feet!