Considering no other water changer on the market includes any of these in the box, this is a pretty minor complaint. In other words, it is a great way to change the water in your fish tank while also cleaning the gravel at the same time. In addition to this, draining as well as refilling your fish tank and transporting full containers of water back and forth- just by the thought of them can certainly make you feel exhausted already. This hook doesn’t come with the Python Water Change System and is available for purchase separately. I was able to successfully attach two extensions to my water changer and use it as usual without leaks.

While this admittedly made cleaning in the corners of the test tank an easier task, the offset location of the hose appeared to catch gravel, requiring manually unclogging it on more than one occasion. The first time I read about a Python water changer, I knew it was what I wanted to use for my new aquarium’s maintenance. Still, people in your local community have probably faced similar problems to you and may still offer great advice, I’m sure some will live in apartments too and have already solved any issues you face. Make sure to use the larger 5/8″ hose (instead of a 1/2″) as the hose will probably have a larger effect on flow. I consider a gravel vacuum cleaner to be an essential product for all aquariums – even those without gravel!

While the ridged hose of the Tera Pump might allow it to bend without kinking, it has a serious drawback. You can use the assembly for a while before you glue it together; the press-fit is usually plenty strong to hold together and won’t leak. Other water changers we tested had a slight odor when we first opened the packaging, but nothing like the eye-watering stench that the Aqueon water changer gave off. It cannot be denied that weekly water change for your aquarium plays a very vital role in making your tank occupants happy and healthy.

I have a battery powered Fluval Pro Vac Plus (tried several others but they did not work well) and have now attached the hose i got to the JBL. You are overpaying for a product that can be shipped direct from China for a few dollars, through alibaba. There will be a faucet attachment which your place on your kitchen sink faucet (this will also have a multi directional flow valve on it).I currently use Pythons quick connect fitting, but a garden hose fitting would have been so much cheaper. I don’t have a need or desire to ‘gravel vacuum’ my aquarium, so I have not looked into making one of those. A water changer is a device that is designed to make routine water changes and tank maintenance an easy task for those with large aquariums. The Oscar in question was a notoriously messy eater, with the majority of the food falling to the gravel.

Fluval’s second attempt at a gravel vacuum, the Fluval Multi Substrate Cleaner performed much better. The larger gravel vac is used to clean open areas of gravel, while the small one is used to clean between plants. I don’t have much need to vacuum the gravel in our planted tank and was interested in something smaller that fit the scale of our nano Fluval Spec V.

I do stress that all gravel vacuums I tested were capable of both draining and cleaning, so even if you choose another brand, it will work to some degree. It would have been nice if they were included so that everyone, regardless of faucet style, could use the water changer straight out of the box. It also comes with a fairly short gravel tube for cleaning gravel, and you can use the switch to easily change from gravel cleaner to water changer.