Fluval EasyVac Gravel Cleaner - 25cm, 37cm & - 37CM

The Fluval EasyVac Gravel Cleaner is a gravel cleaner with a narrow oval tube, started by shaking it under water rather than by sucking on the hose, and supplied with 1.8 m of non-kink hose and a bucket clip.

Key Features

• Quick-Start priming — a shaking motion while submerged starts the siphon. No sucking on the hose
• Oval tube rather than round, which is what gets it between plants and into corners a fat cylinder will not reach
• Integrated gravel guard stops the substrate being pulled up the tube and jamming it
• 2-in-1 bucket clip holds the hose on the bucket and sets the flow — open for maximum, reduced for detailed work, closed to pause
• Non-kink 1.8 m hose
• Three tube lengths: 25 cm, 37 cm and 60 cm. Pick by tank depth
• Suitable for all substrates, in fresh and saltwater
• Made by Fluval, the aquatics brand of Rolf C. Hagen, which has been building aquarium filters since 1975

Using It

• Push the tube into the gravel, let the debris lift, then pinch the flow and move on. The gravel drops back and the muck goes up the hose
• Do a third of the substrate at a time rather than the whole tank. A complete gravel clean strips more bacteria than people realise
• Combine it with the weekly water change — the water you remove cleaning gravel is the water change
• In a planted tank, hover over the surface rather than digging in. Roots do not enjoy being disturbed
• Refill with dechlorinated water at roughly tank temperature
• Most tanks want 20–30% of the water changed weekly, with the replacement dechlorinated and matched for temperature

Good To Know

• Choose the tube length by tank depth. A 25 cm tube in a deep tank means wet sleeves; a 60 cm tube in a nano is unusable
• Sand needs a lighter touch than gravel — hold the tube just above the surface so the sand swirls and drops back
• Watch for small fish and shrimp near the tube. A fine mesh over the end solves it in a shrimp tank
• Uneaten food and waste sitting in the substrate is where nitrate comes from. This is the tool that deals with the cause