boxtech Fish Tank Water Change,Aquarium Gravel Vacuum Siphon

Update 2/13/22: our fishy died recently but this pump never did. Still works as well as the day I opened it, and I’ve used it a LOT! Can’t recommend this siphon enough, especially for the price. I had originally purchased a Hygger siphon with a gun type mechanism for creating suction and I thought it was good. The tube clogged with gravel if it ever got going on it’s own, which didn’t usually happen...I had to squeeze the trigger constantly. Being my first siphon, I just accepted it until the trigger locked inward and stopped working. We had a sick betta and I needed to be able to perform another water change in 48 hours so I needed something fast and went with this. When I opened the box I thought “eek, I guess we’ll see....”. My hopes were not high. Lemme tell ya. This thing is phenomenal. We’ve used it 3 times now and counted...it takes 5....exactly 5 squeezes of the bulb to get strong suction and then you can stop because it continues strongly on its own. Even better is the tube style vacuum...now I can suck up all the debris without ANY of the gravel (the Hygger would lose some of the debris back into the rocks due to very weak and irregular suction, plus it would clog and extract gravel bits). I freaking love this thing. The other one also had a “fish tank smell” even right out of the box and this does not. Even if it only lasts a couple months (I have no reason to believe this will be the case other than my last one failing), I’ll rebuy. It’s so good and so inexpensive. Only possible complaint is that I wish it took up a little less space for storage without disassembling, which I don’t want to do because the more you pull things apart, the more likely you’ll lose water-tightness. A++ product.

Excellent use-arrived as planned-quick. So much better than my smaller python. Sucks up garbage in substrate fast without a lot of debris I water. I love all you have to do is squeeze the plastic handle near the bucket (following the directions with the right direction facing that way so water goes that way-two letters are there) and just start pushing the rectangle part areounc the subsrtste and clean you will have!!! If you are doing just a water change in a large aquarium there is a clip and you attach it and do whatever cleaning or filter changing and it takes water out QUICKLY - so for me either way, I have to bend the tube or hemostat it in order not to lose too much water. So you can slow that down by raising your bucket up or bending the hose. If you bend the hose awhile when you get it it becomes more flexible as it is pretty stiff brand new. Personally-I love this over any other. I’m very glad I purchased it. I don’t have to clean the substrate so much because it does such a great job. My small aquarium especially. It has two connectors. I recommend this product for sure. Just squeezing the bottom area to get the water flowing is a major plus. And it keeps flowing! Or just squeeze. Control. Finally. I can stick it in the substrate and put items in the bucket to clean, stop the flow, change filter and rinse WITH AQUARIUM WATER AS TO NOT KILL beneficial bacteria. Then finish cleaning substrate, put filter and biomechanics cleaned in aquarium water in bucket back.... then put in the cleaned items and fill with treated water (preferably already in my distilled containers waiting) also I have distilled water for my shrimp). Then turn off lights and maybe feed a little just cus they know me and expect a snack. Hope this helps someone. If so hit helpful. It would have helped me. Also important: testing water before and after if you are nee. You are eager to put fish in a new tank. Some will live some won’t. Research tank set up. K? 😉

Works well and beats the heck out of getting a mouth full of fish water. Hose is just the right length. The end piece is a pretty brittle and cracked early on but is still perfectly usable.

So, I've owned a number of these types of things, to help with maintenance of my 10+ aquariums over the years, I have never been so blown away fresh out of the box as with this boxtech siphon. The suction power is outstanding, it's easy to use and easy to assemble 10/10 absolutely recommend. An absolute powerhouse of a gravel vacuum rivaling my water pump powered gravel vacuum. Easy to take apart and clean, -- which is key for these balloon at the bottom siphon designs I have several tanks with small fish and the draining tip helps keep them out of the siphon. - I will say the box it comes in crimps the hose a bit and the hose doesn't immediately relax but it will after one or two uses, so nothing to worry about. So you might have an initial oh no moment but it will be fine.

I bought my first one in Jan 2022 and it just stopped working. I think there is a small crack in the hand pump somewhere so I’m buying a new one. I’ve had two 20 gallon tanks and clean them religiously every 3-4 weeks so this thing got a lot of use. I’m ordering another because why mess with what works well?

This is a nice easy to use water changer but the suction works so well that on the small gravel/sand for cichlid tanks, it sucks the sand/gravel right up with everthing else and it's kind of a pain.

I have very happily used this boxtech aquarium siphon for 2.5 years and I'm ordering another one today. It probably would have lasted longer had I not stored it outside with the spa, in the Arizona desert of 120-degree summers and winters that are sometimes near freezing at night. The bulb separated from the hard plastic as others have described. But I feel like I got my money's worth. I did research other brands on Amazon and chose this one again because the length and width of the tube is adequate and because it easily removes the debris that blows into the spa despite the cover being locked onto it. We have some crazy wind and micro-bursts here! The bulb is a little stiff and it must be squeezed a few times to get it going. However, when I lower the tubing a little at a time into the spa water to remove air from the whole system first, it is much easier.

I ordered this item the week of 10/25/2021. The item arrived the next day as promised. The item was NOT packaged inside a shipping box. It arrived in the original box the item is stocked. When I opened the box, I immediately discovered FOUR MISSING PARTS! Obviously this item won’t work without all the parts. I started the return process but I decided I’d like to give this product another try so I elected to have another one sent out to me. The next day I received the replacement item. Same situation with the first one as far as how it arrived in its original box and not inside a shipping box. Anyhow, I was pleased to find all the parts in the box this time. The item worked right out of the box fairly well. I was attempting to do a deep clean of my substrate which is half sand and half gravel. Due to the short vacuuming head, sand gets sucked right down the tubing and into the bucket. This is def an issue especially if you’ve got a large tank that needs a deep cleaning. The gravel was too heavy for it to be sucked through the tubing. Anyhow, after vacuuming for about eight minutes the bulb wouldn’t prime anymore! As a side note, this product will fill a five gallon bucket in under four minutes!! Obviously that’s way too fast especially if you’re doing a deep cleaning or your biweekly cleaning or however often you vacuum. I decided to take the item apart to inspect the priming bulb. I found no problems with the priming bulb so I put it back together. I tightened all parts again as well as pushed the tubing all the way up to the highest position it could possibly be pushed. The item worked for one more five gallon bucket then stopped working AGAIN! I’m not new to fish aquarium’s manual vacuuming or how these type of products are suppose to work. With that, I’d give this product no stars if it was possible but of course it’s not. So now I’ve completed the return process for this one as well. At least I didn’t already take the first one back! Now I can make just one trip to return both horrible itemsI don’t have a clue why this product is so rotten! It’s such a simple product yet the manufacturer has found a way to screw it up, makes no sense at all!! I would highly recommend against purchasing this item. For crying out loud, it can’t even drain water out of the tank! Much less even vacuum sand substrate without it going right down the tubing! Even if I just needed something to help do water changes on my tank, this item can’t even do that! It just makes no sense for such a simple item not to be able to drain water from a tank! I know some have been fine with just keeping the product to do their water changes. Many have complained about this item in regard to how fast it fills a five gallon bucket. I realize the tubing can be bent some to slow the flow rate down. But, if you do this, it won’t have enough suction to lift anything that needs to be removed. There’s no rips in the bulb either and all connections are snug as well as the tubing is pushed as far as it can be on each connector. Anyhow, avoid this headache, even if you only need this item for draining water, mine won’t even do that!!

It broke after 6 months! Thread sheared off the hand pump

​I’m really happy with this Boxtech gravel cleaner! The siphon vacuum mechanism makes starting the water flow super easy without needing to suck on the tube or make a mess. ​It does a fantastic job of picking up debris, waste, and leftover food from the substrate while leaving the gravel behind. The tubing is a good length, and the flow control makes routine water changes and maintenance much faster and hassle-free. Definitely a must-have tool for keeping the tank clean!

Easy to use, lightweight, works!!!

I like this water changer because it has tubes that you can add to extended to a deeper tank, but I use it on a standard 20 gallon tank. It works as well as can be expected, and I especially like the pumping ball at the end. No more sucking and getting tank water in your mouth.

This is the best gravel cleaner I've come across. There is a cheaper option but I guess you get what you pay for. Highly recommend as its easy to use. Cleans and water change at the same time.