small 'vacuum' pump suggestions

[fatoldsun]

Anyone have a suggestion for a small pump to use for pulling water out of my sump at water change time. Here’s the catch – I’m looking for something that has an inlet tube-port as well as output. Reason is I’d like to target certain areas to clean detritus that tends to settle in my drain section and my return section – both are (supposed to be) bare bottom . I can’t do a siphon because my sump sits on the floor (I assume this is common) and I’m looking to clean the bottom. I can take some water out using the summate drain from my skimmer by cranking that up but it only works for 2-3 gallons before the level drops too far for the skimmer to work well.

Something tells me this should be easy to find - I’m sure it’s common to take water for changes from the sump and -- I know there will be times to “clean” the display but I want to avoid frequent disturbance of the sand bed.

 

[Fish Brain]

Shop vac or look for a small canister filter to vacuum out the stuff in the sump.

 

[JRWOHLER]

I modified a small maxijet to do the same thing all you need is plastic hose.

 

[TanksNStuff]

I usually just use a maxijet 900 with a discharge hose that goes to my 5 gal. buckets. The maxijet has a strainer on it that will keep out bigger things like snails or hermits, but it sucks out detritis pretty good when I loosen it up and get it in the water column first. Problem is, it can't completely drain each sump section due to air getting sucked in at an inch or so from bottom.

I'd love to see James' mod with a hosed inlet. (hint hint)

 

[JRWOHLER]

I usually just use a maxijet 900 with a discharge hose that goes to my 5 gal. buckets. The maxijet has a strainer on it that will keep out bigger things like snails or hermits, but it sucks out detritis pretty good when I loosen it up and get it in the water column first. Problem is, it can't completely drain each sump section due to air getting sucked in at an inch or so from bottom.

I'd love to see James' mod with a hosed inlet. (hint hint)

I just take a 6-8 inch plastic hose that fits on one end and take the strainer off. Attach a longer hose to a bucket like you do nothing tricky.

 

[TanksNStuff]

Yea, I figured as much. Not sure if I can do that with mine though.

Here's a pic of what it looks like... the strainer is part of the piece that screws onto the bottom of the pump. Maybe I'm wrong and that comes off so that I can add a tube to it... I'll have to check. I'm pretty sure I tried before and it wouldn't come off though. Maybe I can just find a tube that goes over the strainer?

 

[fatoldsun]

I usually just use a maxijet 900 with a discharge hose that goes to my 5 gal. buckets. The maxijet has a strainer on it that will keep out bigger things like snails or hermits, but it sucks out detritis pretty good when I loosen it up and get it in the water column first. Problem is, it can't completely drain each sump section due to air getting sucked in at an inch or so from bottom.

I'd love to see James' mod with a hosed inlet. (hint hint)

Yep, I'd love to see that mod too. I've been doing the same thing -stirring up the water and trying to suck it out. Just thought a model that had the pump out of the water with a hose that acted like a siphon hose would be easier to control. Oh, and did you recognize your suggestion of using the skimmate outlet?

 

[fatoldsun]

My pump doesn't even have that little strainer. It's a mni-jet and it's just the body of the pump. So I'm guessing I need to pick up a different pump that's modifiable...

 

[TanksNStuff]

They do make external pumps that have a hose connection on inlet and outlets. Problem with (most of) those is that with a long intake hose you would need to prime them. That means you'd have to pour water down the intake hose while keeping the outlet closed off until there's enough water in the pump so it doesn't "run-dry".

With a short hose and a small powerhead, there's usually enough suction created to not worry about it running dry, especially when you can submerge the pump in your sump before turning it on. Once it's going, the pump doesn't need to be in the water, only the end of the tube.

 

[JRWOHLER]

http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/store/products/pumps-and-plumbing/powerheads-and-submersible-pumps/maxi-jet/maxi-jet-powerhead-1200-295gph.html

The maxijets come with some different ends I like everyone else just found some hoses floating around and jammed it on, no special "MOD" needed.

 

[fatoldsun]

I guess I'll be moding some powerhead from the 'retired' box-o-crap in the garage. Hopefully I can jam some hose on one of those. May be a bit faster than I hoped for but if it's possible hopefully I can make it work.

 

[AqOb]

Why dont you just get a sink attachment like this http://www.americanaquariumproducts.com/images/graphics/leespythonpump.jpg as it creates a vaccum directly to your sink.

 

[malulu]

or, get two maxijets.
:

 

[fatoldsun]

Why dont you just get a sink attachment like this http://www.americanaquariumproducts.com/images/graphics/leespythonpump.jpg as it creates a vaccum directly to your sink.

Wish I could but I'm kind of far from a sink

 

[AqOb]

Why dont you just get a sink attachment like this http://www.americanaquariumproducts.com/images/graphics/leespythonpump.jpg as it creates a vaccum directly to your sink.

Wish I could but I'm kind of far from a sink

just get a longer hose from homedepot...we use a 50ft piece in the store and it works fine

 

[TanksNStuff]

Why dont you just get a sink attachment like this http://www.americanaquariumproducts.com/images/graphics/leespythonpump.jpg as it creates a vaccum directly to your sink.

<EDIT>
Never mind, I just read the instructions on how this works. I don't think I'd want to run the hose that far to my sink.
<EDIT>

 

[fatoldsun]

Why dont you just get a sink attachment like this http://www.americanaquariumproducts.com/images/graphics/leespythonpump.jpg as it creates a vaccum directly to your sink.

Wish I could but I'm kind of far from a sink

just get a longer hose from homedepot...we use a 50ft piece in the store and it works fine

Thanks for the suggestions but I still don't think that will work unfortunately. Kitchen sink isn't a utility faucet. Basement utility is directly below but no way to get a hose down there w/o crossing to the other side of the house and back. It will be much easier to find a small power pump that works.

 

[Hawkeye]

i love the aqueon - it's basically the same thing as what aqob posted about lee's.

http://www.amazon.com/Aqueon-Aquarium-Water-Changer/dp/B000YACELE

I use this for my tank water changes - no more buckets for me. However i don't know how that would work for a sump that sits on the floor. My sump sits in the basement but is still at least 2 feet off the floor.

The only thing i could think of would be a mini-jet similar to what jrwohler is talking about.

you could also do it manually, place the entire hose under water, then cover/use your thumb over one side, and place over a bucket. It should siphon the water out as long as the water in the bucket is lower than the sump water level.

tanks - that maxi jet you have should be able to remove the screen. When i purchased a new maxi jet recently it came without the screen - you had to attach the screen separately.

 

[TanksNStuff]

Yep, you are right Phil. I removed the screen this weekend to find out. Only prob was that I didn't have a hose the right size to fit inside the opening.

I did however have an MJ 1200 box of parts that had like a tier'd extension piece with a smaller strainer that fit perfectly. I switched to that and now the MJ 900 can operate in much lower level water in the sump.... even more if I remove the strainer piece.