Things You'll Need:
- Gravel vacuum
- Bucket
- Primer ball (optional)
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Step 1
Place the bucket on a chair or the floor near the aquarium before cleaning a fish aquarium with a gravel vacuum.
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Step 2
Place the vacuum tube in the water. Gently suck on the end of the siphon hose to get the water flowing. Drop the tube into the bucket. You can buy a primer ball at the pet store, which will start the suction for you if you don't like the idea of sucking on the end of the hose.
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Step 3
Hold the vacuum tube upright and start skimming over the gravel allowing the vacuum to pick up the gravel and debris while depositing the gravel back in place as the debris and water flow into the bucket.
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Step 4
Move the vacuum along the bottom, staying deep in the gravel to get all of the debris. The guppies will move away from the vacuum if you keep it on the gravel as you clean. Only do one quarter of the gravel a week or you will remove too much water at one time.
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Step 5
Add new water at the same temperature of the tank water to replace the water you removed with the gravel vacuum.
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Step 6
Continue this process every week, moving to a new area of the gravel each week and then start the process over again. It should take four weeks to do the entire tank.
