Cleaning Substrate

[Dutch]

How are you guys adding water directly from a hose? How do you monitor the water temp if it is straight from a garden hose... and how do you remove the chlorine from it?

I'm in luck, we have a very good quality of drinking water here. The temperature is something that took me a bit of practice. I now know what the right temperature feels like on my hand and I know how to set the tap of my shower (to which I have the garden hose attached).
While filling I just check the temp of the tank and try to keep it steady.

Jones, what's a Python? (I'm guessing it's not the animal you're referring to. )

[Tinman]

Tank cleaning system

http://www.amazon.com/Python-No-Spill-C ... B000255NXM

[Pixelated_Pirate]

Hmmmm I'll have to check that out...
The only thing that scares me is the water source coming from another room... I don't want the tank over flowing or anything...

[bslindgren]

I use a regular gravel vac. You can hold it above the sand, but if you want to stir the sand a bit (which I am told is good to aerate it), just hold the tube at about a 45 degree angle and almost no sand will et sucked up. The diameter I have is about 1.5 inches for the vacuum tube and I think the hose is 3/8th or perhaps 1/2 inch. That gives a slow flow, so I use the same hose to return fresh water. It is a slow process but there's no risk of stirring up sand unless you direct it straight at the sand. Obviously the size of grains matter as well - mine is Target pool filter sand which I think has more consistent grain size than play sand.
I agree with Emma that the buildup of gunk seems to be minimal compared to gravel.

[Dutch]

I've been trying out my new "gravel cleaner". It's just a flexible hose and a PVC tube long enough to reach the bottom, and it works great. If I narrow the opening I can control the flow a bit and can clean for ages before filling a bucket and I will have a lot of junk.

Also learned about a great way to clean algae off the window. Just use something like a credit card. I have an old card stuck in a PVC tube (yes, I had some left over from my quarium drain) and it works wonders.