Siphon hose

Performance & sizing

Core numbers for matching this unit to your tank and electrical plan.

Power

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Flow rate

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Noise

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Dimensions

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Price range

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Tank fit (L)

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Consumables & maintenance

Follow the manufacturer schedule for seals, impellers, media, and other consumables.

Description

The interesting rule about a siphon hose is not how to start one. It is that a hose should belong to exactly one tank. The Merck Veterinary Manual sets quarantine for aquarium fish at a 30-day minimum, longer where the situation calls for it, and the equipment rules attached to it are stricter than hobby advice usually is. Quarantined animals get their own designated equipment, and the manual lists nets, buckets and siphons by name. Disinfectant goes on the equipment and into footbaths at the entry points to the quarantine area. The animals in quarantine are handled last, after contact with every other animal is finished for the day. Scaled down to a spare room, Merck's version of a home quarantine setup is a ten gallon tank, a sponge filter, a small aeration pump and a heater. The instruction that comes with it is the one worth copying: separate nets and siphon hoses used exclusively for the quarantine tank, and once the fish have cleared, the tank and its equipment disinfected and stored dry until next time. A second hose costs less than a bag of substrate, which makes it the cheapest part of a quarantine to get right and an odd one to skip. There is a related trick on the same page. Before new fish arrive, run the disinfected sponge filter in an established tank that is free of disease, so it picks up nitrifying bacteria and the quarantine tank does not have to cycle around a sick fish. None of this calls for a special hose. It calls for two ordinary ones, labelled, and for the discipline to keep the wet end of the quarantine hose out of the display tank.

Source

• merckvetmanual.com — https://www.merckvetmanual.com/exotic-and-laboratory-animals/aquarium-fish/management-of-aquarium-fish

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