# Other Aquarium Forums > Freshwater Fauna > Invertebrates >  I can't siphon the substrate in my shrimp tank...

## bigfthing

How do you siphon the substrate during water change in a shrimp tank full of shrimps??? I will only suck on the area without any shrimp & be very careful not to accidentally suck out any little shrimplets! How do you all do it? Yup that means till now(2 months) I have not clean the substrate & are a bit worry what's going to happen!! Someone can help?

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## rainman

if your tank is fully cycled/matured, you don't really need to siphon the substrate. The BB in your tank will be able to cope with the wastes produced. If it's an eyesore for you, you can always grab one of those plastic turkey-baster look-alike thingee to suck up the waste.

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## shrimpbait

> How do you siphon the substrate during water change in a shrimp tank full of shrimps??? I will only suck on the area without any shrimp & be very careful not to accidentally suck out any little shrimplets! How do you all do it? Yup that means till now(2 months) I have not clean the substrate & are a bit worry what's going to happen!! Someone can help?


hiya, i use a smaller than 1cm in diameter hose to siphon my black quartz gravel out to be rinsed. using my thumb, am able to control the flow of the water going out... then using my index finger, am able to annoy the shrimps such that they get out of my way. should the shrimplets get sucked out, just scoop them into the tank again, no harm done... besides them being traumatised! :Grin: 

i've got a 1half x1x1ft tank, lots of moss ties to pieces of wood, usually, gotta get at least 2 pieces out before my hand can get into the tank... tedious affair, don't relish doing it! :Razz: 

don't actually get to clean every inch of the tank, am happy to cover at least 2/3 of the top layer of the gravel.

now that you mention it... it's about time i did it again!sigh!

hope this helped.

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## Fuzzy

Use a length of air tubing to slowly and carefully siphon detritus.

Keep your finger close to the end that is flowing into the bucket, so if you accidentally suck a shrimp you can stop the flow instantly, and let it flow back into the tank.

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## stonespot

I use undergravel with ehiem HOF (double filter method), so far no problem just some moss lying around.

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## goody992828

> I use undergravel with ehiem HOF (double filter method), so far no problem just some moss lying around.


Hi Bro

Than how do your chiller run? or you are not using chiller? I was think of doing what you do too, but understand that water go into the chiller need to be filtered to avoid clogging the chiller pipe.

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## mordrake

don't forget to check the pail before pouring away the water.

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## bluebubbles

> don't forget to check the pail before pouring away the water.


That is very true. Shrimps are like worms and they can get into anywhere we thought they never would. :Knockout:

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## Paid

I use one of these cheap gravel cleaners

http://www.swelluk.com/aquarium/aqua...eaner-142.html

Then empty the bag into a small tub of tank water, and pic out any shrimplets I have sucked up by mistake.
works very well, and doesn't harm the shrimp.

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## shrimpbait

> I use one of these cheap gravel cleaners
> 
> http://www.swelluk.com/aquarium/aqua...eaner-142.html
> 
> Then empty the bag into a small tub of tank water, and pic out any shrimplets I have sucked up by mistake.
> works very well, and doesn't harm the shrimp.


wow! gotta check it out at our local fish shops, sounds great... never knew they had gadgets like these! thanks for sharing!

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## bigfthing

Okay! Seems like i'm not the only one with this problem! I'm glad i got so many solutions now! Thanks Paid for reminding me, i actually had a gadget like that laying around unuse! I'll go get some battries!

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