Python No Spill Clean and Fill Aquarium Maintenance System, Gravel Cleaner and Water Changer, 25 Foot

Good quality hose: flexible and durable enough to uncoil and coil Switch/ valves: tight and easy to switch Adapter: if you need to connect to a shower hose like I did, a 24 M to 1/2” male to male I’m adapter is needed ($5-6) at Home Depot. Suction: I am amazed by the balanced siphoning power it created with the tap water flow. Not too hard or soft, just right enough to remove the gunks on top of the gravels but didn’t move my water plants. Advise is to start with smaller tap water flow and find that sweet spot. Time: after familiar with it , I’d say 15-20 min at most to change 1/3 of the 30 gallon tank. Value of money: overall good. Wish it didn’t come with its own brass adapter which is nice in quality but doesn’t fit my needs (-$5~6)

I wanted to give this 1 star so that those (like me) who read negative reviews looking for the potential problems would stumble on my glowing review amidst the negative ones and be set at ease. However, I couldn't even fake that I don't love this amazing product. After reading the reviews I was afraid of several things. I thought this may be really difficult to connect but I gave the product a shot. It connected like a breeze to my Delta kitchen sink after I took the aerator off (took 1 minute). It helps that they now include a very sturdy metal connector instead of the old plastic one. I believe that your sink must have threads to work with this product, unless you rig something? A sprayer nozzle or showerhead pipe fixture may work as well if they have threads. It works with standard outside faucet hookups for hoses. The Python new metal attachment connector has BOTH male and female threading abilities for different sinks. I am now doing the fastest imaginable water changes on my 55 and 15 gallon tanks. Flow can be adjusted by changing water pressure at the sink OR by partially closing the shut off valve near the suction end for emergencies. It now takes me 15 minutes to suction and replace water. I do 15-20% water changes 2 times per week as my tanks are still cycling. Unlike some others I have enough suction to easily suck the waste out of my (pool filter) sand without sucking too much (2tbsp) of it out with the waste. The suction tube is long enough to suction my 24" tall tank , but my arm has to go in the tank (minor detail). They sell longer suction tubes here, (24") if you don't want your arm in the water, for $12- $15. I was also concerned that having to run the faucet water to suction would be wasteful, but the whole suctioning process goes so fast, I don't feel guilty or poorer doing so, like some others on here. I actually look forward to doing water changes now! No more carrying buckets or getting tank water in my mouth from suck-starting the tube, has me so happy. One concern I am still watching is that the water can't be treated with Prime (dechlorinator/etc.) before it enters the tank unless I wanted to use a dreaded bucket. I have read from many others that they have used the Python for years, treating the water instead AFTER it enters their tank, with no ill effects that they have observed on the fish. I pour my capful of prime into the stream of water entering from the Python and after 5 water changes, no problems, even for the fish that like to play in the current of incoming water so hopefully that keeps not being a problem. You do need to monitor the temp of incoming water in case of sudden changes from the tap. Also, do not leave the tube in tank unattended (to answer phone/break up a fight with the kids, etc.) without shutting the valve near the suction end. Otherwise it can start to suck the water out of your tank without the faucet even running. If you are on the fence because of the price, I would say its worth every penny.

Do not have a fish tank without this! So glad to have found out about this. Makes gravel vacuuming and doing water changes a breeze! **We did have to go to Lowe’s and get a fitting to adapt it. We have a newer home and don’t have a regular faucet. We were able to hook it to our shower head hose with a 1/2” to 3/4” brass fitting. Worked excellent with no issues. I was worried 25’ was going to be a bit short, but was perfect. I did not see where Python offers them longer, may be something to consider for larger homes.

I've owned several of these over the years and loved every one. I used to carry buckets back and forth to the sink and always spilled some along the way. Needless to say, dirty aquarium water is not something you want on your floor or carpet. Since using my Python water changers, I seldom get water in areas I don't want to and can quickly remove and add water to even my tanks in other rooms. The key to these Pythons working well is the valve that you will replace your sink aerator with. You get an adapter too that works with most faucets. But if you have an unusual faucet, you can usually find the right adapter at your local hardware store. I also put on a snap on connector on my faucet and one on each of my devices too. Now I can switch them out as needed without wearing out the faucet. After setting your desired water temp at the sink, you will set the Python valve to an open or closed position, depending on whether you want to fill or empty a tank. In the open position (down), the bottom is open. Any water flow from the faucet will pass through the valve to the bottom and out the sink. The flow running down the valve sets up a suction of water and air at the hose. The water at the siphon end of the hose will be pulled down the hose into the sink. You can use this to vacuum the gravel at the same time that water is being pulled from the tank. When you have removed enough water, you can shut off the valve on the siphon and move on to the next tank or shut it off at the sink. In the closed (up) position, the bottom opening is closed off and the faucet water will flow out the attached hose to your tank. You'll dope the outflow at the tank with anti-chlor and any other chemicals you deem necessary. Be sure you have 1st set the temp wanted at the sink faucet. When the tank is filled, you can turn off the flow either at the sink or from the valve on the siphon. When you are all done, you should drain the hose into the sink while rolling it up. You don't want to leave a lot of water in the hose as this could generate mold. I just keep mine in an empty bucket in the tank stand under the tank. Once you use one of these Pythons you'll never want to go back to carrying buckets again. The price seems high but worth every dollar. And if you break some of the plastic parts or want accessories, they are available, many here on Amazon. I would not get one with a hose much more than you'll need. Often times, the longer the hose and distance the water has to travel, the slower the speed when emptying a tank. Be sure not to leave the aerator on the sink faucet with the Python as it will tend to stop suction from happening. One word of advice: When filling a tank, turn the valve on the siphon very slowly. Quickly flipping the valve full open will cause a pop and massive amount of flow and you're likely to blow water everywhere. Go slow.

Date of this review: Mar 5, 2018 Reviews and rating so far: 4.6 stars in 2,795… Woah! That’s a lot of reviews and a lot of positive ratings. The verdict: The product really IS that good! YES! It works great! My rating: 4 Stars. Why? Read on. The package arrived as advertised. I opened it up to find in it: - One 10 inch gravel vacuum - One hose (I ordered the 25 feet version) - One plastic "pump" - One flow switch The pump did not connect to my faucets. I read up on Amazon and found this to be a common problem. To fix this, all I did was to take out my aerator from the kitchen as well as another from my bathtub's telephone shower and brought them both to Home Depot along with the Python Pump. The folks at Home Depot saw the items and gave me two adapters, one each for the kitchen and bathtub shower (they were different types). This was a hassle, not really a big deal, but one would hope that with so many people finding connecting it difficult, the product would at least come with a simple instruction that says: "In the event that the pump does not fit your faucet, don't panic. This is because there are many faucet sizes and the one we provided, while it’s a common size, may not be the right size for you. In such a case, please consult your favorite plumbing supply store or our website." Oh, and if the system wasn't expensive enough, the adapter will set you back another $5, unless you go for the plastic version which I got at Menards for $1.36. I will post photos with this to show you how you can easily shop for your adapters. I didn’t bother reading the instructions, and I think neither should you. Because when I was searching the web for my adapter, I ran into a video that does a great job of explaining how to use this easy to use product. Amazon doesn't allow posting external URLs, so I can't post it here, but just search for "Big Al's Python" and you'll find the 7:09 min long video. When watching this video, pause at 3:09 minutes. See how its picking up the waste in your tank? That’s exactly what happened to me! That’s the suction power and cleaning ability. IT WORKS! A big disappointment for me was the 10 inch gravel vacuum. I used it on my 10G tank and got my hand wet - had to dip it in the tank to be able to reach the bottom. And that’s on a puny 10G tank!!! Look, water changes on a small tank are really not that hard - a bucket of water, 75% full, suffices. It's not that hard! Where this system is really useful is when I use it on my 90G tank. And guess what, with a 10 inch vacuum, I am up to my elbows in water. Even in the video above, he ends up changing the vacuum. I can't understand WHY the company would only provide one default vacuum size with their product. Actually I take that back… I used to be a consultant for consumer goods companies in my previous job, so I understand the business reasons ... SKU proliferation, cross selling, etc. But I think this is already a really expensive product (it’s a hose and some plastic, people! That shouldn't cost 40 bucks!!!), and the company is just forcing people to have to spend on their "accessories". Another example is the hook that Big Al's video uses to fill the tank. It’s a great convenience. But, it’s a U-shaped green plastic pipe. NOT worth $20!!! Lastly, my pump failed after the first use. It would work fine for the suction, but not so for putting water back in the tank. So I returned the product and got a replacement. So, for all the above, I docked them a star. Anyway, all said, the system works well. Buy it. I just hope that for such a popular product, the manufacturer could do a little more from a pricing and configuration perspective, and perhaps even offer an additional SKU or two. If not, a competitor is bound to catch up with a better, cheaper product.

I have always dreaded doing water changes in my 135 gallon aquarium so water changes were never done as often as they should have been done. They suggest changing one-fifth to one-quarter of the tank's water at least twice a month. For the past 45 years I have been carrying buckets of water to and from my 135 gallon aquarium to do occasional water changes. When I was younger, it wasn't that hard for me lugging the heavy buckets, it was just time consuming and I found it very boring filling up all those buckets with both old and new water. Now that I am almost 70 years old and have developed a back problem, it has gotten to be quite a chore for me to do water changes. We siphon and dump 20-30 buckets of water into the bathroom stool which is about 15 feet away but then I have to lug 20-30 buckets of clean water with the chlorine and chloramine removed from the laundry room which is about 50 feet away when refilling the aquarium. This week, we decided we had to do a water change and clean the aquarium. It was a job that I dreaded but had to be done. I just happened to run across a video on the Internet showing a young man doing a 40% water change of a 120 gallon tank in about 30 minutes. The video didn't show him doing much except walk away and return a few times, he was sitting down most of the time while his 120 gallon tank emptied and then refilled itself. It was a very poorly made video which didn't explain or show exactly what he was doing. In fact,the video was sped up and was only 3 minutes in length, but I got the idea. He didn't mention what brand he used for this task, he only referred to his being similar to a brand made in England. So I scoured the Internet for this brand but I was not able to find one for sale anywhere. I immediately began searching Amazon for such an item and I found this Python item, I read about how it functioned and it was just what I was looking for. I immediately ordered one specifying next day delivery. Since I am an Amazon Prime member, it was only an extra $4 for next day delivery. The Python system arrived the next day and I immediately hooked it up as per the instructions. It's so simple a child could probably do it. I have a very small bathroom with a small lavatory about 15 feet away. I never could use it to fill the buckets but with the Python system, I found that it was the perfect place to use the system. I connected their pump device to the bathroom faucet, hooked up the tubing to it and placed the other end of the tubing into my tank. I then went into the bathroom,and turned on the cold water. When I turned on the faucet, to my amazement my aquarium water began immediately siphoning into the bathroom sink. Using the large siphon tube, I was able to clean the gravel as the water siphoned out. After about 15-20 minutes, about 30% of my 135 gallon tank had drained and I was then ready to refill it. There is a shut off valve located in the tubing a few feet away from the tank end that allows you to stop the draining. I went into the bathroom, adjusted the water temperature to match the aquarium temperature, then as stated in the instructions, I pushed the bottom part of the pump up and turned it to the right to lock it in the fill position. Upon switching the valve to open, the water immediately began filling my aquarium. This device did in about 30-40 minutes what would have taken me most of a day to do using buckets. I now understand why the lad in the video was sitting most of the time, I was also sitting most of the time. My wife, who was skeptic at first, now thinks it is one fantastic device. My only main concern was adding tap water that did not have the chlorine and chloramine removed. As the tank was refilling, every few minutes I would squirt some Prime Water Conditioner in front of the filler tube. I am hoping it was sufficient in removing the chlorine and chloramine from the tap water and none of my fish die. It's now been 8 hours since the water change and they seem to be still in fine condition. Only time will tell I guess. I just wish I had known about this device long ago. My 45 year old son has an identical tank at his house, he says he will continue carrying buckets of water to and from his tank as he is also concerned about the chlorine and chloramine. My wife and I are betting that he will change his mind and get one of these Python systems for his tank if my method of chlorine and chloramine removal work. .

I wish I had caved and invested in one of these eons ago. Seriously, OMG! I was excited to set up my new 75-gallon African cichlid tank, but reluctant at the thought of the buckets upon buckets of water I would have to haul back and forth every single week. Soooo, I decided to go for it. I got a really great deal here on Amazon, so why not? I went with the 25-footer, which reaches from my kitchen sink, across my living room, and into both of my tanks with plenty of slack. I almost went with the 50-footer just in case, but I'm glad I didn't! EASE OF USE: It was a little confusing the first time I set it all up, and for the first few uses I actually thought that maybe it wasn't worth the hassle (I even used my old gravel vac once or twice because it was "easier"). But since I spent the money on it, I kept using it, and it felt simpler with each use. Now that I've used it several times I can hook it up and go without double-checking the directions, and I honestly can't imagine life without it! I'm actually considering setting up another tank or two because this simple little item has made such a huge time-saving impact on my life! MATERIAL QUALITY: My old gravel vac had tubing made from some terrible, inflexible material, and I had to manually hold it open in several spots in order to keep the water flowing (horribly inconvenient while trying to vac the ickies out of the gravel at the same time). The python's tubing is super flexible, and doesn't kink at all. This is one of my favorite qualities. I haven't had any problems with any of the pieces to date, and I've been using it on two tanks for over a month (including a week of daily water changes due to an ich outbreak). SUCTION: I read several reviews (Amazon and elsewhere... I always check reviews on several sites when possible) claiming they got no suction (some claiming it was due to low water pressure), so I was a little concerned because I don't have the greatest water pressure. However, I have no complaints at all in this area. I get just enough suction to clean the bottom of my tank really well, and any stronger suction would remove too much water before I could do so. Someone mentioned that this is meant for use with an outdoor faucet... no, I really don't think that it is (at least not specifically). However, I do think that it might not work as well if you have reeeeally low water pressure. I also saw some reports that height makes a difference. When I use it on my largest tank, it stretches from my kitchen sink, down onto the floor, then back upward at least four feet and down again, into my tank. The up-and-down has not seemed to make any difference in its performance, but you might try propping it up if you have water-pressure related issues with it. I think it is important to note that this hose will not fill your tank any faster than if you were to set the tank under the faucet you're hooking it up to. It does not suck water from the pipes any faster than the faucet itself does, so don't blame filling times on the Python! Even if your low water pressure adds more time to the process, it is still a zillion times more convenient than buckets, followed by buckets, and inevitably, more buckets. OTHER THOUGHTS: On one occasion when I wasn't paying attention to what I was doing, I accidentally sucked up a large amount of gravel... whoops! It was kind of a pain because it got caught in the connection and I had to turn the water off and unscrew the hose to get it out. No biggie, though. I just shook it out and went about my water change, lesson learned. One of my cichlids likes to get inside the vac tube while I'm filling the tank. This fact is completely irrelevant to the product itself, but I couldn't resist sharing because it makes me smile. :) Seriously, though. Buy this. Your only regret will be not buying it sooner. I told all of my non-fish-obsessed friends about it and they think I'm crazy, so I had to share with fellow fish-obsessed consumers. Yes, I'm referring to you!

I purchased this kit to go along with a 40 gallon Breeder tank for two baby Mississippi Map Turtles. All of the research I did told me that turtles are extremely messy and need a diligent cleaning plan, to say the least. I didn't use this product for the first product change, and it took me over an hour, and the tank wasn't cleaned to my satisfaction. The Python 25ft No Spill Clean & Fill Kit made the difference for me. For starters, the whole kit is very easy to assemble. You won't even need the instructions, but they are very detailed and cover the filling and draining stages in depth. The manufacturer also includes a parts replacement sheet, in case of a broken or missing piece. The product is as simple as screwing an adapter into the sink, attaching the hose, putting the end of the hose in the tank, and turning the water on. The kit drains surprisingly quick, and does a good job off getting under the rocks. It's almost like a vacuum tube that lifts up the rocks and gets all the debris under it. If you have larger rocks, this product won't really be able to pull them up, but its just a matter of moving the rocks around with the tube while you drain all the water. It took me about 20 minutes to completely drain, clean, and fill the tank up the first time I used this kit. This includes about a 5 minute period I spent looking for a piece of the kit that I misplaced. The water was crystal clear after the cleaning, and looked much better than the hand cleaning I did. I have cleaned the tank two more times since the initial test, and each time has taken me 12 or 15 minutes to get through the whole process. Most of the places I read said the turtle tank really needs to have a partial cleaning every week to two weeks, so the kit is a godsend. I work full time and go to school full time, so spending an hour once a week cleaning the tank was not something I was looking forward too. I would highly recommend anyone looking for a product to clean any size aquarium to look into the Python 25ft No Spill Clean & Fill Kit. Its value has been priceless to me considering all the time its saved me, and again for how good of a job it does. The price is reasonable anyway so if you're on the fence with this product, just go for it. You'll be happy you did.

This is such a handy contraption. I must say it does indeed seem a bit overpriced, however, finding the appropriate adapter, faucet switch, length of hose, a matching vac hose, and the stop valve to create your own would be such a hassle, and possibly quite expensive as well. There's a super convenient stop switch at the hoover end, as well as one on the sink end, and it's a lifesaver that the hoover ended one is right on hand to either pause hoovering or pause refilling. It's nice that this has been pre-configured, all set and ready to go. I'm pretty sure what you're paying for is the design of this product, not the materials. It's competitors are all in a similar price range as well. I used it for the first time today. I quickly found the correct screw-on adapter for our kitchen faucet, hooked it up and played around with it to figure out what all the bits do, and I was promptly able to begin my water change. So long as your aquarium is higher up than your faucet, this thing has some SERIOUS suction power. It hoovered 14 litres in about 2 minutes. I'll have to remember to turn the tap down so it's slower next time! Refilling was just as simple. I spent most of the time just getting the water temp right coming out of the faucet before flipping the refill switch, and the rest was a breeze. The whole process is pretty quick, especially compared to the bucket method. We have a separate hot water tank for our mixer tap, and the fish are not bothered at all from any hot water tank contaminants, which was one of my concerns with this. Also remember to dechlorinate your tank for the replacement amount BEFORE pumping in the tap water, otherwise your fish my get some exposure to the chlorine coming in. I personally use seachem prime, which takes care of any heavy metals plus other bits too. Over all a great product, well designed and I'm quite happy with it.

*I like everything with this product. *Easy to use. *The faucet connector/adaptor fits perfectly. The hose length and size is very good. *The quality is superb. *What you see is what you get. Deliver what the product needs to do. * Really make life easy on maintaining the aquarium. *The supplier deliver y is very fast. *What includes: Hose, gravel tube, switch, hose connectors, faucet pump, brass faucet adapter

Excelente!!!! Muy practica, funcional y fácil de usar.

My brother encouraged me to pick up a Python prior to setting up my 40g cichlid tank, and am I ever glad I did. The 25ft length is just long enough to run from my utility sink to the tank, so luckily I didn't have to buy the hose extension. The supplied adapters also work with my faucet, so this is ready to go out of the box (bag?) for me. It's incredibly simple to use: put the vacuum end in the water, open the valve, attach to the sink and ensure its set to drain, not fill. Turn on the cold water just enough to start a siphon and you're set - head back to the tank and start vacuuming the gravel. Once you've pulled enough water, take the vacuum out of the tank and go get your fill temperature matched to the tank. Get the hose back in the tank and start filling. Like someone else commented, I usually add a full dose of Prime to my tank as soon as I start filling and the fish do fine. Once the tank is almost full I usually run back and switch the drain/fill valve to drain, and then run back to pull the vacuum. I've used the open/close valve by the vacuum in the past, but the seals don't seem to hold up against water pressure. This ends up with water flying all over the laundry room from the sink-hose connection. Pros: + Great construction for the most part. Hoses are thick, the siphon starts easily, the vacuum works well. + Comes with several faucet adapters to fit a range of regular and utility sinks. + Very easy and fast to use. The process described above takes about 30 mins for a 50% water change on a 40 gallon tank. + Once you get a system down, no spilled water at all (unless your Rottweiler knocks the hose out of the tank while its filling - very fun, believe me) Cons: - The seals on the faucet attachment don't stand up to water pressure as mentioned above. I wouldn't suggest closing the open/close valve unless you have a towel handy. Final word: This is a great accessory for doing water changes, I'd almost even say mandatory. I wouldn't ever set up a tank without one to be honest.

Va bene per rendere i cambi d'acqua facili ma farei attenzione alla misura del vostro rubinetto. Essendo un prodotto americano non si incastra come si deve e quindi mi sono dovuta arrangiare.