Q&A for How to Siphon Water

Yes, you can use a siphon hose to siphon the water from the aquarium into a bucket.

The best way to siphon water for an aquarium is to use a 4-6 foot siphon hose.

Remove the substrate and detritus from one corner of the tank, then weight your tube down in that corner using a small stone or aquarium decoration. Start your siphon using the submersion method above. The size of the tube will depend on it's circumference, so a wider tube will go faster than a smaller tube. However, you can successfully drain a tank using a small tube if you're patient.

Get a tube that's long enough for you to make a loop with it while still having enough length to put the ends in the 2 respective containers. Make the loop with the tube just above the Jerry can. Then, use your mouth to pull the water into the loop. The loop will help prevent the liquid from reaching your mouth. Once the water is in the loop. Cover the end of the tube that's in your mouth with your finger and transfer it to the empty container. This should begin the siphon.

Yes, it will continue to siphon until the upper container is empty or the fluids in both containers are level.

You can use any of the methods described in the article above. If you don't mind getting the substance in your mouth, you could use the mouth method. However, it may be best to use the 2 hose method, especially if you're siphoning a substance you don't want to get in your mouth.

As long as the outlet point is lower than the intake (pond) end of the tube, any of the methods illustrated in the article would work. Since you're dealing with a larger volume of water, you will want to use a garden hose (or something of similar width), not narrow plastic tubing! If the tube is long (and wide), it will take a lot of lung power to get suction started by sucking on it; so the garden hose + shut-off valve option is best. If time is a factor, or if you are working against gravity (i.e. you need the water to drain at a point higher than your pond), rent an electric or diesel-powered water pump, like you'd use to pump water out of a flooded basement.

The broader the hose, the faster the flow, as more water can escape. You can also check to make sure that there are no leaks or kinks in the hose, as this will slow down the movement of water. Since siphoning is powered by gravity, positioning the original container even higher than the destination container will also speed up the flow of water.

Put one end of a hose pipe into the bucket and secure it so it doesn't come out. Take the other end to the street and use your mouth to suck on it. This will likely require a lot of effort, as you're working with a hose long enough to reach from the bucket to the street. You may also get some water in your mouth.

Run the vacuum cleaner and restrict the entrance down to the size of the tube with one end in the vacuum's inlet the other open to the air. Air will be sucked through the tube's end that is open to the air and will cause the water inside the tube to dry. You can also hang the tube up the air dry, so that both ends are facing downwards.

Use a pump. Syphonic works according the laws of physics: gravity will pull the water out of the hose.

The nature of a siphon uses gravity, so you cannot siphon from low to high. If you need to get water from a low level to a high level, you need to use an aquarium pump.

Your first step should be to consult the manual that came with the pump, as they all operate somewhat differently. You may also need to check the pressure gauge on the pump to insure that it is providing enough force to move the water along. Some pumps will also let you shoot the air out of the pump itself before attaching it to a container or tube.

There's no one person known to have discovered it because it's so universal. It's been used since ancient Egypt. Galileo described the math behind it and theorized how it worked in the first great detail.

You cannot. Siphoning is gravity-powered and only works if the outlet is lower than the inlet (the source). You would have to use a pump of some sort.

If you're on a computer, you can just hit the CTRL and P buttons to bring up the printing options page, which will allow you to print the page as desired. (You can also click on File and Print.)

As you began sucking the water through the tube, the water eventually hit a point where gravity could take over and pull the water through the hose. The incoming water pushed the air out of the tube, resulting in your draft of air.