Best gravel cleaner??

[ZeldaUpNorth]

I bought a battery powered gravel cleaner off Ebay but when it came it had no suction and was useless. (got refund) So which gravel cleaner do you have and is it good? I have to do a full tank clean about once every 2-3 months (water changes in between) more often in summer and its so annoying so think a gravel cleaner is the way to go. I'm off to pets at home tomorrow so if theres a decent one in there i'll get it or off the internet will be fine :)
TIA

What do you mean by full clean out? You shouldn't do more than around 60% water change unless it's an emergency. If regular water changes aren't cutting it then it's better to treat the cause rather than just doing massive clear outs every couple of months. How big is the tank and what fish do you have? Do you have real plants? What's your feeding regime like?

I've never bothered with a 'proper' gravel cleaner, I just used a plastic drinks bottle with the bottom cut off and then the syphon tube slipped through the neck, it worked just fine.

I have goldfish in a 2ft x 1ft tank. I do keep some of the water as i keep the fish in my old smaller tank while i do the clean out, then pour the water back in. Just plastic plants (they eat the real ones!) I feed every other day (I read thats a good way of feeding as goldfish are natural scavengers so will search out any leftovers) I've been doing this for years and the goldfish are thriving.

That might explain things then, the tank is too small for goldfish. Goldfish get really large and they are messy so they need a big tank with a decent filter. This is a good guide about tank requirements.

Feeding every other day is probably best until you can get a bigger tank or a new home for them because food adds to the ammonia levels, especially if there's any left over.

I'm actually wanting to find somewhere to rehome them as like you say i know the tank is a bit small (cant get a bigger one due to space), but i dont know anyone with a pond. (i'd wait til after winter though)

Dont really want to rehome them though as i've had them for 4 years and they're my babies lol.

I know what you mean, you do get attached (even though everyone says "it's just a fish"). Spring is the best time to move them, once the temperature gets over 10C.

In the mean time it's best to do more small water changes rather than a few big ones. You can change the water a couple of times a week if you're only doing small amounts. I wouldn't rinse the filter out more than once a week though, you might kill off too many of the good bacteria that way. You know about not using tap water, right? Sorry if that's old news but I thought I'd better check since it's so important :)