The 11 Best substrate Vacua For Aquarium (2023 reviews)

There are several advantages of having a substrate vacuum for aquarium. Let’s take you step by step, type by type, and find the best substrate vacuum for aquarium for you.

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Our Top Picks:

Best Overall: Buy: Laifoo substrate Vacuum For Aquarium READ REVIEW

Best With priming bulb: Buy: boxtech substrate Vacuum For Aquarium READ REVIEW

Best For someone With More Tanks: Buy: Luigis substrate Vacuum For Aquarium READ REVIEW

Best For medium And large Fish Tanks: Buy: Enomol substrate Vacuum For Aquarium READ REVIEW

Best For pond: Buy: ll products substrate Vacuum For Aquarium READ REVIEW

Best For removing little excess Debris: Buy: Aqueon substrate Vacuum For Aquarium READ REVIEW

Best For One person: Buy: Upettools substrate Vacuum For Aquarium READ REVIEW

Best For deep Cleaning: Buy: Eheim substrate Vacuum For Aquarium READ REVIEW

Best For Aquarium Water changes: Buy: Hygger substrate Vacuum For Aquarium READ REVIEW

Best For Strong Suction: Buy: Fluval substrate Vacuum For Aquarium READ REVIEW

Best For light Cleaning: Buy: AQQA substrate Vacuum For Aquarium READ REVIEW

Best Overall: Laifoo substrate Vacuum For Aquarium

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Here, we review vacuum that manages to win our hearts. It's the laifoo substrate vacuum for aquarium and it's widely considered as one of best vacuum you can buy. This picks up sand like crazy. It is made of some kind of plastic. It gives you a chance to actually vacuum the gravel. It is perfect for 10 gallon tanks and below. There is a plastic ledge on the inside of these types of tanks. It's good for cleaning rocks.

It is easy to prime and use, does a fairly decent job keeping gravel clean, long enough hose to not be a hindrance. It is perfect for deep aquariums, you have to submerge your hands into the water to get to the bottom.

• Great design, remove waste quickly, easy to use
• Made hardest part of fishkeeping easier
• Works really well for aquarium clean up
• Suctions well, fast set-up and easy to use

Best With priming bulb: boxtech substrate Vacuum For Aquarium

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The boxtech substrate vacuum for aquarium should be able to handle its purpose and duties with ease. It works well while taking out water and cleaning gravel. It is great for all your fish toilet cleaning needs. The water changer is convenient, light and easy to use. The suction is strong enough to lift the fish poop and algae but gentle enough to allow the sand to stay in place. The extra long tubing and hard pipes allows you to reach any dirty spots immediately without getting your hands wet.

It is compatible with additional nozzles that can help clean gravels which will effectively separate excrement and food residue from your aquarium, and keep the water crystal clean.

• Easy to use, excellent drawing power, good filtration
• Extremely well made, quality tubing, 2 pumps and the aquarium water is flowing
• Great for cleaning the fish tank
• Easy to assemble, customizable length and tip attachments

Best For someone With More Tanks: Luigis substrate Vacuum For Aquarium

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Compared with other vacuum in this category, the luigis substrate vacuum for aquarium has a convenient design. If you have any animals in a tank that you’re weary of touching or causing extra stress then this is the perfect siphon. This little pump makes it so easy to pump water out when it comes time for water change. It has a screen on the end that is easy to remove to make water changes faster. The siphon works well. The simplicity in the design makes it easy to clean and properly store.

The filter on the front end keeps rocks and other objects. This beats trying to siphon with your mouth and timing properly by a mile. The design is solid, once you get some momentum going physics does the rest. This is great to use around your fishes that they don't get sucked in, but there is a good pump to it.

• Easy to vacuum sand bed and siphon water from the tank
• Amazing, and affordable device for aquatic tank maintenance
• New and hot release

Best For medium And large Fish Tanks: Enomol substrate Vacuum For Aquarium

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The enomol substrate vacuum for aquarium should be able to handle its purpose and duties with ease. It is definitely a good idea to get the 50food if you have a house. The 165inch long cleaning tube has a built. It is able to make really good suction and get up all the crud from the bottom of the tank. It’s very easy to assemble, and it works great for both removing and adding water. The drain and refilling options work great without having to haul water back and forth over and over.

The suction air is great, you have to run the faucet for the suction to make it work better, wasting water yes, not a good design, should be cheaper. It makes it much easier to clean. This works and the build quality is pretty decent.

• Perfect for emptying a tank or changing water
• More noisy pump, no more buckets to move water to and from
• Connectors to garden hose or sink
• Easy to use quality is excellent and easy to read and do instructions

Best For pond: ll products substrate Vacuum For Aquarium

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Not everyone likes to purchase vacuum for their daily usage, but the ll products substrate vacuum for aquarium would be an anomoly. The hand pump of this aquarium cleaner is easy to operate. It can make a gentle enough suction to not suck up your sand or soil substrate. The syphon works quickly to remove water from the fish tank. This will make cleaning a 10 gallon tank very easy, its lightweight and easy to use.

The water changer for fish tank has a rigid hose attached to the filter for precise placement, allowing you to spot clean your gravel too much. It is great for a small tank, up to 60 gallons. This is very simple to use and does a great job sucking out the fish by products without disturbing the gravel too much. The hand pump makes it really quick and easy to use.

• Super easy to take apart and clean
• Great product to combine your water changes and vacuum your gravel
• Makes cleaning fish tanks a lot easier
• Good suction just enough power for sand filled aquariums

Best For removing little excess Debris: Aqueon substrate Vacuum For Aquarium

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If you often find yourself scrambling for convenient and suitable vacuum, aqueon substrate vacuum for aquarium is your end point. It is great for smaller tanks, but it's meant for tanks over 5 gallons as it can suck the water out very quickly. It cleans the bottom of the tank really well, and picks up all the plant and food debris. It makes water changes quick, but it also does suck up smaller gravel and make it hard to get a good gravel cleaning in if you want to clean all of it. It is easy to use and makes clean up fun.

With the tank on a dresser and the bucket on the floor the suction is very strong making the rather small diameter 'gravel cleaning' part not really all that functional as the gravel gets sucked all the way into the tube etc. It doesn't take long and it's easy to do once you know how to work it. It is perfect for removing little excess debris.

• Has great suction once you get it to start sucking
• Rapid motion does the trick to start siphoning action
• Freshwater, saltwater & even reef tanks
• Perfect for tanks 40 gals or smaller

Best For One person: Upettools substrate Vacuum For Aquarium

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The upettools substrate vacuum for aquarium should be able to handle its purpose and duties with ease. The 110V/28w powerful water pump motor can provide the maximum flow of 1700l / h. It works well, and catches a lot of debris. This product makes cleaning the fish tank so much easier than the manual clean and is easy to use. The pump is very powerful so if you have small fish that follow you around when you are in the tank you might want to remove them put in a bowl with their own water while you do this.

The suction is good and the motor is efficient and quite as well. It is perfect to clean the bottom for daily water changes. The filter bag can be used repeatedly for reuse. This will help filter the water so you are not spreading it back in the tank.

• Good tool to clean the aquarium, easy to assemble and well made
• Making it easier to fit through rocks crevices for cleaning entire tank
• Good investment for long term

Best For deep Cleaning: Eheim substrate Vacuum For Aquarium

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Eheim makes beautiful and great vacuum with classic and smartly choosen materials. This Eheim Quick Vac Pro is a sturdy piece of equipment for the aquarist with gravel in their tank. It is specifically designed to pick up dirt particles to remove waste and extract sludge. It does work great, it picks up all waste and light foreign materials. It includes 4 AAA batteries and improves the health of fish. It is perfect to get all the turtle poop up.

The suction power is strong enough to suspend the gravel then suck up the debris/sludge. It is great for the discus tank where you want to clean before each feeding. It is ideal for when you just want to spot clean the substrate when you aren't due for a water change.

• Best tool ever to clean gravel
• Batteries were included and was easy to insert
• Saves you money by reducing the amount of additives needed for water maintenance
• Works great and you don't have to drain the water way down

Best For Aquarium Water changes: Hygger substrate Vacuum For Aquarium

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We know from years of feedback from readers, customers and amazon sellers, what most people want in a convenient and appropriate vacuum. The hygger substrate vacuum for aquarium is exactly that - it's a simple vacuum that hits all the right notes. This little gravel vac is incredibly easy to use and the trigger system works brilliantly to get the flow started. The sand can move up and down in the extension tube to remove debris from your aquarium. The supplied hose is relatively thin and walled causing easy kink areas. The product is so tightly wrapped that multiple parts of the tube is permanently crimped the second it comes out of packaging. This will clog pretty quick.

The hose stop clip definitely comes in handy. This works so well, instructions are very easy to follow, very easy to use and very easy to take apart to clean. The hose stops clip definitely comes in handy.

• Sucks gravel up tube, thin walled hose
• Great for crushed coral/aragonite sand tanks
• Suction amazing and huge time saver
• Easy to use and even easier to assemble

Best For Strong Suction: Fluval substrate Vacuum For Aquarium

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Not everyone likes to purchase vacuum for their regular usage, but the fluval substrate vacuum for aquarium would be an anomoly. This Fluval gravel vac/siphon may seem simple compared to fancier battery operated ones, but it is practically maintenance free. It can suction too much but if you get the hang of it it’s perfect. The substrate cleaner effectively traps dirt and debris is a great way to keep your aquarium sparkling clean.

This gravel vac features a nozzle that allows you to change the suction power from strong to soft. It will make one for a large tank. It has a flow adjustment that makes it easy to find the right amount of suction. It is easy to avoid sucking up the substrate.

• Works like a charm and a decent amount of flow
• Super easy to pump water, control flow, and cleans incredibly well
• New and hot release

Best For light Cleaning: AQQA substrate Vacuum For Aquarium

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The aqqa substrate vacuum for aquarium's high-end materials makes sure that it ages well with use. This one is well designed and simple to use and probably great for a freshwater tank with gravel. It comes with a bunch of extensions and heads for different substrates. It cleans the debris from deeper in the substrate. If there is water in the hose the pump will not start flowing you need to have an empty hose and the pump will work great. It works great, on a dirty tank you have to clean the filter sponge frequently, but once you get the tank clean it is great for maintaining the water quality.

This pump sucks the water all the way down until there is almost nothing at all left in the bucket. There's a small foam filter material in the plastic tubing to protect the motor of the unit. There is no cover for the charging port, which is located on the handle & can easily get wet.

• Easy to use and holds its charge
• You can even clean the gravel with out taking water out of the tank
• Great suction power, easy to use and super easy to assemble