Fluval ProVac Powered Aquarium Gravel Cleaner

This is a really great product!! All aquarium owners should own one. It's extremely easy to use and a very effective gravel cleaner. Also works well as for pumping water out of your aquarium for water changes. (In case anyone is wondering its 8.5W of power isn't enough to pump water from floor level back into the aquarium....but I didn't purchase it for that purpose). I was curious as to whether is could so I had to try it. The filters can be squeezed clean under a running tap and used again and again. Before the debris reaches the main filter element in the Provac there is a plastic slotted cone shaped filter. The larger lumps of debris collect on this. When the 'on/off' button is switched to the 'off' position during operation the large lumps immediately drop off ... MoreThis is a really great product!! All aquarium owners should own one. It's extremely easy to use and a very effective gravel cleaner. Also works well as for pumping water out of your aquarium for water changes. (In case anyone is wondering its 8.5W of power isn't enough to pump water from floor level back into the aquarium....but I didn't purchase it for that purpose). I was curious as to whether is could so I had to try it. The filters can be squeezed clean under a running tap and used again and again. Before the debris reaches the main filter element in the Provac there is a plastic slotted cone shaped filter. The larger lumps of debris collect on this. When the 'on/off' button is switched to the 'off' position during operation the large lumps immediately drop off this and back into the aquarium. To overcome this I place a fine mesh net under this gravel cleaner when switching it 'off', to collect that final small amount of debris.

Based on my experience: POSITIVE 1. Ergonomic Design 2. Return water doesn’t shoot all over, trickles down 3. Filter access is easy and convenient 4. Filter appears good quality and ‘reusable’ a few times if washed properly 5. LED light is fun 6. Plug-In power with long cord is nice NEGATIVE 1. Power button was a good thought for simplicity, but simply doesn’t work well enough from a UX perspective. 2 power settings and 1 off, with ‘pause’ feature. More times than not, I kept switching between power settings and off, needing to constantly cycle repeatedly. 2. Suction is VERY poor. A. Under standard setup, it was very difficult to effectively clean my gravel. Limited suction available required to bury the nozzle as far as possible into the substrate.......still ... MoreBased on my experience: POSITIVE 1. Ergonomic Design 2. Return water doesn’t shoot all over, trickles down 3. Filter access is easy and convenient 4. Filter appears good quality and ‘reusable’ a few times if washed properly 5. LED light is fun 6. Plug-In power with long cord is nice NEGATIVE 1. Power button was a good thought for simplicity, but simply doesn’t work well enough from a UX perspective. 2 power settings and 1 off, with ‘pause’ feature. More times than not, I kept switching between power settings and off, needing to constantly cycle repeatedly. 2. Suction is VERY poor. A. Under standard setup, it was very difficult to effectively clean my gravel. Limited suction available required to bury the nozzle as far as possible into the substrate.......still limited in suction. B. Utilizing the adapter for ‘drain’ or ‘water change’ further reduced suction and performance. C. Taping the seam between the nozzle and power head noted no improvement 3. Nozzles are too large and bulky. Previous substrate vac’s allowed corner cleaning and ease of access to all portions of the tank w/o removing the entire top. Device required complete top removal to access certain areas around features. Included angle nozzle attachment noted no benefit. RECOMMENDATIONS 1. Power Button.....Should be changed to a slider or dial. Pause feature is still a helpful idea 2. Suction........Impeller appears poor in design, contributing to poor performance. Not enough ‘blade’ surface area to effectively create vacuum. Impeller appears 90% body, 10% blade 3. Adapter.....Should #2 become improved, this becomes moot. However; suction and flow were greatly reduced using this feature. 4. Additionally.....for the price, a .30c hose should be included as most pet stores may not carry the correct dia hose, thus requiring a trip to home improvement store. From a marketing perspective, kind-of a poor though to leave out.

More suction and stronger impeller than my other German branded battery-powered vac but this means it takes quite a bit of my sand. I can collect it from the filter trap in the device so no real harm done. Light seems a waste as aquarium lights are much brighter anyway.