when i first started keeping oscars i found the easiest way to clean my tank was with a gravel vaccum and a bucket mind you there were in a 50 gal tank at the time so it wasn't that much of an inconvience to do it this way. as they grew i had to rehome them into my large tank and all of a sudden using pail to empty and fill my tank was no longer as practical as it once was. so off to petsmart i went to purchace a python to ease the burden. when i arrived i found the price they were asking for the python a bit out of line($55cdn)so after looking at how it was made i decided that this can be done far cheaper. with a stop at the local hardware store i purchased a facet adaptor(for draining waterbeds)for 6.99 then a hose of 25"(6.99)and finally an adapter to fit from my gravel vaccum to the hose(5.99)and voila a python for only $20cdn.
not bad, a saving of $30, so i used that towards the purchase of my two juveniles
