# Aquarium Siphon as Milker?



## central_nj (Aug 14, 2013)

Er, this may sound crazy, but I was thinking of purchasing an aquarium gravel-cleaning siphon to help milk our goats...

Is this a bad idea? I know there're a few milker diy's out there, but I haven't seen anything with an aquarium siphon...has anyone tried milking with one before?

It seems to utilize the same 'sciences' as the henry milker, et al, so I'm hoping it'll work.

I'm looking at ones like this:
http://www.amazon.com/biOrb-822728000250-Cleaner-Pump/dp/B000KHZ0X0/ref=pd_sim_lg_6

thoughts?


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## Scottyhorse (Feb 11, 2013)

Hmm, good question. My only concern would be damage to the teats/udder from all the suction, especially if you are into showing. I don't know how well it would get the milk out, but it could work very well. 
I'll be following along to see what the other answers are.


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## lovinglife (Jun 6, 2013)

Looks like the milk would go through the pump part, might be hard to keep that clean.


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## central_nj (Aug 14, 2013)

okay so, technically it should work, right? I bought the aquarium siphon and the teats fit through and everything seemed to be set to go, but the milk just does not flow no matter how long or how quickly I pump!

Is there something I'm doing wrong? 
Isn't this siphon basically the same thing as that infamous Henry Milker, only manual?

I guess either I'm doing it wrong or the laws of physics aren't in my favor here...idk

Any idea what could possibly be the issue?

Hand milking works just fine, btw, so there's nothing wrong with my goats...the pump just doesn't seem to suck hard enough and I guess that's the only reason a brake pump/automatic pumper might work better...


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## just_plain_bob (May 4, 2013)

i've used similar things for my fish tanks
the pump wont work while it is siphoning ( it wont increase the amount of water being pulled through )
once a siphon has started it relies on gravity to continue

but I've never milked a goat so I dunno


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## ksalvagno (Oct 6, 2009)

Are your girls orifices small? Those hand pumps usually don't work with small orifices. Henry Milker is just a hand pump too.


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