Cleaned equipment... SMELLED LIKE POO!!!

[gemini9]

:faint2:

My equipment was looking really slimy so I decided to give it a good clean. I scraped the algae off of the back glass of the tank (sorry snails!), took out my HOB filter and gave it a little wash, pulled out the power head, took it apart and cleaned it out and the HOB skimmer... omg the skimmer.... :bad_smelly:

It smelled like POO oh it was bad. I rinsed it as good as I could but was afraid to use any soap or anything so I just rinsed it with rodi water best I could. ugh the skimmer.... my room smells like poo. I got thinking tho, is it GOOD to clean all your equipment? I mean, I probably washed away some of the good bacteria. I thought of washing out everything with white distilled vinegar. What are you thoughts on doing that next time? How often should I clean this stuff? every 6 mos?

 

[SeahorseKeeper]

I usually clean my equipment once a month with vinegar. I just clean what I think needs to be cleaned.

 

[gemini9]

Thanks for the reply. White distilled vinegar I assume?

 

[NewEnglishMutt]

I clean my skimmer as it starts to get real nasty looking. I just use warm water and a soft bristle fat pipe cleaner brush. then rinse it with RO, and put it back on.