Cleaning your Sump and How???

[fishybizzness]

The title says it all. Do you clean your sump regularly? If you do or if you don't, what's the reasoning behind your method. I just watched the latest BRS update on the BRS/WWC hybrid tanks and they were talking about regularly cleaning the sump. They say that WWC is animate about keeping their sumps clean and I wonder how many reefers feel the same.

 

[revhtree Verified Admin]

I don’t clean mine often but I have dealt with a lot of algae with this tank! Ha!

I use a shop vac to make cleaning them a breeze!

 

[S.Pepper]

If I am going to clean my sump, it's during a water change. I take out the equipment I have in the sump and use the siphon to clean any detritus or the like. And wipe it down. I don't empty it. And as the Rev says, some will use a wet vac.

 

[Bfragale]

I always run socks and sump stays fairly clean. I clean glass (mostly only need in Fuge section), vacuum out any debris, clean salt creep and full cleaning of skimmer and return pump. Clean ATO sensors as well. Usually every other month or so. Sometimes sooner sometimes later. The more often you do it the easier it is. But I probably do. Way more often then I have to.

 

[steallife904]

I do once a month during water change. I use a shop vac to vacuum all the stuff off the bottom.

 

[fishybizzness]

My concern is sucking up all the little creatures like pods that are beneficial for the system. Anyone else have that concern or am I just paranoid??

 

[S.Pepper]

My concern is sucking up all the little creatures like pods that are beneficial for the system. Anyone else have that concern or am I just paranoid??

Some people will spot clean with a turkey baster.

 

[Fishingandreefing]

Hopefully I am doing this right. My refugium has chemipure balls, live rocks and culerpas. During water changes, I will use a powerhead blow up the debris, then syphon it out. It’s a 30g sump the mid section/refugium is about 10g, and I take half out.

 

[fishybizzness]

Hopefully I am doing this right. My refugium has chemipure balls, live rocks and culerpas. During water changes, I will use a powerhead blow up the debris, then syphon it out. It’s a 30g sump the mid section/refugium is about 10g, and I take half out.

I'm going to try something similar. I just installed a powerhead in the sump and my plan is to turn it on when I'm doing my water change/sand vacuum and see if I can get most of the muck that settles in the sump to become suspended long enough for me to remove it without disturbing my pods too much.

 

[Cully]

My tank has chronically low nutrients, to a fault...so I have Purposely tried to funk up my sump. After several series of deductive experiments the last one stuck. I thank the BRS crew for solidifying my suspicion. My nutrient export system, chaeto+Kessil H380 is TOO efficient. SO! I am ramping it down AND cleaning out the sump.

It was a mess, particularly the refugium. I also Bought some black acrylic and blocked off the refugium lessening the light spill. Algae has gone down. Corals coloring back up. Plan to keep it a whole lot cleaner from here on out.

One sidebar...Jason Fox swears by diversity in his system particularly sponges per a Reef Builders vid I saw. The only downside to douching my sump was losing a bunch of those little pineapple sponges. Hopefully they’ll rebound.

 

[theMeat]

Used to keep my sump cleaner. Now I do not and have a healthier tank as a result. A good read

https://wamas.org/forums/topic/78578-mulm-in-a-reef-tank/

 

[AlexG]

I leave my sumps alone and try not to touch them. The reasoning behind this is to let worms, sponges and other micro fauna have a stable environment to thrive. All the little organisms reproduce to sustainable levels in their environment and also provide another natural food source for the fish and corals.

 

[steallife904]

I just vacuum the crap off the bottom every month during water change. Stopped running a refugium years ago so don't worry about that. For me it just never really benefited me. Was an extra area I had to clean up and maybe now thinking about it.... maybe it was working to good by stripping the nutrients out of the water???? All I know is tank has been fine without it. When I cleaned it out as well it smelled like death, lol. Could not have been great for the water but who knows?