Cleaning!

[Pseudoskill]

Wanted to start a thread with some basic questions about if something should be "cleaned" and if so, how often?

1. When, if ever, do you clean your sump or AIO chambers?

2. How often should equipment such as heaters, probs, etc be cleaned?

3. When, if ever, should media be cleaned? (Media inside sump or overflow of AIO, inside HoB filter, etc.)


I believe generally when things are cleaned, they should be done so with water from the tank to avoid destroying beneficial bacteria. But any other input/advice would be great!

 

[Fish Styx]

1) I do a deep clean on the sump every 6 months.
2) I do this every 3 months along with pumps / powerheads. I also replace heaters annually.
3) I replace all media monthly.

 

[Jared Bryant]

Once a year.

 

[Zos4me]

When I do water changes i like to suck out of the chambers like every third water change. just suck up any detritus that might be on the bottom of the chambers

 

[Pseudoskill]

1) I do a deep clean on the sump every 6 months.
2) I do this every 3 months along with pumps / powerheads. I also replace heaters annually.
3) I replace all media monthly.

Interesting with the media. I've never thought about replacing it entirely, I figured that I'd lose a ton of the bacteria I need in the tank. I always just took mine out during a water change and 'rinsed' it off with tank water and replaced it. Might look into just changing it entirely.

 

[Pseudoskill]

When I do water changes i like to suck out of the chambers like every third water change. just suck up any detritus that might be on the bottom of the chambers

I've wanted to do this, but I'm not sure how. I have yet to find a siphon that will fit into my chambers with room to actually move it around / turn it upside down to start the movement of water

 

[Fish Styx]

Interesting with the media. I've never thought about replacing it entirely, I figured that I'd lose a ton of the bacteria I need in the tank. I always just took mine out during a water change and 'rinsed' it off with tank water and replaced it. Might look into just changing it entirely.

I was referring to reactor media (carbon and GFO).

 

[Reefbeast]

Ive been a saltwater guy for like 4 months. So I dont know if this is different than freshwater but on the freshwater side of the hobby you dont ever want to replace the biological media. Ive had that in my filters for years. I would never want to lose all that good bacteria that lives on what ever media you are running in your filter. I would just rinse it off with tank water every time I would service my filter

 

[TheBear78]

I've wanted to do this, but I'm not sure how. I have yet to find a siphon that will fit into my chambers with room to actually move it around / turn it upside down to start the movement of water

I used to syphon with a piece of small diameter hose to poke around. Now I use a small pump with 6" of hose on the end to literally hoover the sump.
I only do it every now and then when I can see a build up.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Wanted to start a thread with some basic questions about if something should be "cleaned" and if so, how often?

1. When, if ever, do you clean your sump or AIO chambers?

2. How often should equipment such as heaters, probs, etc be cleaned?

3. When, if ever, should media be cleaned? (Media inside sump or overflow of AIO, inside HoB filter, etc.)


I believe generally when things are cleaned, they should be done so with water from the tank to avoid destroying beneficial bacteria. But any other input/advice would be great!

Annually for sump as its the tank's ecosystem. I clean skimmer every 2 months and pump every 4 months
Retrurn pump 2x a year and have backup
Probes- every 3 months

 

[Pseudoskill]

I was referring to reactor media (carbon and GFO).

This makes more sense. I replace my carbon along that timeline as well. I thought you meant your bio filter and was shocked

 

[Pseudoskill]

Ive been a saltwater guy for like 4 months. So I dont know if this is different than freshwater but on the freshwater side of the hobby you dont ever want to replace the biological media. Ive had that in my filters for years. I would never want to lose all that good bacteria that lives on what ever media you are running in your filter. I would just rinse it off with tank water every time I would service my filter

This is generally what I do. If it gets gross I just put it in the bucket I'm using for my water change and sort of shake the debris loose then replace it.

 

[Fish Styx]

This makes more sense. I replace my carbon along that timeline as well. I thought you meant your bio filter and was shocked

Yeah, sorry for the miscommunication. I use LR, both in the DT and sump for biofilter. I take for granted sometimes that others use ceramic media and such. My apologies for the confusion.

 

[52728299]

I'm in need of a good cleaning. I rarely look back at the overflow and it's now a haven for algae. Looks to be gha. and bubble algae is growing on the drains. I'm in the process of beginning an in sump refugium so hopefully that will help. Should I just grab the bubble algae out with tweezers? They will pop.. the gha I can just scrape out. Tanks been up about 5 months so haven't cleaned return pump yet but things are starting to look gross both in the sump and in the overflow.

 

[ptrick21186]

1) I do a deep clean on the sump every 6 months.
2) I do this every 3 months along with pumps / powerheads. I also replace heaters annually.
3) I replace all media monthly.

Same here except my carbon and GFO (When I use them) are 2 weeks and 4 weeks respectively

 

[Fish Styx]

Same here except my carbon and GFO (When I use them) are 2 weeks and 4 weeks respectively

My GFO is 2 weeks now, Carbon about 3.