How often do you clean aquarium equipment?

Mrfresh · Jul 28, 2013

So I was doing a little night time peaking a and looked at some of my equipment.
I thought about it and I haven't cleaned out my skimmer senses I set it up close to a year ago.
Not that I think about it I haven't cleaned my sump senses setting it up, sump was replaced close to 6 months ago...

I know how often ur suppose to clean out ur sump and equipment but how often do you clean out ur equipment?

DSP · Jul 28, 2013

I like to keep my sump and equipment neat lookin so I clean just about every month lol

Mike J. · Jul 28, 2013

I think pumps and power heads should be cleaned at least every six months, including your skimmer pump.

specvjeff · Jul 28, 2013

I bought myself a bottle brush and use that to clean my skimmer. I clean the skimmer body about every 2 weeks or more often if I feel like it. I would recommend cleaning the pump for the skimmer every 3-4 months and do the same for your return pump. My power heads get more algae growth because they are getting light on them so I clean those about once a month.

Isoprene · Jul 28, 2013

I say clean all of your pumps with vinegar 5% or 10% distilled (buy it at the grocery store) in gallon jugs. Fill a 5 gallon bucket label it accordingly and use that to run all of you pumps overnight. You can even use 1 gallon of distilled vinegar and 4 gallons RO/DI solution but its less effective (affective?) in my opinion. I am a chemist and use even stronger stuff I "borrow" from work (Acetic Acid = White Distilled Vinegar), mine is just a higher % acid. I cycle each of of my pumps mine out one a week until I hit them all, every 6 months to a year. You can even save the vinegar and basically use it forever (or until it become so nasty it grosses you out). I run them in RO/DI after running them in the vinegar solution then pull them apart and clean them with a toothbrush and re run them in the RO/DI overnight and then back in the tank. They will look and run like new. I left my old skimmer pump alone for over a year and it seized and warped the shaft on me so I had to buy a new one. You can even run your whole skimmer this way. After this experience regular maintenance can only help if done correctly and save you some money in the long run.

Oh, some safety things! and don't run it in vinegar anything more than 12 hours or overnight, the link I posted he soaks just the skimmer for a while, a few days if I remember. This is fine in my opinion as long as it does not have any rubber o-rings or seals submerged. With pumps it can start to degrade the seals and o-rings in your pumps and power heads (just a safety precaution if you plan to keep them very long term).

Also! Do not do this inside or in a room you plan to be in for any length of time or hang out in regularly and not cover the bucket. It will evaporate a bit and cause smelly fumes in that room. Nothing harmful if your using the vinegar from the store but it def is a rotten eggs type smell. An vinegar in very trace amounts shouldn't affect your reef tank but I rinse everything very thoroughly. I'm OCD about cleaning my stuff.

Clean it up!

The vinegar will dissolve any coralline (or soften it to the point it rubs off with your finger) and any algae gunk that builds up. Not sure if I can post this but Mr. Salt Water tank has a decent YouTube video of how he does it which is basically the method I described above, again sorry mods if I am not allowed to post this. I'm not sure of the rules! Happy Cleaning! That is just my 2 cents, sorry for the paragraph, I had a great night so I am down with typing it out.

Deep Cleaning a Protein Skimmer - YouTube

Genesis Corals · Jul 28, 2013

I only clean my sump when needed, which is almost never because I have a powerhead in it to keep anything from settling. My skimmer I clean once a month, I just take a toothbrush to the body and that is all, the collection cup gets cleaned everytime it needs emptied. My pumps...well I should probably get around to cleaning those.

Shadow1 · Jul 28, 2013

Pumps and skimmer body are on a 6 month cycle, power heads and skimmer head along with the neck cleaner as needed about every 3 months, have not cleaned the sump in 2 years.

Zero Nitrates · Jul 28, 2013

I clean everything in the sump every 3 months.

Reefing Madness · Jul 28, 2013

Clean it when it needs it. Everyones tank and equipment is different, and will accumulate junk at a different rate. If its nasty looking, clean it out, thats never going to hurt it, it will only help. With that said. I clean my skimmer body once a year. The powerhead when it needs it, bout 6 months or so. And the sump bottom at every WC.

kes · Jul 29, 2013

skimmers should be cleaned regularly, about once a week at the latest, in order to get the most performance. You'll be amazed how much more it will skim once it's cleaned and the neck area is dry cleaned.

SeymourDuncan · Jul 30, 2013

Your supposed to clean this stuff!? Lol. I just clean things when they get dirty. No real science behind it.

DrewDwn · Jul 30, 2013

I clean out my pumps and return during my monthly maintenance... I used to clean my skimmer regularly but I have been lazy about it the last few months. Maybe I will do it tonight when I replace the airstone. I siphon the bottom of sump when I do a WC but that's about it.

shred5 · Jul 30, 2013

I clean my skimmer body maybe every four too six months now.
I clean my skimmer pump every month or less or at least the venturi because they clog easily and cut back on performance even if a little dust, salt or lime is in there.
I clean out my sump once a month or less when I do water changes with a shop-vac that fits on a 5 gallon bucket Shop Shop-Vac Bucket Max at Lowes.com
The shop-vac is insane and is awsum for water changes.

joshporksandwich · Jul 30, 2013

I only clean my skimmer when its about to overflow. My sump has so much salt that if a piece of salt falls on the water it will raise salinity at least a whole point. Maybe if I clean my powerheads I would get better flow.