How often do you soak pumps in citrus acid?

[MrWellington]

I'm hitting my 9 month mark as a newbie and it occurred to me (while flushing my hot water heater) that I haven't yet deep cleaned/soaked any return pumps, skimmer pump, gyre/powerheads yet. What would be a good preventative schedule? Monthly, bi-monthly, 6 month, 1 yr, wait until it breaks....

 

[gbroadbridge]

I'm hitting my 9 month mark as a newbie and it occurred to me (while flushing my hot water heater) that I haven't yet deep cleaned/soaked any return pumps, skimmer pump, gyre/powerheads yet. What would be a good preventative schedule? Monthly, bi-monthly, 6 month, 1 yr, wait until it breaks....

I clean mine every 4-6 weeks.

If I don't, I start to see flow reduction due to dirt build up in the pump.

As environmental consistency is the key to a successful mixed reef, I try to keep the water flow consistent too.

Leave it 3 months and there will be a sudden increase in flow after cleaning.

 

[cilyjr]

Return pump. Never
Skimmer 6 months to annually

 

[TX_REEF]

I do 6 months on return pump and powerheads.

 

[Freenow54]

I'm hitting my 9 month mark as a newbie and it occurred to me (while flushing my hot water heater) that I haven't yet deep cleaned/soaked any return pumps, skimmer pump, gyre/powerheads yet. What would be a good preventative schedule? Monthly, bi-monthly, 6 month, 1 yr, wait until it breaks....

I wait for obvious build up on power heads> I think I may start a schedule for my skimmer hob as I now am trying to get it working after wait until it breaks. I am trying to establish a replacement part inventory now as I believe if something runs constantly there is an inevitable breaking point. IE impellers / motor assemblies for expensive stuff , and replacement units for power heads, and heaters ect

 

[dochoot]

I recently cleaned mine; one over 10 years since. I was shocked at improved flow. Who knew?! Gonna do better.

 

[JayM]

Does anyone have a particular citric acid powder to water ratio that seems to work well?

 

[lmfbs]

When they look obviously gunked up (I'm currently carbon dosing, so there's a bit of bacterial slime) or when the coralline gets too much that it stops flow. So ~6 months. Skimmer is usually about the same, return...it's been a year and I have no plans.

Does anyone have a particular citric acid powder to water ratio that seems to work well?

I've never ever measured - a handful or 2 in 1/2 a sink of water?

 

[Hallowhead]

I would say I do the return pump 6 months to 6+
I do my power heads maybe every 3 months
Skimmer is 6 months

 

[Waters]

I do my powerheads every two weeks for about 30 minutes (then clean afterwards). I don't really have a ratio though....just half a cup of citric acid and throw some water in a small bucket. The rest of my stuff is cleaned about every 6 months.

 

[tuscani]

What is the exact process for cleaning?

 

[Cell]

I just do it whenever they look like they need it.

 

[Hallowhead]

What is the exact process for cleaning?

I soak in white vinegar over night plugged in to get the vinegar moving thru the equipment.

I then disassemble and scrub with a toothbrush and rinse thoroughly to get vinegar off before putting back into use

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

The following will lead to faster buildup:

high pH (the big driver)
higher alk,
higher calcium,
lower phosphate,
lower magnesium,
lower organics,
hotter pump impeller

 

[Cell]

Everytime I clean a powerhead it seems like something different grows back.