How to remove heavy detritus?

[ps2cho]

I am trying to get my nitrates down and I am siphoning my sump but a lot of the detritus is too heavy to get up the siphon tube.

How do you guys do it?

 

[143MPCo]

Wet-dry shop vac with the siphon tube taped to the end; duck tape is your friend!
This will allow you to do a water change and remove the heavy stuff..

 

[happyhourhero]

I am yet to meet anything that 1/2 inch tubing cannot suck up. I never use that big attachment that comes with the vacuums but I go barebottom so...

 

[ps2cho]

I guess I didn't think about removing the big tube. I'll do that!

 

[mcarroll]

Wet-dry shop vac with the siphon tube taped to the end; duck tape is your friend!
This will allow you to do a water change and remove the heavy stuff..

Use your hand instead of duct tape so you can throttle the suction with your hand. (Not my idea!)

I am yet to meet anything that 1/2 inch tubing cannot suck up.

Allow me to introduce you to snails and live rock rubble (aka dead coral fragments)!

They're both good for clogging any reasonably sized tubing!

 

[143MPCo]

Use your hand instead of duct tape so you can throttle the suction with your hand. (Not my idea!)

I'll have to try that next time, this also works REALLY well for corner overflows that you can't get all the way down to the bottom.

 

[reefwiser]

Actually what I use is a turkey blaster and a vortex diatom filter. Cleans the whole tank up in minutes. Great for QT work too as it will remove the swimming ick tormots
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0002...tom+filter&dpPl=1&dpID=51MMaQ1hH+L&ref=plSrch

 

[143MPCo]

@reefwiser I have read good things about diatom filters, do they clog fast?

 

[mcarroll]

I'll have to try that next time, this also works REALLY well for corner overflows that you can't get all the way down to the bottom.

I forgot to add: use one of those cheap bucket vacs that fits right over a 5 gallon bucket.

 

[143MPCo]

I forgot to add: use one of those cheap bucket vacs that fits right over a 5 gallon bucket.

I have 20-gallon shop-vac will that work

 

[mcarroll]

@reefwiser I have read good things about diatom filters, do they clog fast?

One could argue that is the whole idea.

 

[mcarroll]

I have 20-gallon shop-vac will that work

I do too, but I don't wanna use it in salt water and I don't wanna lift 20 gallons - my back is barely good for 5 gallons! (Pumps and a long hose proved to be a lot of bother. I will do permanent plumbing if I attempt that route again.)

And with the bucket vac your size of water change is theoretically only limited to your number of buckets and they (buckets and vacs) are disposably cheap.

There are some good characteristics to recommend it!