Poll: How do you keep your sump clean?

Tuffyyyyy · Oct 30, 2017

This is a questions I've been curious about as well. I've seen several vids of people having snails in their regular sumps. Does anyone do this with all in one tanks? I'm pretty convinced that there's a lot of buildup in the big chamber of my IM40.

DSC reef · Oct 30, 2017

Having a filter sock helps me here. Every couple months I'll siphon out what little detritus accumulated. I'd be nervous a snail would make it's way into one of the pumps for the chiller or biopellets. I only siphon the detritus, all sponges and other life stay put.

Idoc · Oct 30, 2017

MnFish1 said:
Occasionally vacuum it with a python - just the detritus.

Is there a trick to getting the vacuum siphon going if the sump and bucket siphoning into are on the same level? I can't figure out how i can vacuum some cyano (or another type of algae) from my refugium without emptying the refugium! Thought maybe you knew a trick with that python!

MnFish1 · Oct 30, 2017

Idoc said:
Is there a trick to getting the vacuum siphon going if the sump and bucket siphoning into are on the same level? I can't figure out how i can vacuum some cyano (or another type of algae) from my refugium without emptying the refugium! Thought maybe you knew a trick with that python!

if you have a python - it hooks up to your faucet and uses water to start and maintain the siphon - if the tank is lower than the faucet. Takes about 30 seconds and only a little water to vacuum the sump.

cracker · Oct 30, 2017

I run both of my refugiums bare with chaeto only.( one wants to grow Ha however) I have done the sand bed & LR before. To me it just collected a bunch of detritus . I do have a few snails in them. whether they make a diff, I can't tell. For cleaning I pump the water down to where it won't get bits of stuff into other sections. scrape /scrub. then pump out as much as I can . Then I break out the bucket vac & sucks out the rest. it's a lotta work so that's why I don't do it as often as I should !

3mm3 · Oct 30, 2017

Eheim gravel vac. Super easy
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=3895

smh254 · Oct 30, 2017

I keep a couple small pumps in my sump to keep the detritus suspended. I clean these pumps twice a year. I will occasionally clean the front glass but that's all the cleaning l do. Been gone for 3 years this way.

Jongalt26 · Oct 30, 2017

I have a basement sump on a table so during water changes i'll get a bit of the detritus out. When i really want to clean it, i use a cobalt inline pump which gets the job done, albeit a bit slowly. I'm definitely looking into the ryobi transfer pump mentioned in a previous post, thanks for that tip!

BlennyKravitz · Oct 30, 2017

VJV said:
I’ll try to post pictures when I get back home but I use something that looks like a hang on back filter that has an accessory hose to vacuum the gravel. This has a mesh filter bag that would filter the water before putting it back on the tank.

I removed the filter mesh and place a bucket next to the sump with the gang on places on the bucket and use the hose to vacuum the sump, dumping the water into a bucket.

I do this in order to combine sump cleaning with a water change. If you just want to vacuum detritus you could simply place the hang on on the sump, install the mesh and vacuum. I’m not a fan because sump detritus tends to be decaying matter that turns into dust once disturbed so I prefer to dump hat water out.

Yup. I put a hose on the end of my return nozzle and the other end into a felt bag clipped onto the edge of my sump. I’ll throw a powerhead in the sump and walk away for 30 minutes and voilá, clean sump!

Idoc · Oct 30, 2017

MnFish1 said:
if you have a python - it hooks up to your faucet and uses water to start and maintain the siphon - if the tank is lower than the faucet. Takes about 30 seconds and only a little water to vacuum the sump.

Nice...I gotta get one of those!

OREGONIC · Oct 30, 2017

revhtree said:
Crabs and Snails in the sump make me nervous!

Why do crabs and snails in the sump make you nervous?

3mm3 · Oct 30, 2017

OREGONIC said:
Why do crabs and snails in the sump make you nervous?

can get sucked into things like skimmer pump. Actually had that happen last week

alex.mccann99 · Oct 30, 2017

I tried snails and hermit crabs down in my sump, they just end up causing problems and often died. I did keep a pretty big serpent starfish down in my refugium area for a while. He stayed fat and happy it seemed. Now I just have a bunch of Marine Pure and my skimmer, I use a shop vac to suck all the gunk out once a month if there is any.

Fishhands · Oct 30, 2017

I siphon the sump detritus when i do a wc.

Fishhands · Oct 30, 2017

revhtree said:
I edited the poll to allow multiple choices so we can pick all that applies. Thanks!

I love the polls! It helps me see what others are doing to adjust or continue my habits.

Mike810 · Oct 31, 2017

I run filter socks but still get a bit of detritus build up in the sump. A maxi jet 1200 to suck it all up and into a sock before I change out the socks for new ones. I do AWC daily so all detritus build up in DT and sump are ran through the filter sock to catch before swapping them out.

cloak · Oct 31, 2017

My sump is pretty simple, basically a place to hide the heater, skimmer etc. (no baffles, no refugium etc) Being that I only do water changes once every two weeks and I don't use a filter sock 24/7, I'll just stir things up down there with a PH right before a water change. Whatever may have accumulated every 14 days is pumped up into the DT. This is when I'll put that mechanical filtration to good use... I'll use that same PH up top and create a storm so to say. Hopefully all that crap from the sump & the DT will be caught on the way back down. (or siphoned out during the water change) Being that this is done on a regular basis there's really not much down there to begin with... More of a Cryptic zone so to say. So far so good... KISS, GL.