Tips on Cleaning Vortech Wetside

[ca1ore]

Been seeing a few thread lately about whether vinegar degrades the vortech wetside or not. I tend to think the damage is overblown, but prudence probably dictates to not use it .... at least not on the potentially vulnerable parts. I've got a lot of them at home, and always clean them thus:

1. I keep spare cages on hand (they're cheap to buy and ETM will sometimes send one for free)
2. Remove and disassemble the wetside. Most of it doesn't build up calcium deposits anyhow, usually it' just schmutz, so mechanical cleaning with a brush or sponge is almost always sufficient.
3. If there is calcium or coralline buildup, its likely on the cage so I swap in one of the spares, that way I can get the pump back working quickly.
4. Then I can give the encrusted cage a good long vinegar soak.

I imagine this approach would work fine fro just about any powerhead if you can buy cage replacements.

 

[reefwiser]

I clean mine once a month out of the tank and use a tooth brush several times a week to clean the outside of the cage build up. Hot water and a tooth brush and a thumb nail on the coralline algae build up will come right off.
I never let a lot of coralline build up on a pump it cuts down on its efficiency and makes it really hard to clean.

 

[hatfielj]

I soak all the plastic parts in vinegar and then scrub with a toothbrush and rinse. I only do this probably a few times a year when the coralline gets thick. My snails and tangs keep them otherwise pretty clean except for coralline build up.

 

[Burrito]

i keep a spare wetside assembly on my mp10s and swap it out while i leisurely clean my dirty powerhead

 

[redfishbluefish]

I use to be a complete immersion in vinegar cleaner for my wetsides. I lost three wetsides within about a month by the magnets swelling, cracking open the plastic covers.

It was Dr. Randy that identified vinegar being the most likely cause of this failure. To quote him:

I think the effect on plastic may be worse with vinegar than muriatic acid but it may depend on the plastic.

Vinegar can be in the form of acetic acid and that neutral molecule can enter plastic. Diluted muriatic acid won't have any neutral acidic molecules in it to enter plastic, so just exposes the outermost leading edge of plastic. So while the muriatic acid after dilution is a much stronger acid, i would not assume it is worse on plastics.

So my cleaning routine now is cage in vinegar, magnet portion scrubbed under tap water.

 

[Burrito]

would citric acid be better than vinegar for a soak?

 

[ca1ore]

I use to be a complete immersion in vinegar cleaner for my wetsides. I lost three wetsides within about a month by the magnets swelling, cracking open the plastic covers.

Just out of curiosity, how old were the wetsides when they split? Had you been cleaning them in dilute vinegar solution up until that point? I'm trying to decide whether to proactively replace my now 5 year old MP60 wetsides.

 

[redfishbluefish]

These were old wetsides....and I'm terrible with time....maybe 6 - 8 years old. I use to religiously clean them and pamper them, thinking it would extend their life. These were the old style wetsides that you could completely take apart.

The new ones now only get cleaned when I can see build-up has impacted performance....maybe every 3 - 4 months. And the magnet portion never sees vinegar. The replacements are the newer QD wetsides that break down into only four pieces: