Maintenance Day

[colin779]

Finally done. Removed and cleaned my skimmer, return pump and changed some water. I always dread cleaning the skimmer, its a huge pain...

 

[N1Husker]

I also cleaned my skimmer. Then feeling energetic, I cleaned the overflow and the tubing. In addition I cleaned the return tubing and the surface of the pump. I think after all the crap I got out of it, I better do it more often, YUK! Then at 3:00 am I finally went to bed. Tired.

 

[user 26995]

I always dread cleaning the skimmer, its a huge pain...

You can say that again!

 

[senji]

that's why i killed the light on my fuge it was growing algae in the skimmer making me clean it 1nce every 45 days. its a huge pain in the arse to clean it. i didn't have any macros so its fine just 3 inches of Fiji mud and 1 in of crushed coral on top to hold it in place. shouldn't need light right?

 

[DTECH07]

that's why i killed the light on my fuge it was growing algae in the skimmer making me clean it 1nce every 45 days. its a huge pain in the arse to clean it. i didn't have any macros so its fine just 3 inches of Fiji mud and 1 in of crushed coral on top to hold it in place. shouldn't need light right?

Lights running at night will help keep your Ph from doing wild swings.

 

[N1Husker]

Yeah, I run my fuge light at night, opposite of my tank lights. I only get coraline on the glass of the sump and the only algae I get is in the teeth on the acrylic plate where the water flows through. I just pull that off periodically. My chaeto grows like a weed. My skimmer is an AquaMaxx HOB-1 and works like a champ, removes a lot of fish doodoo. I just take it apart every month or so to clean it and keep it running well. It works as well now as it did two years ago when I bought it

 

[pandora32]

Jardest part about cleaning my skimmer is taking it out of the sump and stand. I jad to cut a small piece of the stand out just to get it through the door over the edge of the sump. Cleaning of the skimmer is a breeze though. I run my fuge light 24/7. I just did my waterchange friday night and cleaned the sump and uv and overflows. Its a ***** to clean out the overflows. Do it from the top of a 5g bucket of water, i should get a lil step ladder or sumpn.

 

[N1Husker]

Yeah, a step ladder would definitely help and safer than standing on a 5 gallon bucket. My overflow is a HOB from LifeReef Systems and I just take it out and disassemble it to give it a good cleaning. My skimmer is easy to remove, disassemble and clean, I have a metal stand that I use a curtain in front that's removable. It's all open for easy access. My biggest worry is I have to remember to put the lid back on, when doing maintenance, so my dartfish don't jump out. I have lost one already because I wasn't paying attention. The skimmer hangs on the sump so that eliminates additional escape routes on the tank, for the jumpers. Plus I try to do my maintenance at night after the lights are all out when the fish are sleeping in the rocks.

 

[1guydude]

My bubble magus skimmer is a curve 5 i think and it has an actual plug in the lower side of it by the pump (in sump) so when u take it out and rinse it out... it actually rinses lol. Wish more skimmers had this feature. Last week i ran em in a bucket of hot water too.
My swc 150 is a deff pita to clean!
I use a chair myself....
Good job on the maintence everyone. Just did my w/c s yesterday.