DIY automatic neck cleaner for Red Sea Reefer skimmers?

rwb500 · Oct 23, 2021

The Red Sea Reefer skimmers come with a built-in manual twist neck cleaner, which is nice, but it is incorporated into the lid (the whole lid spins with the wiper). What if I am out of town for 2 weeks? I have never had a skimmer without an automatic neck cleaner.

Has anyone rigged up an automatic neck cleaner for one of these skimmers? How did you do it?

Also if anyone has any experience letting their skimmer run for 2 weeks without any cleaning please let me know how it goes. IME after a few days production really drops off. I'd prefer to have my skimmer keep chugging right until the float valve in the skimmate container trips.

SPR1968 · Oct 23, 2021

I only clean my skimmer cup every 4 weeks or so, so you will be fine. I can honestly say I’ve not noticed any difference in performance although I’m sure it must be slightly worse, and that’s the only reason I don’t bother doing it,

I also have 10 litre plastic containers ‘inside’ the sump so when the cup is nearly full it will drain into the container and it can go weeks and weeks before I need to empty it. Also because the container is inside the sump, if the skimmer every freaks out, it wont flood the floor or cause other issues.

I use the same system in both my tanks