How do YOU clean your skimmer cup?

[FUNGI]

I'm a big believer that Dollar Tree is a budget hobbyists best friend,,,,from mushroom/nem cups to ATO containers, refugium lights to dosing containers and everything in between.....I'm not a big "Brands" person.....save the money for better things....

 

[DIYreefer]

I use an old toothbrush.

 

[AlexandraDreadlocksPanda]

I just use a toothbrush, but I don't worry about. Being a wild dirty kid in the 70's made me immune to everything.

Bet it’s not the tooth brush you currently clean your teeth with though!

 

[Doctorgori]

I just use a toothbrush, but I don't worry about. Being a wild dirty kid in the 70's made me immune to everything.

Lots of room for a practical joke here …. Similar sneaking into. doctors office and mislabeling the thermometers LOL

 

[Sean Clark]

You clean your skimmer? I should try that sometime now that I have read all of these great suggestions.

 

[FUNGI]

Super easy for me - took less than 5min. In fact, I just did it last night.
1. Take off the skimmer overflow sensor magnet
2. Untwist the skimmer cup
3. Hose down in shower & wipe with paper towels
4. Re-assemble

Well....that puts a new meaning to this.......

 

[Jimbo327]

I wear gloves. Remove the skimmer cup, and move it to sit on top of a 5 gallon bucket. That goes to the bathroom and I move the cup over the toilet and use a silicone spatula to scrape all the crud into the toilet. Then I move that cup to the shower pan, and use the hand held shower head to rinse it all down. Takes about 5-10 minutes.

 

[SpyC]

I use gloves and my skimmer cup comes completely apart. I wipe it down with my gloved hands under running water

 

[PharmrJohn]

Take the cup out of the sump cabinet, blast it with the shower mode on my utility sink, then clean it up with a melamine sponge... Then I wash my hands.

That's about it. I did the same.

 

[PharmrJohn]

I just use a toothbrush, but I don't worry about. Being a wild dirty kid in the 70's made me immune to everything.

Ya got that right! Kids these days have EVERYTHING! We didn't even have VCRs! We literally had dirt, rocks, pinecones, tree branches and THE WOODS! Made forts all the time! And bikes! Rode those in the woods too. So yeah. Not afraid of dirty things!

Edit......We had PONG!

 

[FUNGI]

Ya got that right! Kids these days have EVERYTHING! We didn't even have VCRs! We literally had dirt, rocks, pinecones, tree branches and THE WOODS! Made forts all the time! And bikes! Rode those in the woods too. So yeah. Not afraid of dirty things!

Edit......We had PONG!

Sinclair.......I think I got you beat....

 

[fish farmer]

Ya got that right! Kids these days have EVERYTHING! We didn't even have VCRs! We literally had dirt, rocks, pinecones, tree branches and THE WOODS! Made forts all the time! And bikes! Rode those in the woods too. So yeah. Not afraid of dirty things!

Edit......We had PONG!

My first terrarium/aquarium was in the 70s. I brought back some fiddler crabs from the beach and put them in a big pickle jar.

A local neighborhood cat got into my room and knocked it over....that was a stinky mess.

 

[56longroof]

I'm a old country boy. I wash it out in the sink with my bare hands.

 

[ChrisfromBrick]

bare hands

 

[RockRash]

I don't have a privilege of having utility sink, and if I did I probably still wont dump it in there, skimmer collection stinks whole room when you open it. why stink up the room with it? I take the cup outside and wash/ rinse it out with garden hose on a grass. in fact I just did it last night, and it was pretty chilly job last night here in Florida. it was first one of the cold days here.

This is what I did with my old tank. Put it in the yard and hose it down then wipe it up with a paper towel. I would alternate spots in the yard, my thinking was I was slowly fertilizing the whole yard. I don't know if helped any but I'd like to think it did lol.

 

[jonnywink]

I use paper towels and old toothbrush (with my bare hands). Then wash really good.

 

[Reefer Matt]

 

[RWReefer]

I use one of those Phillips Sonic toothbrushes, so every time I get a cleaning I just take the dentist provided toothbrush and use that as my skimmer cup cleaner under warm water. Reminds me to replace it after 6 months.

 

[Jonny Walker]

I have an external hang on skimmer
I just pull the cup take it to my laundry room sink, scrub and rinse with a toothbrush.

 

[Idech]

But who here thinks (and agrees with me) that using your bare hand on that dirty skimmer cup is something only sick reef people do and instead only use a brush or something else that doesn't require you to touch it?

I use bare hands. For me I’d clean my skimmer cup any day over dog diarrhea or vomit all over the floors. Or even smelly cat litter or small pet litter bed.

If you’re an animal lover, you’ve seen way worse than that.