How often do you clean your equiptment?

[JGoslee]

Just curious how often everyone does a thorough cleaning on their skimmers, reactors, pumps, etc. I do mine about every 6 months.

 

[J. Montgomery]

I don't really keep track of it but I tend to clean my powerheads pretty frequently since they tend to get covered in slime algae. I'd guess once every few months. My skimmer pump gets clean a little less often.

 

[revhtree Verified Admin]

HMMM I can't really choose as I clean different things at different times. My skimmer cup and neck get it about once a week if I remember or if it's bad. The skimmer every few months. Everything else get's cleaned once a year if lucky. :D I will siphon the sump though when I do a water change.

 

[JGoslee]

When I say thorough cleaning I mean actually taking the skimmer out of the sump and disassembling it and cleaning it thoroughly. Taking the pumps and running them in a bucket with vinegar...

 

[Azurel]

I clean my powerhead once a month, with tap water and toothbrush.....I clean my skimmer once every 2-3 months....My HOB powerfilter gets cleaned every 3 months as well. I have a filstar that I use for carbon and filter floss that gets cleaned every 3rd water change.

 

[Hypertek99]

I clean my hob filter with surface skimmer every 1st sunday of the month when i change water. While i'm cleaning that i change out the carbon and rowaphos. Other than that haven't really cleaned anything empty the skimmer cup every week and clean the cup.

 

[J. Montgomery]

Get an AquaC Remora Pro skimmer and you'll never have to clean skimmate out of the collection cup again!

 

[480greefer]

I clean my collection cup every other day with a tooth brush, drain skimmate every 3 days, clean the pump every month. (you don't want the RD pump to die on you :D)

I clean the tunze pump every month with deltec EZ clean, quick rinse every week during water change by cover the outlet nozzle for 10 sec.

Return pump every 3 months....

 

[Pufferpunk]

I also do WC thru my sump, which cleans out all the silt in there. I have a coral near the top of my tank that doesn't like to be exposed to air at all, so I can't do WC from the tank. Other than the skimmer cup, the rest I clean when needed, which is not very often--about every 6 months.

 

[chadfarmer]

pumps 6 months

skimmer-- i havent had one longer than 6 months

 

[Pufferpunk]

Why is that? Do you keep upgrading them?

 

[racermike27]

Skimmer - 6mths
Powerheads - 6mths
Tank - weekly
Ca Reactor - when the media is finished
Pumps - annually