How Often Do You Clean You're Skimmer?

[melev]

Is the skimmer more effective when the neck is clean or when gunk has built up in it or is there no difference ?

It makes a huge difference. Clean the neck often. I've used different methods, including wiping it out with paper towels, using a wet sponge, and later a dedicated toilet brush. Now I have a Skimmer Swabbie that cleans it with a squeegee 8 times a day. :)

 

[larangcon]

When the collection cup is full, I clean it right after dumping this smelly foul dirty green scum of water

 

[Spsnut]

I try to empty and clean mine before the waste can pour back down the neck onto me feet when dumping it in the sink, which should be at least twice a week or more depending where I have it set at. About every 3-6 weeks the skimmer begins producing bubbles through the out feed because something is caught in the needle wheel that i need to remove, at the same time I usually run the pump in vinegar for a couple hours mainly because I have it out.

 

[tmg1286]

Weekly works best for me. Additionally, I clean the entire skimmer about once very 3-4 weeks (dependent on how much sediment I see built up on the bottom of the skimmer). I'm running a Reef Octopus BH1000-HOB.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Weekly................ neck and collection cup.

I'm a little confused...skimmer, neck of skimmer or collection cup?

I clean my cup every time I empty it (about every 3-4 days), skimmer neck about every other time I empty the cup I wipe it off, completely disassemble and clean the skimmer about every 2-3 months.

 

[Flameback Pair]

It makes a huge difference. Clean the neck often. I've used different methods, including wiping it out with paper towels, using a wet sponge, and later a dedicated toilet brush. Now I have a Skimmer Swabbie that cleans it with a squeegee 8 times a day. :)

Anthony Calfo also says the cup neck should always be free of crud which impedes the movement of foam from the neck and up into the cup. When I dump the cup I always clean the whole cup, neck-and-all but in between dumpings I run a bottle brush down the neck while it still sits on the body of skimmer. It's like a poor man's swabbie. It took me awhile to find a bottle brush I really like.

 

[bigfoot86]

3-4 days

 

[Gadsby15]

Once a week, same as my filter sock

 

[RedReefer]

When the cup is full every five days or so. I run a sro xp1000sss on 65 gal total water volume.

 

[Reef-roach]

I dump the collection cup every 5-7 days and clean the neck every time.

 

[SlammedVQ35]

I clean mine when I do a water change once a week, or if it's real dirty I'll clean it. I have this body scrubber thing that goes on your hand, it's sole purpose is to clean my skimmer lol. That automated cleaner sounds sweet!

 

[Liquidgold]

I use a cheap squeegee from $.99 store to clean collection cup in between my weekly deep clean schedule. Works great.