PSA: Clean your return pipes.

[SeeingGreen]

So, I was assisting a friend with aquarium maintenance and was startled that the return pump (larger than on my aquarium) seemed to produce very little flow by comparison.

In the process of determining why, the loc-line was pulled and the answer presented itself. There was a fairly solid mass for the first foot of the loc-line. Currently brainstorming how to attack any build up that may be in the bulkhead.

 

[143MPCo]

Vinegar, or Distiller Residue Cleaner

That's assuming you can remove the bulkhead to clean it.

 

[AZDesertRat]

Fluval sells a set of long handled brushes in assorted sizes that I run through my plumbing a couple times a year. They work pretty good as long as the build up is not solidified.

 

[rayn]

Wowzer! Going to clean mine now! How long has this been running?

 

[redfishbluefish]

Wow! Wow! Wow! Can you tell what it is? Is it hard or soft? From the picture it looks flaky. If you can get the parts off, muriatic acid would work faster than vinegar dissolving anything hard...but handle with care, it is hydrochloric acid. You can find it at HD.

 

[SeeingGreen]

It was hard. Busted it up with a bottle brush rather than remove the bulkhead. Due to access.

 

[Waters]

So what do you do if the sump sits in another room? I suppose you have to replace the PVC every other year or so?

 

[SeeingGreen]

It was strange. Thus was only accumulated in the loc-line. There is vinyl tube from the pump to the bulkhead. And that was all clean. I wonder if it was just because of the shape of the interior on loc-line allowed precipitation sites?

 

[Waters]

Yeah, that could be. The smooth surfaces of the PVC may prevent the majority of the build up.....at least that is what I am going to tell myself.

 

[mr_gasket]

This calcium buildup really only started when I began dosing two-part which was about a year ago. I thought I was dosing way too much two-part, and causing the calcium to precipitate out. I stopped dosing two part for a few days to make sure my dosing was in line with my tank needs, and it was. Clearly, I am still having problems with calcium precipitation. I am dosing 30 mins apart, but may switch to dosing alkalinity at night and calcium during the day to see if that helps. Also, the pump may have blown the inside of the tube clean when I installed a new one the other day, and caused all the little flaky pieces attached to the tube wall to collect where the flow necked down into the loc-line. I'd really like to figure out why I have so much calcium buildup in the first place. Hopefully the switch to daytime dosing of calcium changes that.