Sump Maintenance Question

[FTC Aquatics]

I heard two completely different perspectives from fellow reefers this weekend and wanted to see what the broader community thinks.

Do you clean your sump? If so, what’s your reasoning and how often do you do it?

If you don’t clean your sump, have you noticed any impact on your system, or do you feel it’s better to leave it alone?

Also curious about equipment maintenance:

• Do you clean the pumps in your sump?
• If so, how thoroughly and how often?

Trying to get a sense of what most people are doing and what has worked best for their systems.

 

[UnnamedReef]

There's a few threads on this but myself personally I don't clean my sump and I don't run socks. I've got aiptasia and trochus snails in the sump keeping things orderly. I only do water changes a couple times a year and it's worked for me to stay stable with dosing/skimming.

I do clean my return pump every 4-6 months. I have a backup so I just switch pumps while diassembling and scrubbing the old one. Then it goes in a bag for the next pump swap.

 

[56longroof]

I carbon dose so its almost a necessity to clean it once in a while. The slime gets out of hand if I dont. If it wasnt for that I probably would be OK with once a year cleaning. With the filter socks there is little to no detritus.

 

[Dragen Fiend]

Just cleaned my sump this weekend. Its been up for a year. I noticed my return pump output has been a little less. It was covered in all sorts of algae. I have some lightbleed on refugium so stuff ends up growing in the return section.

But usually once a year is good for cleaning.

 

[FTC Aquatics]

I carbon dose so its almost a necessity to clean it once in a while. The slime gets out of hand if I dont. If it wasnt for that I probably would be OK with once a year cleaning. With the filter socks there is little to no detritus.

Curious what you purpose for carbon dosing is?

 

[56longroof]

Curious what you purpose for carbon dosing is?

Nitrate reduction. Im heavily stocked and feed heavy. I was hoping to get away from it with the addition of an algea reactor but I can't get anything to grow very well. So, the next attempt is going to be a Donovan nitrate destroyer. I want to be around 10 ppm nitrate without dosing carbon.

 

[sgdnycct]

I don’t clean my sump BUT I don’t know if it’s an option that down on its own. I don’t run filter socks, do water changes or run protein skimmer-only DSB, Rick and Macro- so my water column has a lot of food for microfauna that works to keep things clean.

My current tank has been running 6 months since upgrading last year. I ported over the sand rock and water. My sump is pristine all on its own. Might be a different story in another 6 months. Not I also don’t do water changes and feed heavily.