Deep Cleaning a Protein Skimmer
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- Опубликовано: 18 сен 2024
- Protein skimmers, like any piece of equipment in your tank get dirty - real dirty. Cleaning the neck is important, but every 6 months, your skimmer should be taken out and given a deep cleaning.
In this episode of Mr. Saltwater Tank TV, I show you how to deep clean your skimmer is a cleaner that is probably already sitting in your house.
Thanks for the tip. I have just recently found the majic powers of using vinagar , white vinagar that is to clean my equipment. Love the stuff. Love your channel and keep up the great videos and tips and advice....
No problem... Can't wait to see what you have in store... Lookin forward to it.
@AReptileMan bleach is caustic and can ruin protective coatings on magnets and seals. 1 teaspoon of bleach in a bathtub full of water (at least 20 gallons) is a doctor's prescription to kill any nasty stuff on your skin so 1:10 dillution you were mentioning could certain wreak much more havoc.
@TheOneAndOnlyProdigy The vertex 180 would be a good choice. I used to have that skimmer and I never had any restart issues. It worked well on my tank and I only went to the cone b/c the 180 was too big for my sump - the skimmer body is 8" across which ate up all the room that I had for equipment in my sump
That was funny, how you added the water.
@cf1822003 Yes, it is regular white vinegar.
Your skimmer will experience a bit of a new break-in period once you clean it using this method. However, when skimmers are as dirty as this one is, the skimmer isn't running very efficiently and deep cleaning it is a must.
@TheOneAndOnlyProdigy Go with the 2000. Can you elaborate about why the 3000 didn't have a good foam head? It might not be b/c you were using such a large skimmer is why I'm asking.
A fellow reefkeeper friend of mine has a 5 foot tall euroreef skimmer (rated up to 500G) on his 75G and he gets plenty of skimmate
Reef octos are good. I'd go a model down so that its' rated for 60-75g if they make one.
If your bioload isn't excessive (which it shouldn't be anyways) then your tank will be fine. A large water change while the skimmer is breaking in again will take care of any elevated nutrient levels
A skimmer will help keep your tank water clean and it isn't the only thing that is required to make your corals grow fast. There's lots of factors that go into coral health.
@TheOneAndOnlyProdigy Considering your overstocked tank, I'd get the next size up.
I bought a larger pump from a family member! They said it was new, it looked brand new! I put it in my sump, it was working great. The next few days, everything in my tank was dead. The family member cleaned the pump with BLEACH! The bleach wasn't rinsed out of the pump! Ye, it really sucked! I haven't had the 130 gallon tank running since.
a vinegar bath won't do much to speed up the break-in period. Most break in periods are in only a matter of days anyways so there is no need to speed it up.
Well thanks for the info on making cleaning coraline algae off of aquarium pieces. Just need extra parts so that while I soak one I can use the other to keep things going. awesome
you're welcome!
I was thinking same thing, always best to have a backup.
@ysrfreak87 Thanks for the praise and I'll keep at it! I have some fun things in store including visits to coral farms and a HOT new product that I'll be rolling out to the saltwater aquarium world @ MACNA.
Mark, Great tip. But, what do you do with your tank for 2-3 days while cleaning it?
Will any of the "bad things" from the tap water you used with the vinegar going to enter your tank and change some parameters, or letting the skimmer dry for several hours make it safe from some of the harmful elements of tap water .
nice spray foam job buddy ya chooch it!
question for you mark if you cant reach all the coraline will some vinegar remain in the coraline you couldnt clean or would it rinse out? Im worried about missing some coraline and having it leach vinegar into my tank?
so initially you want us to either A. Let tank run without skimmer for 2 days...or B. Buy a backup skimmer so we can soak our primary one in Vinegar....not what i had in mind.
would it help if you ran the skimmer as if it was in the sump?
+bushydray it won't hurt.
thanks :)
After you run it through the vinegar, do you put it back in the sump or do you have to rinse it to get rid of the vinegar?
Rinse it in tap water. Remember the vinegar bath is in a dilute solution of vinegar, not 100% vinegar
Friend, how do you get to clean the inner tube, the riser tube I think its called... I have SeaClone Protein Skimmer and it seems impossible to get to the inner tube....
hi i have a aqua c remora pro with mag 3 pump. if i use this method to clean my skimmer won't my skimmer start a break in period all over again? and is that a regular white vinegar?
@CassidyBeyer Thanks! What are the videos inspiring you to do with your tank?
hi, how come coralline algae is on your protein skimmer, i have had mine for a long time and it has always been really clean
I don't think coraline will soak up the vinegar and if it did, it would soak so little that I wouldn't worry about hurting your tank. You're literally talking about drops of vinegar vs. the volume of your tank
hi there great video... however will this take away the yellowing effect you get on skimmer bodies. if not is there anything you can recommend. thanks budd
Aaron...no on the yellowing. That's the acrylic aging and becoming stained.
+Mr. Saltwater Tank TV thanks for gettin bk to me much appreciated. lol I always thought skimmer bodies were made of fiberglass.
Nice!
How often do you recommend deep cleaning the skimmer?
if its in a sump what should i turn off to clean it
On the deep cleaning of a protein skimmer, wasn't bad, I use vinegar, but u did not show all the parts to a skimmer when u tore it down to clean, also does it not hurt or effect ur Salt Aquarium to do without a skimmer for those couple of days ???
See you at MACNA, 2017!
HOW SAFE IT IS
how safe is it for the skimmer or the person doing a cleaning?
how often do you need to deep clean your protein skimmer?
+Tbomb I do it whenever the skimmer performance slows down or the skimmer is visibly dirty
Does it lower iodine and other trace element for coral?
cool video but you didnt show it after it was cleaned
We were told not to "Deep Clean" it because it could mess up the PH level of the tank and that it was suppose to be dinner by local fish tank guys?! So they were wrong?
+Stephen Cranford errr...how would deep cleaning a skimmer outside of the tank change the pH level of the tank? Perhaps the lack of oxygenation due to the skimmer would depress the pH and that's a stretch.
@barrettdesigns since youtube won't let me upload a new version, I'll post pictures on my blog and in a future episode.
PLEASE ADD COMMENTS BACK TO YOUR VIDEO'S!
But thanks
This was uncomfortable