stagefright13
New member
OMG I removed my protein skimmer to get the salt off the external parts. It is really big for my small 10 gallon sump. After I looked under it I saw GIANT plates of crust broke off of the tanks surface. It is an ETSS skimmer and I had to pry the bioballs out of the tower with a coat hanger and replace them all.
Long story short I ended up using the mag7 skimmer pump to drain the sump. Man they pump like crazy. Like my kitchen faucet but twice as fast! Fire hydrant style. Then pulled hardened SHEETS of sediment out of the sump. Wich were covered with 1000's of worms. I had to pull the whole sump and use a cleaver to scrape it down. And there was one spot that couldn't be cleaned even with that. Near the return.
How often do people take their sumps down or skimmers? Obviously 6 years for me was too long.
I can't believe the performance of my skimmer now after a thorough cleanup! It even has it's sound back. And super foam once again. Do you think I might get some nitrates after killing 3000 worms? Do worms eat nitrates?
I did this last night and am waiting for the lights to turn on before I test it. I also changed 5 gallons of water. It's a 29.
Long story short I ended up using the mag7 skimmer pump to drain the sump. Man they pump like crazy. Like my kitchen faucet but twice as fast! Fire hydrant style. Then pulled hardened SHEETS of sediment out of the sump. Wich were covered with 1000's of worms. I had to pull the whole sump and use a cleaver to scrape it down. And there was one spot that couldn't be cleaned even with that. Near the return.
How often do people take their sumps down or skimmers? Obviously 6 years for me was too long.
I can't believe the performance of my skimmer now after a thorough cleanup! It even has it's sound back. And super foam once again. Do you think I might get some nitrates after killing 3000 worms? Do worms eat nitrates?
I did this last night and am waiting for the lights to turn on before I test it. I also changed 5 gallons of water. It's a 29.
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