Cleaning & Setting Up A Protein Skimmer?

[legulli]

Hi everyone,

I am somewhat new to the hobby. I've had aquariums for about a year now (saltwater only). I usually had an aquarium maintenance person but have become confident enough to do some of it myself. Yesterday, I completed my first 50% water change in my 90gal on my own! Woohoo! And we recently set up an RO/DI system (although in doing the water change I realized I also need a saltwater holding area so I'm not mixing up loads of saltwater last minute).

Anyways! I have had an OK skimmer in my 150gal but it really needed a bigger, more powerful one (which I just bought). That being said, I'd like to take the skimmer from the 150gal and put it in the 90gal (which currently doesn't have a skimmer). The 150gal hasn't been running for several months and the skimmer looks pretty green and gross. How do I take it out, clean it and set it up in my 90gal?

Thanks!

 

[JohnL]

Welcome to Reef Central. Can you post a photo of the skimmer you are looking to move?

 

[Reefing102]

Welcome! While photos definitely help, I do have some general guidance. If it’s an in sump skimmer, you should be able to just turn it off and lift it out of the sump area (be sure to remove the collection cup first to give more space and so the skimmate doesn’t spill all over).

To clean it, take apart what you can, (such as the pump, collection cup, etc), and give it a good scrub with a sponge or cleaning brush. If it’s a more calcerous build up, like coralline, or even just calcium deposits (not likely but possible), a soak in citric acid should help (there’s a YouTube video from ReefDudes out there that describes this process).

Once clean, just put back together and you should be good to go to put in your 90. Just be aware some skimmers have minimum/maximum water levels so depending on the sump on the 90, you may need to raise the skimmer or the water level. Also, the skimmer will likely need to be re-tuned to produce a proper skim (depends if you like a wet or dry skim)

 

[kharmaguru]

Welcome! While photos definitely help, I do have some general guidance. If it’s an in sump skimmer, you should be able to just turn it off and lift it out of the sump area (be sure to remove the collection cup first to give more space and so the skimmate doesn’t spill all over).

To clean it, take apart what you can, (such as the pump, collection cup, etc), and give it a good scrub with a sponge or cleaning brush. If it’s a more calcerous build up, like coralline, or even just calcium deposits (not likely but possible), a soak in citric acid should help (there’s a YouTube video from ReefDudes out there that describes this process).

Once clean, just put back together and you should be good to go to put in your 90. Just be aware some skimmers have minimum/maximum water levels so depending on the sump on the 90, you may need to raise the skimmer or the water level. Also, the skimmer will likely need to be re-tuned to produce a proper skim (depends if you like a wet or dry skim)

+ no soap or buckets that had soap. Vinegar or citric acid or just tap water and elbow grease.