How do you clean youre skimmers?

[kurtflys]

How do you clean youre skimmers, and how often? my skimmer needs to be clean real bad I think it is not working very good.

 

[NaClH20reeffish]

I use white distilled vinegar. Let it soak and then rinse it out good. A bottle brush will help get it clean.

 

[kurtflys]

I guess you put it in bucket and then let it set in there all night?

 

[tspors]

I set mine in the wash basin (sink) fill it with HOT water and vinegar. I plug in the pump and let it run for an hour then wipe things up I do this every three months.

 

[reef_only]

I don't know what you are talking about. I have ETSS and I clean it like every 2 months and it took me about 5-10minutes each time using small clean pad and hands rising through water.

 

[RokleM]

Every couple weeks I take the skimmer cup off and clean it and the lid. Once or twice a year I remove the skimmer and run it outside with freshwater and a few cups of vinegar.

 

[jdieck]

The recomendation is to clean the riser and collection cup at least once a week to maintain efficiency.
I just remove the tops (which includes half the raiser) and rinse it in a large sink with runing water, clean it with a sponge and dry it with a towel. I take the oportunity to inspect the O rings.
Then take a 1/4 filled bucket with tap water and use the sponge to clean the other half of the riser. Use the water in the bucket to clean the sponge in between sweeps. Then put it back together again.

Once a year I remove the whole skimmer and clean it with a mild solution of muriatic acid (10:1) (vinegar is also good) to remove all internal incrustations. I wipe the o rings and apply a small amount of silicon grease to them.

 

[kurtflys]

I have been cleaning the cup about every two days and now I am not seeing good preformence out it sense the skimmer has been installed. about two mouths ?

 

[RokleM]

kurtflys, there is also a fine line in cleaning TOO much. In my opinion, they work best when there is a slight build-up in the skimmer neck. Freshly cleaned, or too much build-up and it won't function as well.

When you say "clean the cup" are you just dumping it out because it's full, or cleaning the neck/cup/etc?

 

[Reefer Brian]

water/vinegar as well....works everytime.

 

[JaredWaites]

Once you clean your skimmer it will need to 'break' itself back in by building up a film as RokleM has stated.

I clean mine once a week.

 

[DeathWish302]

RokleM is right.... My DIY Franken-Skimmer hits the sweat spot in about a day after cleaning and runs well up to about a week. It then gets a cleaning with ONLY RO/DI water. The water from my faucet has too much chloramine and kills production in the neck for 2-3 days after cleaning.

As for the skimmer body, I might clean it once every 3-6 months.

HTH

 

[Almon]

I empty the cup every couple of days. To clean it, I take it into the backyard and pull out the hose. I powerwash the cup and neck assembly once or twice a week, and powerwash the entire skimmer 2 or 3 times a year

 

[72884]

Old toothbrush + hose = clean skimmer cup

 

[Aqua Keepers]

http://www.getsonicscrubber.com/Default.asp?tcode=asp3&bhcp=1

 

[rainmkr07]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13288233#post13288233 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by RokleM
Every couple weeks I take the skimmer cup off and clean it and the lid. Once or twice a year I remove the skimmer and run it outside with freshwater and a few cups of vinegar.

this is what I do too.

 

[Aquarist007]

Two days skimming--three days and its overflowing

 

[Henryreef]

I also use the vinegar trick, it works great and really cleans it off

 

[reefergeorge]

I clean the neck, and cup every week. Then sell it after a year, and get a new one.