sludge vacume?

[steveboo]

Anyone ever make a sludge vacume? Im thinking about trying to make one out of a powerhead and tubing , just got done cleaning out my sump with a turkey baster , man that was not very much fun. Im sure someone has tried it before.Any help would be apreciated.

Thanks , Steve

 

[pitt_prodigy]

Never heard of one.... but i think that your idea might not work due to the "sludge" you speak of clogging your pump up quickly. Wet/dry vac would work though.... only thing is it would suck a hell of a lot of water out too!! Good luck. Who knows give your idea a shot.

 

[BruiseAndy]

im thinking 5 gallon bucket with 2 holes in lid, one for vacuum hookup and one for sludge sucker. You can choose what size sludge hose you want and even put on a valve to regulate. Turn on vacuum, suck sludge.

 

[steveboo]

That sounds like a good idea BruiseAndy, I think the bucket would have to be air tight as well as the fitings. Im thinking maybe half inch hose?

 

[david8956]

I just use a Maxi Jet 1200 with the intake "screen" removed and a short piece of 1/2" tubing on the outlet. I direct the hose into my filter sock while holding the body of the MJ while using it to vacuum my sump. That way I don't waste any water, yet am still able to clean my sump quickly.

 

[scbadiver]

I have an old fluval 303 that i pack the lower basket with polyester fill(from walmart a couple of bucks) I put a chunk of either carbon pad or polyfilter on top of that, then 2 fluval sponges in the top 2 chambers. I put a long hose on the intake and the exhaust hose in the othe part of the sump and suck away. if starts to pump dirty wter I stop but I only had that happen once when it was really dirty. Works great, lose no water.

 

[BtheReef]

It's amazing how many of my 'great ideas' have already made it onto the RC board, lol.

I was having the same sump cleaning problem and came up with this idea a few nights ago. Here's my crappy mspaint rendering of a sump mini vac you can attatch to a powerhead. I haven't actually built it yet, but I will experiment this week.

I'm going to try a peanut butter jar first and see how watertight I can make it. I think some kind of flat rubber o-ring would create a good seal. This design will help save some ph impellers from non-organic debris and allow me to quickly remove detritus from the sump or tank withough doing a excessive water changes.

I'll let you know how it works out. Please feel free to suggest improvements/modifications, but I want to keep the unit as simple and cheap as possible.

 

[mikeatjac]

I do what david8956 does but thinking about cutting back to an mj600.

 

[doody]

david8956,
So the sock is actually in the tank while you do this?

Reef Base,
I'd like to see the outcome of your project.

 

[david8956]

So the sock is actually in the tank while you do this?

Sock is still in the sump, I just move it out of the way a little while "vacuuming". This way the hose on the outlet of the MJ only needs to be 18" or so long, and clean water runs through the sock right back into the sump. Sock is just there to hold all of the crud the MJ sucks up.

 

[BruiseAndy]

5 gallon buckets and lids are cheap, airtight, and made of heavy gauge plastic so sealing should be easy.

 

[Barto]

Something like this?

http://www.petco.com/Shop/Product.a...N=0&Ntt=gravel%20vac&Nav=1&N=0&Ntt=gravel+vac

 

[doody]

I'm sumpless.

 

[AEreefer]

i do it. my maxijet1200 has no problem with sucking up sand or large bits and never does any damage to the impellor

 

[doody]

I need to do some kind of contraption that Reef Base is talking about because I am sumpless. Anyone done anything like it?

 

[RandyStacyE]

 

[RandyStacyE]

DIY Filtersocks:
http://randystacye.com/diy_filter_sock.htm

 

[Barto]

http://www.cichlid-forum.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=102572

Saw this DIY over on the Cichlid forum, looks effective & simple (both good things IME)

 

[frank2926]

Is this one of those things where the simplest idea is just to easy? and over complicating it is just to much fun?

Instead of vacuuming out the display when doing a water change I just take it out of the sump and then get out the old shop vac.

 

[impur]

Same here. I drain one section of my sump for the WC, grab the shop vac and suck out any crap in there. Quick and easy.