vacuuming sump

[Skinner]

What do people use to vacuum out your sumps? The problem i'm having is that the sump and the bucket i use to siphon into are at the same height, so a simple siphon isn't working for me. Has anyone used those battery powered vacuums and how do they work? Any other ideas?

 

[trondsbr]

I use a maxijet 900 with a piece of hose attached to the inlet side and one on the outlet side. It works well as long as it is just detritus you are sucking out, small sand grains will go through ok most of the time but I wouldn't try and suck more than a few grains through there. To start the suction you may have to prime the pump by sucking some water through the suction side until it hits the pump impeller, then it will take off on its own.

 

[Skinner]

Thanks, i'll give that a try.

 

[EddieJ]

Wet/Dry shop vac.. Done...

 

[Skinner]

My wife dug out an old Rio 800 that i forgot i had and it worked great. Thanks for the help.

 

[EllieSuz]

I recently pulled my skimmer out for cleaning and put the rock rubble and Chaeto in the skimmer chamber while I pumped out the 'fuge section with a Maxi-Jet 900. I didn't get it all, but it looked a whole lot better. I don't keep sand in the sump, so I just stirred up the detritus in the refugium and pumped it all out as part of the water change. I've also heard of people using a wet/dry vac, but don't have one.

 

[Deleted member 24321]

i've used a wet dry before but it can be a little messy. I recently bought a cannister filter to do it. It's pretty easy as I just put the outlet back into a filter sock so I don't have to change the water out.

 

[badmotorfinger7]

Get a bucket head from home depot for $10, works awesome!!

 

[pmrossetti]

I hook one of those Python hose things to my kitchen faucet. easy.

 

[Reefahholic]

Wet/Dry shop vac.. Done...

that's what i was thinkin'!

 

[Chris27]

Shop vac works the best, especially since the inlet is so large, you don't have to worry about clogging a hose or pump inlet with precipitation, shells or small inverts.

 

[PDAlber]

Get a bucket head from home depot for $10, works awesome!!

+1 works great. No mess.

 

[Typlus5]

i've used a wet dry before but it can be a little messy. I recently bought a cannister filter to do it. It's pretty easy as I just put the outlet back into a filter sock so I don't have to change the water out.

Exactly what I do with a Marineland 220 canister filter. This works great because I don't have to be in a hurry while I'm vacuuming since I'm not pulling any water out of the system. I normally vacuum just before a water change in case I stir it up too much.

 

[jk1138]

I use a maxijet 900 with a piece of hose attached to the inlet side and one on the outlet side. It works well as long as it is just detritus you are sucking out, small sand grains will go through ok most of the time but I wouldn't try and suck more than a few grains through there. To start the suction you may have to prime the pump by sucking some water through the suction side until it hits the pump impeller, then it will take off on its own.

+1, this is what I do, it works great.

 

[poolkeeper1]

It would be better to stir up the sump by adding a small powerhead and keep this running full time, Instead of removing all the good critter you have in your sump! It's kinda counter productive. Even just stirring it up by hand to let your skimmer pull out the gunk would be better IMO
Bill

 

[cloak]

+1.

I just stir things up with a powerhead right before I do a water change. Hook up a filter sock for a few hours to polish the water and I'm set. Let everything circulate throughout the system and catch it on the way back down. If this is done on a regular basis there won't be much to clean down there. I usually get a great feeding response from some of the corals when this is done.