Bath day

[hiimsean]

My skimmer has been putting out a ton of micro bubbles lately and overflowing so I tossed it in some water with vinegar, been running for an hour or so so far. I was thinking of doing the same for my return pump. I did all my powerheads about a month ago.

How often/long do you guys clean/soak your equipment.

 

[lsu_fishfan]

I do it every 3-4 monthes for my skimmer. Never thought about doing it on a return

 

[acroholic]

On my VorTechs, only if they stop working. Just vinegar soaked the wet side of the single MP40 I use in my 100 cube, and only because the turf algae growing on it had gotten so thick it looked furry.

The five tangs in my 465 actually do a great job keeping the wet sides clean on my MP60s. I used to have to clean them from algae once in a while, but one of them took a liking to the algae growing on them, and now they all graze them in low rpm moments of the NTM program I run.

Also, I think it is funny how some return pumps can get a calcium buildup on the drive shafts and some don't. I never get that on my return pumps, and I dose all my evaporation makeup water through a kalk reactor, and I also use a calcium reactor. Only buildup I ever see is some on my titanium heaters, and that wipes clean with a scrub sponge.

But I know a guy that has to clean his Iwaki return pump ever few months or it stops turning. Go figure?

 

[maelstrom79]

Don't tell me that about the iwaki pumps , I just got one!
I soak stuff when I notice it's underperforming. Whether that's the skimmer or a noisy return pump....

 

[acroholic]

Maelstrom79;983763 wrote: Don't tell me that about the iwaki pumps , I just got one!
I soak stuff when I notice it's underperforming. Whether that's the skimmer or a noisy return pump....

I run an Iwaki 70 return pump on my 465. Not everyone has deposit issues on their return pumps.