How often do you clean your skimmer?

[weaglereefer]

I still haven't gotten my drain line hooked up to my skimmer, but would like to hook the line up with a small valve so I can drain into a coke bottle or something and get rid of it. I don't want it draining into the coke bottle all the time (still have a fear of overflow and getting nasty gunk everywhere), just when I turn the valve every few days so I don't have to unscrew the whole collection cup like I do now.

Speaking of which, do you clean the collection cup? I rinse mine under warm (try to keep it same temp as the tank) water to get the grunge out of the cup itself, but I don't scrub it or anything major.

What about the skimmer itself? How often should it be cleaned, if ever? Should I take it out and sit it in a tub of a vinegar/water solution for an hour? What is your procedure? Mine consists of taking the air inlet tube off the silencer and holding it under water for 10-20 seconds to hopefully get any build up out of the line, and I occasionally take the inlet strainer off the pump and rinse it off (usually when I'm doing a water change) in old water just in case anything is lodged in the strainer reducing flow.

 

[pochaxoo]

Since I am home a lot lately I empty my collection cup every day and rinse it with cold water and use my hands to clean off the large deposits of slime. Then back on the skimmer. I might clean it really well like once every 6 months. I did clean the skimmer body this year....what a pain to get in and out and readjusted. I only do that when I am having production problems.

 

[ralph atl]

Since I use a carbon source, my skimmer needs to be emptied daily. I clean the cup daily, the neck twice a month and the whole skimmer every 5 months or so.

 

[ericmcj31]

I usually just dump mine weekly when I do my WC's; I've never cleaned the body since setting it up (about a year ago)--I've still gotta setup a nice little skimmer on my other tank-I've been running for over 2 years w/o skimmer and doing GREAT! but I do dump the cup and scrub it over w/ my hand and fresh water. I usually just wash under hot water it seems to make the stuff break lose easier

 

[oil_fan]

I normally empty the cup about every 2 weeks or so. But I do clean it out thoroughly. And it is some disgusting stuff to be sure!!!:yuk:

 

[mockery]

What is a skimmer??

JK, when i was running one i cleaned it about every 3 days or when I was bored really. But right now i'm running skimmerless until i get my sump going.

 

[washowi]

when the cup is full

 

[nickskains]

washowi;284530 wrote: when the cup is full

LOL :yes: Same.

 

[kirru]

i borrowed a skimmer from Mark (flyingarmy) and it has a drain line and I have that dumping in to a 2 liter coke bottle, its starting to get some in the bottle, not much. seems wet though. but it is a fairly new tank so I don't expect much.

 

[weaglereefer]

Kirru;284577 wrote: i borrowed a skimmer from Mark (flyingarmy) and it has a drain line and I have that dumping in to a 2 liter coke bottle, its starting to get some in the bottle, not much. seems wet though. but it is a fairly new tank so I don't expect much.

That's what I'd like to do, but I only want to drain it when I want to empty it, not just have an open drain. I don't want something to happen and it just start dumping skimmate all over the inside of the stand if the bottle overflows.

 

[drnecropolis]

Your supposed to clean skimmers?

 

[weaglereefer]

Ok, I guess my question is more of, if I do use a valve to drain into a jug or something, will I need to clean the neck regularly? I assume that letting the cup fill up, then draining it will still leave behind some gunk, but is that anything to be worried about?

 

[seedless reefer]

My MRC skimmer's cup attaches with thumb screws so taking it off to clean it would be a real pain.

I drain my cup via tube into a 5 gallon jug and never clean the inside of the skimmer.

I will be taking this tank down in the next few days and will give the skimmer and it's parts a good cleaning then.

 

[zdaytonaroadster]

when its full, about once a week

 

[thanh386]

washowi;284530 wrote: when the cup is full

Hehe, I love 4chan/b/ response! Yours reminded me of a response i am reading off there.

 

[christopherjay]

I clean mine out once a week