How often to clean pumps?

[cgill311]

So my Rio 6HF pump seized today. After a quick soak in vinegar it came back to life. I bought it brand new in April of this year.

So mine lasted about 6 months before I had to clean it. How often do you guys generally clean your pumps?

 

[jmaneyapanda]

i ahve been running a mag 12 for over 2 years 24/7 and have never cleaned it. The magnetic drive pumps that turn off and on (ie- powerhead), are much more prone to deposit and seizing.

 

[fishwhisperer]

I guess a good rule of thumb would be to clean them every 6 months. I usually clean them when they stop working.....not suggesting that of course!

 

[mojo]

Depends on how high you keep the calcium and alk in your tank. The higher they are and the warmer the pump runs, the more often you need to clean them.

Abiotic precipitation of calcium is accelerated under warmer temperatures, which means that our pumps and heaters get coated with calcium first...

 

[schwaggs]

Chris is right on with this. When I ran my Ca at 450+, I needed to clean them every 3 to 6 months. Now that I keep my Ca at 390-410, I can't even see any deposits after 12 months.

 

[gwen_o_lyn]

I thoroughly clean out my pumps once per year. I buy about 10 gallons of vinegar and use 10g in water and put all the pumps in the bathtub and let them run 1-2 days.

I also clean them out every 3-4 months with a toothbrush.

 

[kevin]

guess i should do that... i just clean them with tooth brushes