How do you clean your sump ?

[danellis06460]

Hi,

I have quite a mess in the bottom of my sump, how does everyone go about cleaning it ?

I am battling high nitrates at the moment and I dont know if this is a cause, I also have a filter sock over the drain, I am going to remove this so things are only going to get messier.

[edsreef]

I use a large, veterinarian type syringe connected to long, small piece of tubing and "suck" it out with that. I've also used a turkey baster. HTH.

[greg s]

i use a fluval 304 canister filter.. it cleans it out and you dont lose
water..or put the out put to a bucket and do a wtr change!

[saltywater180]

You can use a powerhead with a piece of hose on there during a water change, just suck the crap out thru the pump.

[kebo]

I have a small wet vac with several small attachments that work very well. I was having the same problem with nitrates and i have since seen a dramatic decrease after cleaning the filter and a couple of water changes.

[Xmodius]

Hmmm...I'll let you know when I get around to doing it.

[bone]

danellis06460,

I have been cleaning my sump about once a month for the last couple of years with no negative effects on the tank. My sump is a 20gal long which hold my skimmer, pump and calcium reactor. I just drain all the water clean all equipment and bring the tank outside to hose it out. I then put the tank under the stand and fill with new water that I had mixed the night before. This also replacing the water change that I would have done on the tank.

[fishtanker]

wet/dry vac...works great

[Scuba_Dave]

You're supposed to clean it??
Haven't so far, set up tank 6 months ago. I do have a wet/vac...so if I get A Round Tuit...

[wakesetter]

I agree with the wet dry vac

[danellis06460]

Nice suggestions guys, I never thought of the wet dry vac, I have a huge one, I will have to see if I can find a small one just for this purpose.

Now if only I could lose my filter sock, if I do the water gets messy pretty quickly.

Bone, thats a lot of work to empty and remove the sump every month !!! Your dedication is awesome, my sump wont even come out of the stand now.

[Kaiser Tang]

IMO, you don't need to remove and scrun out your sump. You can, but don't need to. just shut your pumps down wipe down the walls and siphon out the debris. I do this every two weeks. I usually suck out 10 gallons of water with debris (AKA water change). If you need to remove debris more often, then the fluval idea sounds really good.

[electric130]

i haven't touched my sump in 2 years. i don't clean it at all. the only thing in my tank i clean is the glass and the skimmer cup. i don't siphon anything, i don't blow debris/detritus off the rocks. i let it go. i've done this for 4 years. current sump has been in use for 2 years. there's very little debris in there. i you have a good skimmer and enough flow, it won't be a problem.

[Tomzpc]

I take a turkey buster and blow it all back into the water column. I've been doing it that way for years.