Cleaning Power Heads

[CeeGee]

How do you guys clean your power heads?

I just took one out of my tank to clean and man is it funky! It has alot of coraline on it and some other algaes. Should I just soak everything in vinegar overnight and then rinse with fresh water before reassembly and putting it back in the tank?

I would like to hear your processes for cleaning these guys.

Thanks,
CeeGee

[TippyToeX]

That is pretty much how I clean my pumps (I don't have powerhedas). I let them soak in vinegar for 5 hours or overnight. Then take them apart, clean everything out to make sure there is no large pieces of debris in there. Rinse it off, put it back together and it's good to go. :)

[CeeGee]

Thanks Amy.

Anyone else?

[Rikko]

You'll probably find a majority of people don't even clean them. :O

I personally don't bother too much with the casing.. Corraline or algae or whatever can stay for all I care - if I ever want them cleaned up I soak them in vinegar but that's rarely the case.
Generally I just pull the impeller and scrub it and the impeller well out with a small bottle brush to get the gunk out, and then scrub any passageways where water travels in the powerhead. I just run it under the tap while I do it and only use vinegar on those parts if I see any calcification - generally I don't see anything at all.

[Gawain1974]

Yeah, I'm kinda lazy when it comes to cleaning my powerheads, but when I do, I take them apart and soak them overnight. Then, I take an old toothbrush and plastic potscrubber (only used for aquarium) and scrub off any remaining nasties. Then, I rinse very well in freshwater before reassembling and returning to the tank.

[kraimbelll]

Yeah that's very smart :):):):)http://yurel.com/dg99

[Konadog]

Depending on what pump or powerhead, I "run" them in bleach water to start with for 2 hours, then "run" them in vinegar water for 3 or 4 hours. After that, I take them apart, clean them with a tooth brush, reassemble them and run them in clear water for another hour and return to the tank. It's an all day process for me.

[fewfish]

I have done the same with the vinegar, but I don't just soak it I let it run in it for a few hours.

[CeeGee]

Thanks everyone!

[Shoestring Reefer]

I don't let mine sit overnight. I soak in vinegar and water for 3 or 4 hours, and I use wooden popsicle sticks because we have them handy and they fit well inside the pump body.