Skimmers are gross… how long since you cleaned yours?

[SPS2020]

I clean mine about every two days while changing filter socks. To me, it is extremely important to maintain both of these items in an Acropora dominant environment.

 

[BeanAnimal]

FWIW - I designed a better neck cleaner that would not put the crap back into the neck. But I don't have the time or tooling to build it properly and there would be zero business case to produce it. Interesting design challenge though.

 

[SteveMM62Reef]

My LifeReefs, it takes me less than 5 minutes to Brush Clean the Cup, and Wipe the Neck out with a damp paper towel. I push the Feed Button on my Pump, do both, go back to the first one, wait a few minutes, for the pump to start. I try to wait when the house is empty. BTW, if you have problems with the “O” Ring Sticking, use the Purple Rubber Band that comes on Celery.

 

[X-37B]

On my Tunze skimmers I clean the neck and cup every 3 or 4 days.
The neck and cup are attatched.
On my old frag system that had light in the sump the barrel of the skimmer was coated in corralime and did not effect the performamce.
I typically clean the body every 1-1.5 years.
Old 9410dc thats now on my ext 50.

 

[-XENOMORPH-]

OCD. Once a week. Haha.

 

[tekknow]

Is one even necessary? I use lots of media like filter socks, M1, ceramic balls, filter floss, live rock, volcanic rock...
Isn't the point to have lots of surface are for beneficial bacteria to form? Granted my tank is 200g and only been running for six months and only has 5 fish a few corals, and a few snails. But no water chemistry problems so far. I really don't want a gross skimmer that only causes work for me. Am I asking for problems down the road?

 

[19Mateo83]

I empty and clean the cup on mine about once a week. I just did a complete clean this past Monday where I completely took it apart and cleaned every piece. I noticed it’s been making less and less foam. It’s been one year since I set it up and it’s back to working like new now.

 

[PuertoReef]

Some Uber fancy skimmers have a wash down feature that strikes me as a more elegant solution ….. more expensive as well.

Curious to see any examples of this design, I searched protein skimmer with wash-down feature and couldn't find an example. Could maybe be added to an existing skimmer as a DIY project...

 

[Kodski]

I empty the cup when 3/4 full and fully clean the neck and cup about every two weeks. Basically whenever I notice organic matter starting to build up on the neck I'll clean it. This way it's performing at or near its peak efficiency all the time. I'll clean the body and pumps about every 8-10 months or so.

 

[Reefer Matt]

Clean cups and adjust water height and foam once a week. Fully clean entire skimmer once a year.

 

[NanoNana]

This is one area where a nano tank and a reef glass skimmer rule. No gunk. Cleans in 60 seconds. Lol

 

[ca1ore]

Curious to see any examples of this design, I searched protein skimmer with wash-down feature and couldn't find an example. Could maybe be added to an existing skimmer as a DIY project...

It’s been a while. Perhaps I remember wrong and it was some enterprising chap with DIY.

 

[Formulator]

FWIW - I designed a better neck cleaner that would not put the crap back into the neck. But I don't have the time or tooling to build it properly and there would be zero business case to produce it. Interesting design challenge though.

I was thinking an upside-down umbrella with squeegee edges that goes down the center of the neck, opens, pulls the crud up over the edge, then closes until next cleaning cycle…

Whats your idea?

 

[Formulator]

Is one even necessary? I use lots of media like filter socks, M1, ceramic balls, filter floss, live rock, volcanic rock...
Isn't the point to have lots of surface are for beneficial bacteria to form? Granted my tank is 200g and only been running for six months and only has 5 fish a few corals, and a few snails. But no water chemistry problems so far. I really don't want a gross skimmer that only causes work for me. Am I asking for problems down the road?

They are pretty helpful for removing organics and keeping nitrate and phosphate in check. They also help with gas exchange, keeping water well oxygenated and helping with pH by removing CO2. For a new reefer I would always recommend one. That said, many have proved they are not absolutely a requirement. Probably won’t have much luck with SPS without one though.

Can I ask why you have socks and filter floss?

 

[VintageReefer]

Curious to see any examples of this design, I searched protein skimmer with wash-down feature and couldn't find an example. Could maybe be added to an existing skimmer as a DIY project...

Look for skimmers with automatic neck cleaner

I think that’s the term they use

 

[crazyfishmom]

I clean mine every 2-3 days. Maybe overkill I don’t know.

 

[BeanAnimal]

I was thinking an upside-down umbrella with squeegee edges that goes down the center of the neck, opens, pulls the crud up over the edge, then closes until next cleaning cycle…

Whats your idea?

That is where it started, but the issue is that the gunk would collect in the umbrella as well as foul the mechanism. Right side up, expanding past the neck and being rinsed would work better. The issue with either as they would block the air in the neck, so implementation becomes more complicated than just the basic mechanic.

 

[happyhourhero]

I empty and clean the cup weekly. I haven’t cleaned the pump in at least a year

 

[McPuff]

I usually clean the cup weekly. I clean the actual body of the skimmer twice a year.

 

[Mark Goode]

Err... what?