Sump Maintenance Help

fishyman12 · 09/10/2011, 10:14 AM

How do you clean out the poop and junk in your sump? My sump is on the ground so a siphon doesn't work. How do I get the junk out of there!!

Sk8r · 09/10/2011, 10:29 AM

Turkey baster: suck, don't blow. Plus getting some critters to live down there that WON'T get sucked into an intake: you have to do some screening. SNails, crabs are good at it. Either that, if you have room---put some sand and rock down there WITH crabs and snails, a small light, and they'll process the brown fluff without your having to do a thing.

pete33 · 09/10/2011, 12:42 PM

I clean my pumps between 3 and 4 months. When I pull everything out I just use a cheap wet/dry shop vac. Works great.

cloak · 09/10/2011, 01:23 PM

I don't have a refuge or any baffles, so I use a powerhead right before I do a water change to stir everything up. This get's everything up into the DT and the filter sock I use catches it on the way back down. I get a great feeding response from the corals when this happens. Lot's of polyps out.

papagimp · 09/10/2011, 02:16 PM

I've got some tubing stuck to the intake side of a maxi jet and use it that way to clear the sump if need be.

09/10/2011, 10:14 AM	#1
fishyman12 Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: Maryland Posts: 122	Sump Maintenance Help How do you clean out the poop and junk in your sump? My sump is on the ground so a siphon doesn't work. How do I get the junk out of there!! __________________ FISH ARE FRIENDS, NOT FOOD Current Tank Info: 46 Bowfront Reef Tank 30 Gallon Sump

09/10/2011, 10:29 AM	#2
Sk8r RC Mod Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Spokane WA Posts: 34,628 Blog Entries: 55	Turkey baster: suck, don't blow. Plus getting some critters to live down there that WON'T get sucked into an intake: you have to do some screening. SNails, crabs are good at it. Either that, if you have room---put some sand and rock down there WITH crabs and snails, a small light, and they'll process the brown fluff without your having to do a thing. __________________ Sk8r Salinity 1.024-6; alkalinity 8.3-9.3 on KH scale; calcium 420; magnesium 1300, temp 78-80, nitrate .2. Ammonia 0. No filters: lps tank. Alk and cal won't rise if mg is low. Current Tank Info: 105g AquaVim wedge, yellow tang, sailfin blenny,royal gramma, ocellaris clown pair, yellow watchman, 100 microceriths, 25 tiny hermits, a 4" conch, 1" nassarius, recovering from 2 year hiatus with daily water change of 10%.

09/10/2011, 12:42 PM	#3
pete33 Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Granada Hills, CA Posts: 259	I clean my pumps between 3 and 4 months. When I pull everything out I just use a cheap wet/dry shop vac. Works great. __________________ 29 gal. Sea Clear / eshopps sump-overflow-skimmer / Eheim 1250 / Arctica chiller / BRS GFO Reactor / Belize Sun 250 W.

09/10/2011, 01:23 PM	#4
cloak Moved On Join Date: Jul 2000 Location: Stockton, CA Posts: 14,854	I don't have a refuge or any baffles, so I use a powerhead right before I do a water change to stir everything up. This get's everything up into the DT and the filter sock I use catches it on the way back down. I get a great feeding response from the corals when this happens. Lot's of polyps out. Last edited by cloak; 09/10/2011 at 02:23 PM.

09/10/2011, 02:16 PM	#5
papagimp COMAS Rocks! Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Oklahoma City, OK Posts: 8,185 Blog Entries: 2	I've got some tubing stuck to the intake side of a maxi jet and use it that way to clear the sump if need be. __________________ 58g Softie & 75g Stoney Member, Central Oklahoma Marine Aquarium Society Current Tank Info: 58g Mixed Reef Project - Started June 2011

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