Cleaning sump (1 Viewer)

[Wingnut]

Hey how do and often do y'all clean your sump, I have some debris collecting on the bottom of my sump, was thinking about adding a small power head to keep it from settling , would love some advice on this situation. Thanks

 

[rparker2112]

Hey how do and often do y'all clean your sump, I have some debris collecting on the bottom of my sump, was thinking about adding a small power head to keep it from settling , would love some advice on this situation. Thanks

Id rather have it settle in the sump and turkey bast it out and then do your water change from the sump.

 

[Wingnut]

Cool , but I am not sure how to do a water change from the sump a siphon want work from my sump. Do just set up a pump and pump it out of sump.

 

[Wingnut]

Sorry I understand what you ment now. Thanks

 

[jkl4971]

I pump as much of the water I can out of the sump and then use a shop vac to get the debris and any remaining water

 

[rparker2112]

I use a small pump and pump it up into your bucket. If its real dirty shop vac up any water thats remaining.

My next sump/tank will have drains that feed into my sewer. Tired of buckets.

 

[Wingnut]

Thanks , love the drain idea the buckets do get old

 

[Clownfish Chris]

I added a pvc overflow to my sump. This way, I can just run a hose to a drain and fill the display. As the water level in the sump rises, it overflows into the drain. I loose a very small amount of new water but it is well worth it. A 40 gallon water change takes 10 minutes of me watching to make sure it all goes as planned.

I do have a small power head in the sump to keep detritus suspended.

 

[Wingnut]

Cool , will have to look in to something to make water changes easier , but I am only doing water change for 90 gallon , so it is not that bad but have cleaned my sump that is tonight project.

 

[rparker2112]

I added a pvc overflow to my sump. This way, I can just run a hose to a drain and fill the display. As the water level in the sump rises, it overflows into the drain. I loose a very small amount of new water but it is well worth it. A 40 gallon water change takes 10 minutes of me watching to make sure it all goes as planned.

I do have a small power head in the sump to keep detritus suspended.

Show us some pics, I have a 40b im setting up as a sump. Id love to steal a few ideas

 

[Clownfish Chris]

Show us some pics, I have a 40b im setting up as a sump. Id love to steal a few ideas

Sure! Ill post some pics tonight when I get home. I need to update the Walt Disney Acro thread as well.

 

[Mark L.]

Clean out your sump real good 1 time. Once it looks brand new buy one of these glass cleaning brushes at Walmart. I keep one hanging in my stand. Every morning I pump my ZEOlite reactor then grab my brush and wipe down my sump. Takes less than 1 minute to keep your sump looking new. I've found that using a power head doesn't keep the sump clean over a period of time. detritus sticks to the bottle and builds up over time. All it takes is a quick wipe to stir up what has collected over the past 24 hours. The key is to stay on top of it and never let it get bad.

Also feel the bristles. Most are made from a very hard plastic. You want to find one that has soft bristles.

 

[rparker2112]

Clean out your sump real good 1 time. Once it looks brand new buy one of these glass cleaning brushes at Walmart. I keep one hanging in my stand. Every morning I pump my ZEOlite reactor then grab my brush and wipe down my sump. Takes less than 1 minute to keep your sump looking new. I've found that using a power head doesn't keep the sump clean over a period of time. detritus sticks to the bottle and builds up over time. All it takes is a quick wipe to stir up what has collected over the past 24 hours. The key is to stay on top of it and never let it get bad.

Also feel the bristles. Most are made from a very hard plastic. You want to find one that has soft bristles.

Aka soft toilet bowl brush. Costco is where I bought a couple before. Works great in the spokes of my Harley too!!!