How to Clean Protein Skimmer

Best protein skimmers are a key tool for keeping up water quality but are often ignored when it comes to cleaning and maintenance. Not carrying out a regular cleaning on skimmer can have a bad effect on your aquarium system.

Found on your tank, protein skimmers are no doubt the dirtiest piece of gear and are likewise the one that should be given the highest concentration to keep your tank always clean and working properly. Proper cleaning of the neck is essential, but every six-month interval, your protein skimmer should be disassembled and given a very good cleaning.

In this article, we will show you how to properly give your protein skimmer a deep cleaning. So read on and learn how to properly clean a protein skimmer!

Protein Skimmer Cleaning Guide

After several moments of usage, your protein skimmer will end up covered with a biofilm, that is a fancy term for coated in bacteria and dirt. If you remember, there was a break-in timeframe that was required before your skimmer really began expelling some serious filthiness from your aquarium water, but the question now is: when last did you give the protein skimmer a deep cleaning?

We presume that you routinely clean the skimmer container, since it will flow over if you don’t and the dreadful buildup in that container is just gazing you in the face, yet when last did you remove the skimmer from the sump or off the back of the aquarium and cleaned it up?

It is highly recommended that protein skimmers should be taken out for proper cleaning at least every six months so as to deliver the best job. As a major aspect of the cleaning process, the first thing is to replace the air tubing. There is no good reason for cleaning it, as it doesn’t work effectively after some time.

Depending on your bioload and the size, cleaning your collection container three times each week is an absolute necessity if you want to keep your tank clean always. If your aquarium water is fairly spotless, you may have to clean the container just a few times each week, but in case you are running a heavy feeder or a big bioload, you may need to clean it every day.

Skimmate, the term popularly used to regard the dissolved organics removed from a particular water that gathers in the accumulation container, comes off easily so you just need to wash the container and use a pad to wipe it down. Then again, the body of the protein skimmer, which can develop coralline algae and some other calcareous microorganisms, is somewhat hard to clean. Every six months, you just need to clean the protein skimmer body if the accumulation and growth are normal.

To quickly eliminate the coralline algae and other organisms, simply empty all the water from the skimmer, expel it and then soak it in a container. Make use of one part of white vinegar to the range of 10 to 20 water parts. Allow it to soak properly until the coralline algae and other hard residues are easy to eliminate.

Wipe down the skimmer body all around. Then, wash with new water and set it back on your tank. Also, remember your sensors, pumps or other additional items (such as automatic cleaning gear). The deposit can gather on pump impeller magnets and blades, sensors and any place it can find a spot to develop as well. Simply soak in a similar vinegar and water blend, wipe with a little brush just like a toothbrush and then use water to rinse it.

You may have to do some extra cleaning each month, for example, rinsing parts that gather salt creep. Simply pour clean water into the region until the point that the salt has dissolved. You can make use of a turkey baster, or medicine syringe or a large oral to forcefully coordinate the water into a particular place. Salt creep will block the air from flowing effectively through the pipes and this will make your protein skimmer to function less productively.

How to clean your protein skimmer for saltwater aquarium

Conclusion

In conclusion, a protein skimmer is a standout amongst the most helpful gadgets in the reef keeping activity at maintaining clean and spotless water. we believe this content was helpful in revealing some insight into the subject of ‘how to clean protein skimmer properly’

Keeping your protein skimmer clean will give it a long lifespan and keep it working at its maximum capacity. In addition, nobody wants to own a tank that has a horrible smell! With a deep cleaning, the protein skimmer should come back to top performance hauling out the greatest amount of skimmate every day. By doing this occasional cleaning, owners can quickly tell if parts of the skimmer are in need of repair or replacement, ideally before sudden failure.