Cleaning Pumps and Powerheads

AndtheBonus

AndtheBonus

Member
Alright well its time to give all my pumps and powerheads a nice cleaning. Can I let my them sit in a bucket with water and vinegar for a day or two? If so, is any good old vinegar from the grocery store good to go or should I look for a specific kind/brand? Also, this may be a stupid question but I am going to ask anyways lol... Can I use tap water to mix with the vinegar and then wash the pumps off with RO/DI water before they go back into the tank or should I just use RO/DI water the whole time. The reason I am asking is because the LFS is a little far away and I rather cut down on the trip if I can but obviously if I shouldn't use tap water then I won't.


Thanks in advance for the help
-Mitch
 
Raoul5Duke

Raoul5Duke

Member
I've recently been purchasing some used equipment for a tank I am setting up and I've had to clean all of it up. I was told to purchase regular white vinegar. I simply dumped a gallon of it into a 15 gallon tank I was cleaning up and then added 5-8 gallons of tap water. I let the PHs and a skimmer I was cleaning run in the solution for 24 hours, then I let it soak/run for another day in plain tap water. After that I wiped everything down and rinsed it off. I think it might be overkill to rinse in RO/DI, but if you want to err on the side of caution it couldn't hurt. The old corraline should either fall off or be easily wiped off after the 1st soaking. Some people told me they used straight vinegar and some mixed with water. This works really good. HTH.
 
jgking21

jgking21

Member
Agree with Duke! I've used White Vinegar and mixed with tap water. Good rinsing wit RO before it went back in the tank.

Are you going to clean everything at once? What about circulation in your tank for that time period? IMO, cleaning too much at once can shock your tank a bit. My suggestion, go slow, 1 or 2 items at a time.
 
AndtheBonus

AndtheBonus

Member
Well this is the deal. I have had a ton of HA in my tank. I've put in poly filters, I've scrubbed the rocks, I've done countess water changes, scrubbed the rocks like crazy and still the HA continued to grow. I had no fish in there so I was not feeding too much and I went periods of 4 to 5 days with the lights off and still no help! My LFS and I have been baffled! I brought my water to them every week to test my water and everything was perfect for 6 months. Nitrates 0, Nitrites 0, Ammonia 0, SG- 1.026, Magenesium and Calcium were a little low but the levels were brought up steadily by dosing. Sooooo we (the LFS and I) have decided that it is best to break down the tank and start from scratch. They are being kind enough to clean my rocks inside and out and to hold all of my corals until the tank recycles.

LOL after this long explanation all in all there is nothing in the tank so no flow will not be a problem lol. I emptied everything and will be scrubbing the tank very well for the next week or so until I get my rocks back.
 
jgking21

jgking21

Member
Good Luck, sounds like you have a good plan! Sorry that you are going through this, but kudos to you for doing it and hanging with the hobby!
 
davyr

davyr

New Member
AndtheBonus said:
Alright well its time to give all my pumps and powerheads a nice cleaning. Can I let my them sit in a bucket with water and vinegar for a day or two? If so, is any good old vinegar from the grocery store good to go or should I look for a specific kind/brand? Also, this may be a stupid question but I am going to ask anyways lol... Can I use tap water to mix with the vinegar and then wash the pumps off with RO/DI water before they go back into the tank or should I just use RO/DI water the whole time. The reason I am asking is because the LFS is a little far away and I rather cut down on the trip if I can but obviously if I shouldn't use tap water then I won't.


Thanks in advance for the help
-Mitch
Click to expand...

Vinegar will be fine mate just make sure you use white vinegar and then when you have finished just wash them in ro water.
 
davyr

davyr

New Member
AndtheBonus said:
Well this is the deal. I have had a ton of HA in my tank. I've put in poly filters, I've scrubbed the rocks, I've done countess water changes, scrubbed the rocks like crazy and still the HA continued to grow. I had no fish in there so I was not feeding too much and I went periods of 4 to 5 days with the lights off and still no help! My LFS and I have been baffled! I brought my water to them every week to test my water and everything was perfect for 6 months. Nitrates 0, Nitrites 0, Ammonia 0, SG- 1.026, Magenesium and Calcium were a little low but the levels were brought up steadily by dosing. Sooooo we (the LFS and I) have decided that it is best to break down the tank and start from scratch. They are being kind enough to clean my rocks inside and out and to hold all of my corals until the tank recycles.

LOL after this long explanation all in all there is nothing in the tank so no flow will not be a problem lol. I emptied everything and will be scrubbing the tank very well for the next week or so until I get my rocks back.
Click to expand...

Over here in the U.K. we use a product called rowaphos,are you using that to remove phosphates in your water?
Here is the link RowaPhos - why waste your money? | The Aquarium Solution
 
AndtheBonus

AndtheBonus

Member
jgking21 said:
Good Luck, sounds like you have a good plan! Sorry that you are going through this, but kudos to you for doing it and hanging with the hobby!
Click to expand...

Hey don't be sorry, I'm not! Yea it stinks to have to go through all this work but its def. a learning experience and I love the hobby so I am NEVERRRR giving up! :D
 
davyr

davyr

New Member
AndtheBonus said:
The tests came up 0 for phosphates as well! But yea I have heard of that and am def. going to be using it when the tank get started back up next week.
Click to expand...

You will find that when you start using it and knocking your lights down to about 7 hrs per day your algae will just vanish,try and keep off the idea of putting a sea hare in there as if the sea hair dies it will wipe your tank out.
 
Curgan

Curgan

Member
i just cleaned my power heads with this technique for the first time in two years,,, WOW what a difference!!! AWESOME!!!:clink:
 
B

BobBursek

Active Member
I have used a vinigar tab water solution for years, and then run the pump/power head in tap water, then I reinstall into the tank without a problem. Remember, some people add vinigar to there Kalk dosing jugs. Top water is fine.
 
AndtheBonus

AndtheBonus

Member
Sweet thanks for the tips everyone! I let the powerheads and pumps sit in there for a few days since I am tankless for the time being. Hopefully today my LFS is done with the rocks and I can start back up this afternoon! Pics and a chronicle will be sure to come!
 
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