Cleaning out the sump

[booker1978]

What does everyone do and or/use to suck out any detritus and other nasty things out of your sump? I was doing a water change this morning and see that it is time for me to clean it up. Any good tips or tricks? I'm thinking that since the sump sits at the same height as the container would sit, a siphon would not work, but possibly a small pump with a hose connected to it to use as a vacuum?

 

[FiberglassMonkey]

5g wet dry vac simple and easy to clean. Modified hose tho.

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[melev]

You can attach a hose to the intake of a pump. Prime the pump with water and then point the hose at all the areas you want to suck stuff out. The intake of the pump may clog up requiring you to take it apart and unplug any restrictions, then resume cleaning.

 

[Baldguy]

Bucket Head wet/dry vac from Home Depot for about $22. Clamps onto a 5g bucket. Could use an attachment and a longer hose but works great as is.

 

[Wes]

I use both of the above, for my fuge I use a maxi jet and the rest I use a wet dry.

 

[Mike R]

@Baldguy wrote:

+1 on the bucket head. Cheap and easy to use. I bought a shop vac accessory kit at harbor freight for under $10. Has a hose extension and numerous small attachments that make cleaning the hard to reach areas a breeze, especially inside my skimmer.

 

[Baldguy]

@Mike R wrote:

+1 on the bucket head. Cheap and easy to use. I bought a shop vac accessory kit at harbor freight for under $10. Has a hose extension and numerous small attachments that make cleaning the hard to reach areas a breeze, especially inside my skimmer."]
Thanks for that!! I had looked on amazon and ebay but that's a lot easier and cheaper. I'll add that I use a 7g salinity bucket instead of the 5g bucket for a little more capacity.