Siphoning detritus from the sump

D

Double M

Hey all,

This may seem like a really dumb question, but even though I have had sumps on my tanks for many years, I've never had a great technique for siphoning gunk from the bottom of the sump.

The problem is, of course, maintaining the gravity drain in the out put end of the tubing when the sump bottom is only 3" of the floor.

I can start the siphon easily enough with output water from the skimmer or reactor (or when I don't have the patience the dreaded "suck on the end of the tubing" technique), but I always seem to lose pressure down to a trickle when I put the sump end of the tubing at the bottom to do the siphoning.

Does anyone have a cool trick or an, "oh my God you are so dumb, everybody knows that this is what you do to clean the crud out of the bottom of your sump" technique?

Thanks,
 
Use a pump to pump the water out. Like a maxi jet with a hose into the bucket. Or you can save the water and put the output hose into a filter sock and that way you get all the detitrus down there without getting rid of any of the water.
 
Fire, thanks for the tip, but my sump is very small and I need to be able to get into very tight places.

I guess a strong enough pump would suck up all the gunk, but it seems like it would be unwieldy to move the pump around the sump. Or, I guess I could get a hose large enough to fit over a maxi jet intake, but that would need to be reduced down to about the size of airline tubing for my ideal target siphoning tube size.

Any other thoughts?
 
Shop Vac

I have a small 2.5 gallon hand held shop vac that I have used to clean my sump out.

Here is a link to what I have

http://www.epinions.com/review/Emerson_Tool_Co_2_5_Gallon_1_3_4_Peak_Hp_Wet_Dry_Vacuum/content_438572584580
 
HOME depo sales a little pump that you hook to a drill moter and two hoses put filtersock on one end turn drill on put sock in sump and suck away . its in with all the other pumps and its cheep . my wife holds the drill and keeps it runing hope this helps
 
I use a Python. Just hook it up to the sink, turn the faucet on and start siphoning. I also do all of my water changes this way. The Python takes the water out, and a MJ puts the water back in.
 
Every six months i just drain my sump take it outside and was it down. Its the easiest way i have found to keep it clean.

Nathan
 
I keep the bottom of the skimmer and reservoir sections of my sump clean every two weeks with a maxi jet powerhead and a hose.

Is it necessary to clean the bottom of a refugium section as well? The bottom of the fuge section of my sump has a layer of sand, debris and detritus in it, but it's teeming and crawling with diverse life that I don't necessarily want to get rid of (snails, starfish, bristle worms, featherdusters, copepods, etc).
 
i don't think i would clean the fuge. i think everything in there is beneficial. i dont know though since i dont use one.
 
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