Mr. Saltwater Tank

Deep Cleaning a Protein Skimmer


Protein skimmers, like any piece of equipment in your tank get dirty – real dirty. Cleaning the neck is important, but every 6 months, your skimmer should be taken out and given a deep cleaning.

In this episode of Mr. Saltwater Tank TV, I show you how to deep clean your skimmer is a cleaner that is probably already sitting in your house.

Browse the Store! Questions?

Comments for this article (5)

  • Derek says:

    That’s my skimmer! It works so much better now. It pulls gunk out of the water at an alarming rate.

  • Luis says:

    Hi there

    IS vinager the same has we use on food ?

    If so what is the quantity fro aquamedic blue turboflotor ?

    Thanks

  • Luis…yep…same as you use for food. Its also sometimes called “white wine vinegar”

    For quantity, the more is better…you really can’t overdose it when it comes to cleaning. If you were using 3 gallons of water to 100% submerge your skimmer, then I’d use a 1/2-1 quart of vinegar.

  • Matt Allen says:

    Gotta admit…. this one made me laugh out loud… you really worked the hose action there Mark 😀

    Just a quick tip on top of this one… A big baby bottle brush for really getting in and round there… Soft enough not to scratch your skimmer but good enough after a vinegar soak to get the rubbish off…

  • David says:

    I found this article and video when searching for cleaning methods. I didn’t have the luxury of taking 2 days to clean my skimmer so I did it over the course of a morning and afternoon. Wow! My skimmer runs great once again. I have an Eshopps PSK 100H and now it runs like the day I bought it. The soft “whoosh” noise of bubbles in my skimmer was a forgotten sound! Thanks Mark 🙂

Comments are closed.