I've recently had to clean my 75 gallon sump after 3 years of running . took me about 8 hrs to get most of the mud off the bottom of the tank , it sits under a 180 gallon and moving was not an option (it was put it from the back entrance of the stand). Siphoning the mud out was not possible due to the sump being on the ground level. i was using a small eheim pump which was not powerful enough and literally had to go through the cycle of unplug/clean the impleller/reprime about a 100 times. Does anyone has a good setup for a system that make this job any easier?
good way to clean the bottom of your sump
- Thread starter iwiied
- Start date
I hate seeing the sludge that settles down there.I use a length of airline tubing to siphon out the stuff.My sump is also underneath the tank and inside the stand so I have to lay on the floor to be able to manuever the tubing where it needs to be.My tank is in the basement so the other end of the tube empties out onto the floor just inches away from the drain.
how do you get the siphon going when the bottom of the sump is at the same level as your drain? that was why i had to use a pump.
The sump is a little higher than floor level as it sits in the bottom of the tank stand and also,the water in the sump is about ten inches high from the floor.I need only place the suction end of the tube just below the water surface and hold the drain end very close to the floor which is lower and below the suction end to start the siphon.Once the tube is positioned properly I draw the water through it with my mouth and then I can lower the suction end down into the sump to remove the sludge.
Pre-filter the water coming in. My sump stays crystal clean thanks to my filter socks. Those cheap floss pads that everybody uses are worthless.
Buy a Shop vac just for the sump? I have a huge one I use on my 700 gallon pond to do water chance and floor cleanings.
The problem with larger sized hoses,and especially something like a shop vac is that they drain the water to quickly while leaving a good bit of sludge in the sump still.If the water could somehow be stirred up and the stuff could get pulled out before it settles then that would be a plus.......I like the pre filter sock idea and will be trying that.