Suggestion on cleaning powerheads

[gobytron]

This is a cheap, bio-friendly and effective means of cleaning just about anything to do with your aquarium.

There is no set measurements, but the idea is the higher the vinegar to water ratio, the stronger it will be and the quicker it will work.

I often do a good 3:1 Water:Vinegar soak for a couple hours followed by a light brushing on any item I sell and they usually come out looking spotless.

The other side of the coin is that vinegar works the same way on just about everything; it's corrosive.
So don't leave things running in it for too long, especially if you go 100% vinegar just in case.

[Wayne]

Here are a few shots of my powerheads. This is the dirtiest they ever get because of my mexican turbo snails. One is 8 months old and never been cleaned the other is slightly newer and also never been manually cleaned:

[fkshiu]

Snails, unfortunately, can't get underneath the shroud. But more importantly, you must clean the magnet housing inside the pump because calcium will invariably build up inside over time. Roger Vitko of Tunze explains it thusly:

"Why do pumps become jammed with Calcium? The answer is simple and it may surprise you to learn the same thing happens in your pumps as happens at the coral polyp when skeleton is laid down for growth. Inside a pump we have both heat and vacuum, by Boyles law we decrease the solubility of CO2 and the pH increase in a local zone this precipitates CaCO3. Pumps vary in this effect, most pump have an internal temp of 4C over ambient, a Stream is about 1C. Vacuum is hard to quantify. At the coral polyp the zooxanthellae removes CO2 from the water by photosynthetic activity, this does the same thing, the pH increase and CaCO3 precipitates and is added to the skeleton."

As a result, a few minutes of maintenance every few months can prolong both the life and efficiency of your pump.

[Wayne]

Originally Posted by fkshiu

Snails, unfortunately, can't get underneath the shroud. But more importantly, you must clean the magnet housing inside the pump because calcium will invariably build up inside over time. Roger Vitko of Tunze explains it thusly:

"Why do pumps become jammed with Calcium? The answer is simple and it may surprise you to learn the same thing happens in your pumps as happens at the coral polyp when skeleton is laid down for growth. Inside a pump we have both heat and vacuum, by Boyles law we decrease the solubility of CO2 and the pH increase in a local zone this precipitates CaCO3. Pumps vary in this effect, most pump have an internal temp of 4C over ambient, a Stream is about 1C. Vacuum is hard to quantify. At the coral polyp the zooxanthellae removes CO2 from the water by photosynthetic activity, this does the same thing, the pH increase and CaCO3 precipitates and is added to the skeleton."

As a result, a few minutes of maintenance every few months can prolong both the life and efficiency of your pump.

Hum well then. Guess I have plans for this weekend