Quick Tip – Don’t Forget To Clean Your Protein Skimmer

A protein skimmer is installed onto the aquarium so that it can remove substances from the aquarium water so that we can keep water quality at an optimum.

It is imperative that a skimmer runs at full efficiency in order for it to work correctly. For this to be achieved it needs to be thoroughly cleaned.

You will be surprised how many people simply remove the cup from the skimmer, pour the contents down the sink, give it a wipe and put it back on the skimmer again.

Not good enough I’m afraid.

Although the contents have been removed and the inside of the cup has been wiped there is one very important part which has been missed.

The rising tube of both the skimmer and the cup itself.

If the rising tube is not cleaned then it will become coated and the skimmer will not operate at full efficiency, therefore optimum water quality is harder to maintain.

What I do when I clean my skimmer is:

1. Empty the contents down the sink (and the clean the sink afterwards to keep the missus happy!)
2. Using a bottle brush give the inside of the cup a good clean and then wipe clean with a cloth.
3. Using a bottle brush clean the underside of the cup ensuring that the riser tube is clean and then wipe clean with a cloth.
4. Clean the cup lid with a cloth.
5. Using a bottle brush clean the riser chamber inside the skimmer itself.

The above does depend upon what type of skimmer you use, however the majority of skimmers can be cleaned in this way.

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