how often do you clean the neck of your skimmer?

Title says it all. Am interested to know what people do.

 

I have cleaned mine once in 6 months due to salt residue.

 

If you mean below where the cup goes on top, rarely.

I clean the cup walls every time I empty it though, about 5 x a week.

 

the cup walls is what I mean.....

 

Been a while since I posted for personal reasons, but I have been watching the forums as always. I felt inclined to chirp in if I could help. Your posts have always been helpful and very positive.

Cleaning of the neck will help your skim. Skimmers work much more efficiently when the riser is cleaned out regularly.Production of skimmate decreases as the bacterial sludge builds up on interior surfaces. Proteins like to bond to each other, so if they build up in the neck they will not collect in the cup as efficiently. A monthly or every other month cleaning will help the skimmer work efficiently. Also check your manufacturer recommendations. Every 6 months I run the skimmer pump in vinegar for a few hours to decalcify the impeller.

Hope this was helpful, and I appreciate your positive attitude and support nature of all your posts.

 

2-3x a week, the cleaner you keep it the more efficient the skimmer will be

 

2X a week

 

+1,2xweek or as often as I empty the cup

 

Every time I clean the cup I clean the throat with a little soft toothbrush.
Also it is not necessary to run the whole pump in vinegar unless the impeller assembly cannot be removed.Vinegar is acidic and will attack rubber and plastics to some degree.I just soak the impeller once in a while if calcium builds up on it.

 

+1

IMOPE, when I ran a skimmer, it became counterproductive- generating more DOCs than what it removed, ultimately fueling Nitrate production and GHA issues whenever I slacked on cleaning the neck.