Mold on skimmer HELP

I am moving and with that so must my 46gal reef. I have had it or 18 months now and only used a skimmer for a few months before taking it off. To help prevent a mini cycle though I was going to run my HOB octopus skimmer on the new 65 gallon I have set up waiting transfer

That brings me to my current problem. I have had the skimmer in a large Tupperware container with some bags of stone and to my surprise a gallon bag of water tat I used to freeze to use as a ice cube to lower the temp in the summer. Well I haven't opened the thing in who knows how long and to my surprise I found the water leaked out and I had fuzzies on the power cord of the skimmer. I scrubbed every peace best I can and ran hot water throug the pump I currently have it sitting I hot water vinaigrette mix to soak the insides of the pump and pipes. Only part not soaking is the air lines that go to the pump and the a dual plug.

Is it safe to use?? Should I use chlorine?? Would the mold be killed by the saltwater anyway and I'm worrying over nothing??

 

Good questions. My first thought was to use bleach to clean it.

 

Hey I see your sig says all your tanks are retired!! Did you upgrade or get out of the hobby?? You had some beautiful plants and corals!

 

I got out for now. I may get back in a year or so.

 

Bump

After soaking on vineger water overnight is it safe to rinse and install?

 

Yes, cleaning it with vinegar will do what you need done. Just keep an eye on it for a few days and let it go. You would be surprised what lives/exists in a skimmer that's a lot worse than mold.

 

I believe the saltwater would've probably killed it as terrestrial molds require humid air. Having already cleaned it with vinegar, yes, you're good to go.

 

Thanks for the confirmation. The mold didnt seem to be on the whole t hing anyway just on the cord to the pump for some reason. After soaking it in vinager I ran the pump to push the vineger through the whole thing and than the hot water for awhile to flush the system out before installong on the tank. Put some fresh carbon in the filter just in case.

I have always run skimmerless but with how busy everything will be since we bought a fixer upper I think Im just going to leave it on for quite awhile to help pick up any slack from me not doing my normal maintence. I used to do my WC once a week and now cut it to biweekly.