using a powerhead for "nightly cleaning cycle"

this came up in another thread and i think might try it.

running a powerhead in a sump at night to stir up anything that settles in the sump. cleans the sump, feeds the tank. gives the skimmer another shot to get the stuff out.

how long should the pump run?? would all night be to long. i have an outlet on my power strip that stays "hot" anytime the actinics are off. would there be a problem with having it run this long. or should i just use a separate timer to run the pump for a couple hours every night.

any thoughts appreciated

 

I am giving you karma for starting this thread because I am leaning towards doing this too!

let's see who chimes in.

Wonder how big the powerhead needs to be? My sump will be the typical 20long.

 

I keep a k nano running in mine 24/7 it helps quite a bit plus I have it set in a Way so that it sucks air and makes a slurping noise letting everyone know it needs a top off ! Works great when I'm out of town lol !

 

I run one while actinics are off. My return chamber is only about 5 gallons of my 20 long and I think the pump does about 250 gph. It keeps the return chamber spotless.

 

Tangster proposed this idea. he said he runs it for about 15 min a night

 

Yeah, I did one in mine after tangster posted it. I have a K1 in my fuge and a K1 in the skimmer section that come on twice for 15 minutes a piece. Once at midnight, and again at 4am. For some reason I think its really working because about 5 minutes after they go on, all of my corals open up to feed.

 

my BRS GFO/Carbon reactor runs on the "night" outlet on my power strip, I have the outlet hose wedged behind my skimmer and it does a great job of stirring up things and preventing detritus buildup.
when I had my 20L as a sump I had a 7" sock and it didn't take long for the crap to collect under it, I took it out completely when I built the new sump with a 40 breeder.

 

Why put that crud back in your display? I use a shop vac or a powerhead with a discharge hose on it to clean my sump out every once in awhile to get rid of it. The idea of a sump is for a place to allow the settleables to settle out and be removed. Its not all going to be removed by the skimmer as its not all organics or things light enough to be carried by skimmate foam. Export it rather than recirculating it.

 

Yes, this was my thinking also before I read an article on feeding coral. The guy stated that when you change a sock or filter media or are cleaning a sponge, wring it out in the display or return chamber of the sump as that is valuable food for the coral. Now, you don't want the large junk to go back in but the "soup" that comes from wringing the afore mentioned items is good food. I occasionally stir the sump to let the return feed the tank as my soft coral appreciate the water loaded with nutrients. I am not sure I would do it every night but if those who do it have no problem......go for it!