How Much Vinegar?

[othercents]

I have an skimmer that I used at the beginning of the year that I am going to add to my tank, but it still needs to be cleaned. What is the ratio of vinegar to water that you would use to soak the skimmer?

BTW. the skimmer is a AquaticLife Internal Mini Protein Skimmer 115 I'm adding to a 40 Breeder. The skimmer is undersized, but I need to start skimming and I haven't found a skimmer that will fit under the 4.5" high hood I have over my tank.

 

[Off The Deep End]

1:10 vin:h20 overnight. Just make sure to take out any rubber seals/o rings, i have heard it will possibly expand them.

 

[Cake_Boss]

Really 1:10? I usually do 100% vinegar. Guess this will be an educational experience for both of us.

 

[dv3]

ya i always use as much vinegar as i have when i soak something ...its usually never 1:1 but thats just because i dont have that much ...lol

 

[rangerbobb]

I have always used at least a 1:1 ratio. It always worked for me. I usually throw a small powerhead in to help things along.

 

[othercents]

Don't have a powerhead, but I could turn the skimmer on. Maybe I should just break it apart and scrub it by hand with vinegar.

 

[rangerbobb]

Let it soak for a while, then scrub some. Repeat. It gives it a fresh surface to dissolve.

 

[LooseHip]

I have always had good luck cleaning skimmers by placing them in a tub with water and vinager. I power the skimmer on and allow it to circulate for a few hours. One thing to note is some of the older octopus skimmers did not react to well to high concetration of vinager. I had one skimmer where the acrylic crazed pretty bad. Other then that I never had issues..

 

[miwoodar]

I usually use it full strength but there's nothing wrong with cutting it. Many people go with a 1:3 ratio.

Scrubbing it by hand often won't do much until after it's been soaking for a while.

 

[Off The Deep End]

I only use 1:10 ratio on skimmers because they will craze, other things i use 1:1.

 

[dv3]

i once remember seeing someone use diluted muratic acid on there skimmer ....lol

 

[ShelbyJK500]

1:1 is probably the consensus you'll find. I've cleaned up a lot of equipment over the past few months. Most I just soaked overnight (which ended up being overkill). I found an hour or two will do the trick...or 100% for an hour or so if you'd like to get it done in a timely fashion!

 

[othercents]

I did 1:3, but I didn't want to buy more than 1 gallon. It is still sitting in the bucket now. I will get to it once I get home. However, I think I found a different skimmer that I want to use. I guess I will be buying one in the near future.