ctenophore May 25, 2014 Share May 25, 2014 How to make and clean an enormous mess. My skimmer cup drain clogged a few days ago, so this afternoon I went to clear it, so skimmate could properly drain to the locker bucket. Rather than just letting it fill the 5 gal bucket like usual, I decided to attach my extra long drain hose and let it all drain outside. I didn't want to risk overflowing the bucket since the cup is 16" and holds more than the bucket. So, with hose attached, I climbed up and used a stick to clear the solid skimmate plugging the drain. Well, it turns out that the sudden rush of 10 gallons of skimmate with the consistency of chili down a 1.5" ID hose had enough kick to knock the friction fit hose coupling loose. Ten seconds later, all of that chunky goodness had sprayed all over the garage floor and surrounding equipment. At least I was up on a ladder and spared the direct blast. Fig. 1. One of the top three messes of my reefkeeping career So, taking a page from Greek mythology, I decided the best cleanup method was to emulate Hercules and his task of cleaning king Augeas' stables. I wasn't about to ruin my shop vac by sucking up several pounds of salty sludge, so I just opened the garage door and turned the hose on the entire place. I let the river flow out the door and down the driveway for the better part of an hour. I was even able to get behind the sumps and skimmer where a lot of grime had accumulated over the past 6 years. Although now the place is cleaner than before, I'll certainly be sure to double check hose fittings when dealing with mass skimmate removal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
makai531 May 25, 2014 Share May 25, 2014 Ewww! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YHSublime May 25, 2014 Share May 25, 2014 Yuck, but good now? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToddR May 25, 2014 Share May 25, 2014 I bet that smelled wonderful!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave w May 25, 2014 Share May 25, 2014 It takes a big man to admit his silly mistakes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HgrReefs May 25, 2014 Share May 25, 2014 I just threw up in my mouth a little... Well played. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coral Hind May 25, 2014 Share May 25, 2014 Nasty! At least it was in the garage and not in your house. For those members that don't know about his system and are probably wondering why he needs a ladder to get to the collection cup. It is a custom-built 8'x22" fiberglass semi-cone, powered by a ReeFlo hammerhead with custom needlewheel impeller. This thing holds 115 gallons of water. Here is an old picture and he has a larger collection cup on it now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlanM May 25, 2014 Share May 25, 2014 The collection cup is much bigger now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zygote2k May 25, 2014 Share May 25, 2014 look at that old picture- a blast from the past. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JR-Tanked150 May 25, 2014 Share May 25, 2014 Wow, nice skimmer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DuffyGeos May 25, 2014 Share May 25, 2014 You just missed a great opportunity to be on Dirty Jobs with Mike Rowe! He would have been all over it. I bet a few choice words were said that day. Sorry to hear it, never fun when something unexpected happens. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sharkey18 May 25, 2014 Share May 25, 2014 wow. I get pissed when i knock over a cup of skimmate... nice recovery though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlanM May 25, 2014 Share May 25, 2014 At least it didn't all dump into the sump. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
treesprite May 26, 2014 Share May 26, 2014 How yukky! But it forced you to do a nice cleaning job you weren't planning on doing, which is a good thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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