[holiday]

My pumps are totally encrusted with coraline algae. I have tried scraping it off but it's too time consuming. Is there a short cut to cleaning them off? I know when you sell something I have read to soak them in water with vinegar in it to get it clean. Is this what I need to do? How long to soak them?

I feel dumb for asking but I never thought I would want to get rid of coraline algae but the pump intakes are getting smaller and smaller and the flow coming out is decreasing. Thanks.

[pogodzib]

Soaking them in vinegar water is the easiest method to get rid of it. You can also use a screw driver to scrape off some of the coraline algae if it is really thick, however, you need to be careful not to damage the plastic.

[holiday]

What is the mixture? Gallon of water to 1/2 cup of vinegar? How long do they need to soak? Will the coraline just fall off or will I still need to use the screwdriver?

Thanks for the info. I appreciate it.

[map95003]

I'm not sure you need an exact measurement, I mix 50/50 and soak them for ~1-2hr (to avoid leaving the tank with no flow, I don't clean them all the same time), then just brush it off. I then rinse the power heads with tap water then RO water before I put them back in the tank.

[holiday]

Thanks, I will give it a shot. I will do one Koralia at a time. My husband is from Harvard and we have relatives all over the cape and around Boston. I bet you have to use your heaters 10 months out of the year. Talked to a friend in Marblehead on Sun nite and she said it was 41. Our heat index today was 100.

[map95003]

You're right about that, I run 3x200w heaters all year round...granted they probably don't turn on that much during the summer. I keep the temp 78-80. My tank is in the basement so in the winter even with 3 heaters the tank doesn't go past 78....and my electric bill, well you get the picture.