cleaning protein skimmer?

[eight2178]

ive been running my bakpak 2 for a few months now....as you can imagine, i have all kinds of algae growing in and around it...should i clean it out at all? throw a snail or two into the skimmer? (not the collection cup, the actual body of the skimmer, the part with the blue biomedia....)

 

[entice59]

definity clean it, which reminds me.. i should clean mines too

 

[mykgillespie]

Really no need to clean the section with the Bio-bale, come to think of it, really no need for the Bio-bale either since you've got plenty of live rock. All that stuff does is trap debris. Only the sections of the skimmer that contact the air/water mix should be cleaned. Just get a good algae scraper with a handle long enough to clean the skimmer side a pipe brush to clean the injector pipe, and a small drill bit or something solid to clean out the little elbows and connections where the air enters the pump as these will eventually become clogged with salt and calcium and restrict the air flow. Good luck with it.
Later,
Myk.