Tricks to removing water from sump?

[Len]

One thing I haven't quite figured out yet is how I should remove the water from my sump (tomorrow is big tank tear-down day). Anyone have tricks up their sleeve? I can pump out most of it, but there will still be a few inches of water.

 

[Anonymous]

I have tried many things, but the only one worth a damn is a shop vac!

 

[Len]

:!: Completely slipped my mind I had a shop vac.

 

[m-fine]

A trick I learned from my sailing days is that certain kinds of foam will really suck up water and can be used as a bailing sponge to get that last inch or two out fairly quickly. Some of the big soft car washing sponges work fairly well at this, but other kinds of foam like from an old camp matress work even better. Shop vac is quickest if you have one though

m-fine

 

[Anonymous]

When I pulled my sand I forgot about it too. Spent an hour bailing - then less than 2 minutes with the shop vac.

 

[Anonymous]

I have a MJ600 with a piece of tubing siliconed/hose clamped on the suction side. As long as I can start the pump while submerged, it will suck water until it runs out. So I can get all but the last 1/4"

But if you have a shop vac, you're set.

B

 

[Len]

Righty, for the shopvac, it was powerful enough to suck out sand? What particulate size is your sand? I have a pretty cheap B&D shopvac and I don't know that he can pull out the sand.

 

[Anonymous]

Shop vac if you got one. Maxi jets with poly hose work well also.

 

[Anonymous]

I scooped a most of the sand, but the last 1/2 inch or so came out with the vac. I got a cheapie too.

 

[Anonymous]

Sand is a piece of cake for vac.

 

[K9coral]

I used the shop vac method to remove the cc and water during an overhaul last year.

 

[Anonymous]

So will a saltwater prematurely kill a shopvac?

 

[Anonymous]

I don't think so!


At least we have cleaned up more than enough saltwater spills and a few sandbeds over the last three years or so with a cheap little one and it is still going strong as ever.

If you ever have a tank flood badly then they are sooo handy.

 

[Anonymous]

Oooh I might have to invest in a new one then! I've been using a squeezy mop for spills, mop *squeeze into bucket* repeat many times.

 

[m-fine]

If you have to get out the mop frequently, you got bigger problems that a shop vac wont solve!

 

[Anonymous]

sfsuphysics, that do and repeat procedure with mop and squeezy builts characters...

 

[Anonymous]

Don't forget to take the filter off the shop vac

I took a 5" DSB out of my 38G when I took it out of service.

I'd start sucking the DSB out while there is still plenty of water in the tank. It comes out easier when it's plenty wet.

Louey

 

[Anonymous]

Seven: I don't mind having some character built.. just not at 2am... Besides I've done it enough that I think I've "paid my dues" for having character built up... I'd rather just suck it up now

 

[Anonymous]

I got this reusable cloth filter for my shop vac that is supposed to be OK for wet or dry, and I have been using it for both.

It doesn't seem to get hair balls and dirt stuck to it the way the paper filter did. When I need suck up one of the many recent tank floods we have been having, I just dump out the dry stuff from the canister and go. It seems to work great.

I vacced up over twelve gallons the other night when our return pump started leaking, I could not imagine doing that late at night with a mop and bucket!