No problem! It was something I noticed, and I consider myself to be a very clean reef keeper. When I saw this stuff, I was so ashamed of myself for not thinking of cleaning those basters. Sometimes we suck up the remains of dead stuff and everything.

There are so many other things that got me thinking. If you have a hang on skimmer and you find it's time to dump the collection cup, also take the time to clean the filter and change the carbon if you haven't done it recently. If it hasn't been that long, just insure that you rinse your media bags and/or replace them at the same time. I would also encourage cleaning your skimmer from top to bottom at least once a month also.

Then another thought popped into my head. How often do you take apart and clean your power heads? You can't imagine the crud that builds up in those things as well. A symptom of a clogged power head is noticing it spewing out micro bubbles. Food's build up in the little filters inside, it decomposes and just seals off the little filter inside. I bet some people don't even realize that there is a little filter pad inside their power heads. They actually come apart pretty easily. Look at them closely and you'll see how they slide apart. If you can't figure it out, maybe you still have on hand the paperwork that came with it that shows how to clean them. I've just started a monthly schedule between the skimmer & the power heads. I choose that time to be when I'm doing a thorough tank cleanup with a water change.

I decided to post some of these tips that I've found to be reoccurring normal issues when I take care of my tanks. I think everyone should add anything helpful that might help another user. I challenge anyone else to add some more helpful everyday practices! Share your tips and tricks everyone! This could pose to be an interesting thread! :o