High Nutrient Tank

I've been slowly cleaning out every part of my tank and I'm somewhere
between amazed and appalled.

In my surface skimmer, I found an over flow that goes to the sump and an
underflow that goes into a collection area. Obviously, it worked
because there was all sorts of crud in there. I decided to remove it
and just let the crud fall back to the sand layer for the hermits to
feast on.

I cleaned all the debris off the power heads and took them apart. They
appeared to have some grease in them, but I think that's normal.

I'm trying to find something to clean out the long stand pipe. I
suppose I'll just use a rag and dowel.

The hose seems like an obvious offender. I hear I should replace it
once a year any ways to avoid "leak events", but I'll add that to my
monthly maintenance cycle.

--Kurt