Canister Maintenance

[Radek Z]

This must have been discussed somewhere but I could not find straight answer. How do you maintain a canister filter?

My setup is two canisters on 240l tank. Both filters are setup as follows:

- Prefilter on intake (using Eheim prefilter)
- 1/5 of filter volume with the "noodles" - the ones which are not porous
- coarse filter pad
- 1/2 of filter volume with bio substrat - the porous stuff
- fine filter pad or filter floss
Spray bar 2in under water

Initially I thought I do not need to open the filter more than once in several weeks. Then I have realizes how quickly the fine filter floss fills up. Then I have realized how much the other filter media clogs up with "stuff". So what do you do?

How often do you clean the prefilter?
How often do you wash or replace the fine filter floss pads?
How often do you rinse all media baskets to wash out the "stuff"?How often do you clean the pipes?
How often do you replace parts of the bio media and the noodles?


Thanks for help,

Radek

[RTR]

I rinse the prefilters weekly.

The fine final pad is best replaced and not rinsed. If it is clogging quickly, you may need more mechanical media or a better prefilter.

Ehfisubstrat calls for replacement of something like 1/3 to 1/2 every six months - check the package instructions on that one, I don't use it myself.

Cleaning in general is highly individual - no two tanks are the same. It all depends on the fish stock, the feeding habits of both the fish and the keeper, and the bioload itself. When I used conventional packing of my canisters, general rinse and cleaning was 1-3 months.

Although an Eheim nut, I do not care for their prefilters. They are not terribly effective. I prefer FilterMax III prefilters, still weekly rinse.

HTH

[Radek Z]

So you would open the canister at max once a month? I know it all depends - I was hoping for few answers trying to figure what the average is.

[TKOS]

I would guess you should start with once a week. If it needs it more than that you need to rethink your filters. If less then you can start to cut back.

[Cearbhaill]

I rinse prefilters on my Eheim 2028 as often as I can, but only break open the cannister itself about once a month/six weeks. This is mainly to rinse everything out well in the tank water I am throwing out, and replace the white/top filter pad which gunks up easily.

I replaced about a third of the Efi-Substrat after the first 6-8 months of use, and replace some of the remaining original every time I open it up. I've never replaced any of the Efi-Mech- just rinse it well in old tank water.

I don't do this on a definite schedule- it's more of an "it seems like it's time" thing.

[Radek Z]

TKOS, that's probably where I am - I have started with not opening the canisters about four weeks. Since I have increased the frequency and during last few weeks I have gone into one filter every week and the white fluffy pad was very ditry the media itseld does not look that bad - no visible build up of dirt.

As a test the second filter was run for three weeks. The white pad was obviously quite bad - but not really visibly reducing the flow - judging from the ripple it created on the surface (same spray bar setup). There was visible buildup in the noodles and substrat - very easy to rinse.

I guess I will go for rinse every two weeks alternating the filters - that should work should it not.

Cearbhaill, I have a little problem with myslef - I think I have a tendency to do too much in the tank - so the judgement of "seems like it's time" is a bit of problem. How does the inside of your filter look like after six weeks. How much visible dirt on the noodles, in the pads.

[Cearbhaill]

Cearbhaill, I have a little problem with myslef - I think I have a tendency to do too much in the tank - so the judgement of "seems like it's time" is a bit of problem. How does the inside of your filter look like after six weeks. How much visible dirt on the noodles, in the pads.
A lot of visible dirt on the top white pad, and not too much elsewhere. There's debris on the bottom after I take the baskets out for sure.

But I've really been concentrating on feeding "cleaner" foods- more live and well rinsed frozen and hardly any dry.

[Radek Z]

That takes us a little off topic but I thought the dry flakes are good as a supplement to the live and frozen food. I have been hesitating to feed exclusivelly frozen and dry frozen food because of this. Am I missing something.

[Cearbhaill]

Don't let me confuse you.

I just noticed that feeding more live and frozen gave me less gunk in my prefilters. I don't know nothin' bout no fish food analysis!