Cleaning the filter?? what??

[CaitxSith]

Ok... do you have to clean the filter carbon pads? I have 2 carbon pads... how do you clean it? bucket of tank water and swish it around? then put it back in? that's it? how many times should you clean? it's my first time asking because i've NEVER cleaned a carbon pad before.

ewww... what the heck?? i have white fuzzy stuff (mold??) growing on the fingerhole of the carbon pads!!! :eek:

Help!
:shark:

[dontburnthe_pig]

i could be wrong, but i think the carbon pad should be changed every 2-4 weeks for maximum efficiency, but i could be way off...i do remember reading somehwere that some part of the filter needed to be changed every 2-4 weeks, and i think it was the carbon pad..so yeah

[Marinemom]

Carbon pads do not need to be replaced every 2-4 weeks but they do need to be cleaned off to remove a lot of the major gunk that accumilates on them. I just use the tank water that I have removed during a water change and swish it around in the water. Sometimes I use my nails to get some of it off. Hey, human skin and fingernails are 100% washable right? I use them until they are practically falling apart. If the filter holds two of them, when it comes time to replace the pads, only replace one at a time and two weeks later you can remove the other one. This way the tank will not be thrown into shock or a mini cycle and all the fishies in the tank will stay happy.

Marinemom

[Dangerdoll]

Marinemom is 100% correct, at least that's the way I do it and just to reiterate, never never replace both pads at once.