So it's been 54 weeks since I started up the G6 filter. It has removable mechanical and chemical cartridges that you can clean without disconnecting/moving/emptying the canister so I've been cleaning those every few weeks, but have never opened the top of the canister to see how the bio media is. Well today was the day to check it out. According to the manual, this should be done every 6 to 12 months depending on tank conditions.
Here she is.
Small lid opens to access the mech and chem cartridges. Left is mechanical with a priming pump on top.
Cartridges removed, doesn't look to bad at all.
Now the top of the canister taken off. Still looks pretty good for a year of continuous operation!
You can see some gunk around the impeller.
Wow, they look great! I expected the nodes to be covered in brown gunk. But these look really good.
Close up of the pic above.
I dumped the nodes into couple gallons of tank water, still not too bad. I really expected worse!
I just used the jet setting on my hose to power wash it all. I didn't scrub anything, just water pressure. Worked well.
It's back together and filtering again. I can handle once a year cleaning!
Here she is.
Small lid opens to access the mech and chem cartridges. Left is mechanical with a priming pump on top.
Cartridges removed, doesn't look to bad at all.
Now the top of the canister taken off. Still looks pretty good for a year of continuous operation!
You can see some gunk around the impeller.
Wow, they look great! I expected the nodes to be covered in brown gunk. But these look really good.
Close up of the pic above.
I dumped the nodes into couple gallons of tank water, still not too bad. I really expected worse!
I just used the jet setting on my hose to power wash it all. I didn't scrub anything, just water pressure. Worked well.
It's back together and filtering again. I can handle once a year cleaning!