Garbage in Filter Tubes

[Kasakato]

I have a 20g with a FilStar XP1. The I/O tubes of the filter have a lot of alage/garbage in it. Most of it is brown but there is a bit of purple dots in there too. Is this ok? How can I clean it?

 

[acefred]

I clean my hoses once in a while not a big deal, but the flow can be reduced eventually and also the carp will circulate back into tank sometimes after a filter clean. Just get some filter brushes from Big als or lfs or thread a wire through them hook a small cloth on and pull it through.

 

[anonapersona]

flush when cleaning

When you are cleaning your filter every few months, while the canister is disconnected you can manually open the valves to shoot water through the tubing into a bucket and this will clean those tubings as well as give you a bucket of water to wash the filter media in. It is not as good as running a brush through the line but it is a lot easier!

 

[Kasakato]

I clean the media every week or two because I like to keep my aquarium super clean. On the FilStar I cant open the valves because there is a special piece of plastic blocking it un-less its on the canister.

 

[chuckj]

I have a Filstar. There's a couple plastic tabs on the inside where the valve mechanism is. They are along the arc of where the valve turns. If you can manage to push both in at the same time you can open the valve. I've found that this does clean the tubes a bit, but I'm nervous about doing this too much for fear of breaking the thing.

I'm in the same boat, my tubes look dirty. I haven't had the will to break it down completely yet and try to clean them, the next step may be to try some of those long brushes and clean from above, without getting it into the tank water!

Good luck!