I use foam prefilters on almost all of my filters so I rarely have to get inside them to clean them. They just don't get that dirty. The prefilters, on the other hand do...lol...but they're so easy to clean.
I'm afraid ....
- Thread starter James0816
- Start date
I disagree with Cory. If I'm going to rescape, I always service the filter at the same time. It just makes sense to do all of your maintenance at once.
I know the "old school" of thinking is to never change more than a certain amount of water, never vacuum all of the gravel at once, etc. but in reality, I believe that you can do things like completely switch out the substrate, change 90% of the water, and service the filter along with doing a massive trim at the same time. Maybe not all of these things at once, but respectively...it can be done. In my experience, as soon as everything clears, the fish are so happy with the change, they immediately being displaying spawning behavior.
Bacteria is not as delicate as it was once thought to be. It's quite resilient, which is why we are able to do things like clone the filter and move across the country without losing any fish to new tank syndrome! You just need to know what you're doing, which I thoroughly believe James does since he is able to culture phytoplankton, spawn otocinclus, selectively breed shrimp...
I know the "old school" of thinking is to never change more than a certain amount of water, never vacuum all of the gravel at once, etc. but in reality, I believe that you can do things like completely switch out the substrate, change 90% of the water, and service the filter along with doing a massive trim at the same time. Maybe not all of these things at once, but respectively...it can be done. In my experience, as soon as everything clears, the fish are so happy with the change, they immediately being displaying spawning behavior.
Bacteria is not as delicate as it was once thought to be. It's quite resilient, which is why we are able to do things like clone the filter and move across the country without losing any fish to new tank syndrome! You just need to know what you're doing, which I thoroughly believe James does since he is able to culture phytoplankton, spawn otocinclus, selectively breed shrimp...
Well, now that I've seen your bigger-than-a-human-head wad of Java moss, I can see what you mean :laugh:
I just did a rescape of my 29 with a similar issue. I had let the moss take over and there was tons of Java plus also this moss that I found locally, which is a very pretty bright green but unfortunately tends to fall apart.
I have artificial plants in there as well, just to add some structure.
Well, I started trying to pull out *some* of the moss...but then eventually had to get rid of all of it. I curse that local moss I put in, it was nothing but shreds and I'm STILL getting bits of it out. Its favorite spot to congregate is behind the powerheads on the UG and behind the HOB filter, and under the tank rim.
Now I have all artificial plants, some water lettuce, a tiger lotus, a couple of Java ferns and the fish couldn't be happier with just those plants in there.
I had let it overgrow for my Endler fry, but now I have just males in there and some diamond tetras and gold barbs. I love being able to see the fish clearly again, and the lights looks so much brighter now that they aren't shining down over a giant green light diffuser, lol
I have artificial plants in there as well, just to add some structure.
Well, I started trying to pull out *some* of the moss...but then eventually had to get rid of all of it. I curse that local moss I put in, it was nothing but shreds and I'm STILL getting bits of it out. Its favorite spot to congregate is behind the powerheads on the UG and behind the HOB filter, and under the tank rim.
Now I have all artificial plants, some water lettuce, a tiger lotus, a couple of Java ferns and the fish couldn't be happier with just those plants in there.
I had let it overgrow for my Endler fry, but now I have just males in there and some diamond tetras and gold barbs. I love being able to see the fish clearly again, and the lights looks so much brighter now that they aren't shining down over a giant green light diffuser, lol
i have several tanks whose canisters I have never opened either, despite them being on tanks for a few years, lol. Let me know if you survive and maybe one day I will crack mine opne too!
I only have mine set up since Sept. and I'm thinking of cleaning it out because I see stuff that seems to be clogging the lines. I really don't want to and have been thinking of getting a hob,haha, I really don't want to do it. Good luck, would love to see pic's if you take any.
I'm starting to think to just leave it alone after these comments. Since flow is still great and such, I shouldn't even worry about it. But ohhhhhh sooooo tempting. Just don't want to play with fire. Have enough on my hands reclaiming the tank from the jungle growth.
Do you have any disposable media in there? Carbon or floss? If not, I would say you could leave it. But it's not going to be THAT bad to clean it
