Yikes! 6 ppm ammonia? If you have fish in that tank, you better start doing water changes. You want to keep ammonia (and nitrite) below 1 ppm (or better, below .5 ppm). At 6 ppm, fish will experience permanent damage.
Re: filter cleaning, I strongly disagree with bob1962. The more frequently you clean your mechanical filter media, the more you export crud BEFORE it breaks down and adds to the dissolved organic compounds in your tank. If a filter isn't capturing enough stuff, it's much more effective to change to a different type of media than it is to allow the inefficient media to clog up.
If the tank is cycling, though, I agree that you don't want to do anything to lose the bacteria that are to form the biofilter. Don't rinse the media unless it's really clogged and water is bypassing it; even then, be sure to rinse it in dechlorinated water.
Good luck,
Jim
Re: filter cleaning, I strongly disagree with bob1962. The more frequently you clean your mechanical filter media, the more you export crud BEFORE it breaks down and adds to the dissolved organic compounds in your tank. If a filter isn't capturing enough stuff, it's much more effective to change to a different type of media than it is to allow the inefficient media to clog up.
If the tank is cycling, though, I agree that you don't want to do anything to lose the bacteria that are to form the biofilter. Don't rinse the media unless it's really clogged and water is bypassing it; even then, be sure to rinse it in dechlorinated water.
Good luck,
Jim
