Cleaning once a month?

[cyberbeer65]

The filter maintenance is done on a monthly basis. I rinse the biomax in tank water then let it sit in the tank while I rinse out the sponges under tap water and rinse out the interior of the filters.

This is what I do also.

 

[Puffernewbee]

I cleaned my 29 gallon every three to 4 weeks. I would vacuum and replace 5 gallons. I check the nitrites, nitrates and ammonia weekly and they read zero even before I clean the tank.

 

[LongTime]

I do partial water changes at least once a week. Because my pH is stable I lean to doing 50% changes every week and I wash my sponges on my HOB filter. The canisters do not get changed as often. Sometimes, I'll do extra changes as well. Once a week, though is the minimum.

 

[RTR]

All of my tanks are partialed weekly, 1/3-1/2 depending on the bioload. Mechanical filters are rinsed weekly as well. The biofilters are rinsed only rarely. The more frequent and the larger your partials, the more stable the water conditions are. This translates directly IMHO to longer life and better health for your fish.