Cleaning the filter

A

aquaman1013

AC Members
Nov 14, 2008
64
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New york
I have been doing this tank thing a while now.But I am always told I am doing the filter cleaning wrong,

I am told the bacteria is needed to stay there. Here is what I do simple
I gravel vacuum about 1/4 of the water.
then I empty the filter and wash all foam pads with fresh water rinse out the canister and change the carbon and whatever other media I use pre filter stuff

I use the fluval 405
 
You should rinse the filter pads and any media in the tank water that you removed, not tap water. The chlorine or chloramine in the tap water will likely kill much of your nitrifying bacteria. Adding carbon or not is a personal choice. only use it to remove meds or if I fear some contaminate may have been added to the tank.
 
I find and I could be wrong ,When I rinse the foamin the water it is dirty so It is basically not cleaning it/. carbon in my opinion keep my tank crystal clear..
 
I have a smaller container that I fill with ex-tank water from the 5 gal bucket i use, rinse a sponge in the smaller container, dump it and repeat. You don't need/want to clean them too well, just rinse the silt out.
As for carbon, I meant to say" I only use it to remove meds".
 
The filter needs to be swished in tank water only until the yuck is off of the surface. Many of us use the same filter media for mechanical filtration (sponges, cartridges, etc.) until it is falling apart. If you rinse it in tap water (unless you are on a well that isn't treated with clorine) the bacteria will be killed. This will cause your tank to have to, at the very least, mini cycle. If it doesn't cause you to lose your cycle all together. If your mechanical filtration needs to be replaced, only replace a maximum of half. Carbon is a chemical filtration. Some of use only use it to remove meds and such. Others use it all of the time.
 
canister filter media is easy because any sponges are easily cleaned in tank water with a squeeze and a swish, and and biomedia like bioballs or rings just needs to be swished also. its the HOB media that can be tricky, because sometimes to rigid backing to cartridges doesnt cooperate.
 
I have a penguin 200 filter system for my 36g, 2 whispers systems one for my 5 and 2.5g and an eclipse system for my 3g tank. All I do is swish the filter sponges in the old tank water and put pack. I also remove the propellors from the filter systems and rinse and clean any debris to keep them clear so they operate properly. I only replace the sponges if they are really really gunky or if they are falling apart I try to keep a whisper filter in my 36g cannister ready to use since those filters seem to fall apart more easily then the others I rinse the filter sponges every 4 weeks. Don't use fresh tap water to rinse the filters since this will kill off your nitrifying bacteria what you are essentially doing when you rinse with the old tank water is rinsing off the gunk but keeping the nitrifying bacteria in the filter. Hope this helps :).
 
OK last thing When I empty the water I am using tap water to refil// I have never had any problems before why would it mater if I wash the media but it is ok to change the water with tap water
 
If you refill your canister with chlorinated tap water, you are killing off all the bacteria in the canister. This leaves you depending on the bacteria in the tank for the nitrogen cycle. I would expect you to see a mini-cycle every time you clean your filter out. You should be refilling with tank water or treated tap water that has had the chlorine removed before pouring it into the canister.
 
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