How do you retain all the beneficial bacteria when cleaning filter media

[iheartbettas]

Thank You.

thanks for all your responses. it's the things that you don't think about and the different approaches to maintenance that make this hobby so interesting.

 

[katana1200]

Agree with the coach. Rinse all my filter medium in the water I'm draining from the tank anyway. Filter hardware, on the other hand, usually gets a good scrub in the big sink with fresh water. When replacing, which is almost never, I only do one element at a time. But honestly, I used to rinse and reuse a penguin biowheel cartridge for 6 months until it looked like a cat had gotten hold of the blue filter pad...

 

[andyjh]

I still rinse all media in water that I removed during a water change. I will also use this water to scrub some of the filter pieces and such. Since the water is being thrown out anyway I like to give it one last use instead of wasting fresh water.

Actually coach's last use of the water would be my "next to last" use. That stuff is great for watering house plants/shrubs.

 

[excuzzzeme]

I toss the filter media and once a month I rinse the bio-media in used tank water.

Used filter contents are way overblown as to their efficacy on an established tank. Yes, it is helpful and yes, it is full of bacteria, by the same token you should be able to toss it and replace without serious repercussions. As RB mentioned, I do run two filters since my tanks are overstocked by many opinions. I try to alternate filter cleanings and rarely have I had a mini-cycle.

 

[Sigrid]

Hello everybody,
Doing water changes I usually rinse out the foam pieces and noodles under running water - too dirty to put back in filter.
I feel that the bacteria are present on each and every tank item, therefore, I don't worry about it too much.
That is it for now....just got done with a water change on a 55 g. tank.

 

[snowandstars]

There's no reason not to be lazy and use the water from a water change... it's what your filter has been living in and won't harm it. Don't worry about losing a bit of bacteria (it's not as much as you think) because the important thing is to have good water flow through the filter so the bacteria get a good stream of waste coming to them.

 

[sorberj]

Actually coach's last use of the water would be my "next to last" use. That stuff is great for watering house plants/shrubs.

:iagree:

And my orchids love it! I haven't had a day without a blooming orchid since I started using my tank water.

 

[Juice]

I run two filters on most of my tanks, so I alternate filter cleanings without having to worry about losing too much BB. Just a quick dunk and a good shaking in the bucket with each water change for me..