how often do you clean your filter?

[melissa3]

I clean my HOB filters when ever it needs it. I check them every water change, which I do either every week or every other week. So, usually I rinse the pad about once, maybe twice a month, but only if the pad is slimy. (Which is really gross! haha)



Just so you know, my tanks are understocked with fish and my pads last for quite awhile. So you may have to change yours more often. I don't think there's a standard for cleaning filters. Its basically at your discretion ;-)

 

[VFC]

Pallen81,
I have crossed that bridge many times coming from Philly. How about Trenton Makes...... R/O Takes? Still bad.

Lawrenceville does have a nice ice hockey rink. My son has had a number of games there.

You think your water is bad in Trenton; try mine in the northern suburbs of Philly. Public water is from the largest water comapny in the US (Aqua America). I have: 10-30ppm nitrates out of the tap (goes up to 30ppm in the winter months), oily surface film that won't go away, brown algae (diatoms) in tanks over a year old, fish that don't spawn (even live bearers like guppies and sword tails), and I have to pre-mix my water conditioner (Prime) in a container and circulate it for an hour before pumping into the tanks (if I add the tap water & Prime directly to the tank, I loose a fish or two).

I hold off cleaning my three XPs as long as I can, because I think it is the only thing that keeps the tanks stable. All my tanks have a low turnover rate (3x to 5x) so I have little debris that collects in the filter. Most of the solid (visible) crud gets vacuumed out of the gravel each week.