nitrate

[echoofformless]

Rinse out the pads in a bucket of freshly drawn tank water during changes and put them back. I have had pads last a few months before they needed to be replaced.

Personally I would add another filter. I like having two filters like i always say; for a failsafe on case one kicks out and also to maximize cleaning capacity. Plus you can rotate the cleanings so you never lose too much of your good bacteria with media replacements. Well worth the extra twenty or thirty dollar investment. In my opinion it's always better to have two filters rated at x GPH than one filter rated at 2x GPH.

 

[erin14]

imo, i wouldn't change out filter pads so often, i would cut that down to half the pads once a month at most

I know, i agree with that except for that the pads get dirty and then it starts to backflow and i don't want that. When it first started doing that i thought the filter was dirty or something so i cleaned it without changing the pads and that made no difference in the backflow. Then i changed the pads and it stopped back flowing. They have carbon in them too and after a while the carbon kind of "fades" right? Also I have tried just rinsing them off like stated in the previous post but it didn't really work.

 

[dreadboy113]

Each time you change your filter pads you are losing good bacteria. I have 2 filters running and i lightly rinse one (not both) in old tank water. Also i check my water regularly to be on the safe side. Any organic matter when decaying will contribute to the nitrogen cycle.

 

[erin14]

I don't take them out right away though, my filter can hold 4 pads at a time but i usually only have 2 in there at a time so a 4 or 5 days before i plan on taking out the old pads i put 2 new ones in the empty slot. then after like 5 days i take the old ones out.