Ocean Clear Canister Filters

[Allison Reed]

Has anybody used these? I just noticed the canister of my 150 is an Ocean Clear 340 ( had to look it up )
I'm noticing the previous user left the media in there for a long, long time. The water in it is brown and stale, the media is very gooey and dirty. I'm hoping I can just wash it off and use it again, the site that sold it said Its "reusable"
Also, since I can't open it because it and the tubes are flooded,a nd it's indoors ( Can't do it myself, I am very weak 16 year old girl x.x )
Do I have to buy other types of media? I noticed Fluval made stuff like...peat and rings. Can I purchase things like that to put in it?

Thanks!!

 

[Harry Tolen]

Doesn't your canister have a valve at the bottom? If so, you can hook either a Python system or some plastic tubing of equal size to that, open it, and then drain your filter. In fact, you're going to have to do this at some point, because the only way to clean the OC is to drain it, open it, and clean the cartridge.

I have an Ocean Clear canister that I am not currently using, primarily because there is something wrong with the Iwaki pump that powers the system. But using the pleated membrane for mechanical filtration was great. And the sponges that fit in the middle do provide some biological filtration as well. I suppose if you wanted more conventional filtration, you could fill the center section with ceramic noodles and the outside with floss, but the interior of an Ocean Clear Canister isn't subdivided (except by the membrane), so to do this you'd still need to keep the membrane and clean it periodically.

If the pleated filter cartridge is really gunked up, the best way to clean it is to soak it in bleach/water, then to pressure rinse it and finally to soak it again in just water for a while to clear it of the bleach. I keep two cartridges handy, so that one will always be ready to go back in the filter (when it's running, that is).