[Nicole85]

a friend of mine...no really not me.. a friend seems to think he doesnt need to clean the filters at all...ever...just rinse out the media bags. there are 3 filters that hang on the side of his 125gal cichlid tank..they are sooo nasty..you can see algae and white worms inside them and where the water returns to the tank. please tell me i can tell him to clean them and replace the media bags.

 

[MediaHound]

Carbon needs to be replaced. Biological filter media does not need to be cleaned, but the mechanical filter needs to be either cleaned to near new state or replaced when cleaning isn't returning it to new.

 

[Nicole85]

i totally agree....thanks..he did some bad research online and now considers that info to be the truth so help him fish god.

 

[phil_pl]

i wash my mechanical media but i never touch my biological

 

[Nicole85]

phil... do you ever clean the filter inself? the outside of it that would hold the media? i have a canister (not a hang on back) and about once a month i take it apart into pieces and clean everything to new. every two weeks i clean the media and obviously the weekly water change. We just got brand new carbon last month...we dont have a schudule for that. when it looks really nasty. but our friend never removes the filter from the tank just rinses off the carbon bag without even really getting the stuff off and puts it back. never replaced them ever and never cleans the sponges. white worms on the inside of it and algae on the overhang that brings the waterback to the tank.

 

[phil_pl]

I am running a Aqua Clear HOB filter. When i clean it i remove all the media and rinse the sponge filter until it runs clean. But other than that i really dont do a thing to it, i dont run carbon on a regular basis but if i am i will only run it for a week make then throw it away. I dont take the chance of letting it leach things back into my water.

now every once in a while i run my filter in a vineger solution along with my protien skimmer to clean it out completely (without the media of course)

 

[JIM]

About every 3rd or 4th filter maintenance cycle, i completely disassemble a filter clean everything on it, impeller, impeller chamber lift tube, media chamber, etc. i do this on a rotating schedule as i have several tanks running. i use mostly aqua-clear, filters so a sponge is the bio, and mechanical filtration media, which i just rinse in tank water squeeze out and go again. I do use a couple of Hot Magnum HOB filters which are cleaned completey every time i service them. Maybe not necessary, but IMO a clean filter, is a happy filter, always provides max flo, and prolongs life.

 

[Oldman]

I completely clean my filters but take great care not to ruin my biological filtration in the process. The hard plastic case and the impeller need a good cleaning once in a while, the bags of media get a light rinse along with squeezing out the sponges in used tank water. The only thing that I ever replace is the thin white pad of filter floss that keeps material from getting into my impeller. Filter floss just doesn't hold enough biologicals to be worth trying to keep. The sponge and ceramic media hold plenty of bacteria. Carbon is only used in one of my filters if I need it to remove medications or decide to remove tannins from driftwood leeching.

 

[Nicole85]

my sw canister has sponges, biocylinders and carbon, should i remove the carbon?

 

[Oldman]

I am completely clueless on saltwater. A good practice for fresh water may be completely the wrong thing to do.

 

[AlexisPets]

I like to clean both the mechanical and biological. But before I clean the biological. I get new media and put it in the filter carefully placed so it doesn't get dirty from the other media. I do that for about 2 or 3 days, sometimes more. This allows for the bacteria to establish in the new media. Then I put the newer/cleaner one in and wash or dispose the other, depending on how gunky it is. I use to have extra filters on tanks to replace the other ones that needed to be washed or disposed. But I stopped that because I don't want to contaminate or transfer diseases that may not be visible to the naked eye right away. I pretty much do that only for new tanks to get them cycled a little faster. But I guess that's another thread....LOL!!!