Changing The Filter Pads, Is It Ok?

[cleekdaFish]

I read abt this , its not good to change it regularly cuz u will kill off the bacteria thats on it , just rinse it and put the old 1 back

 

[sussexgirl]

I read abt this , its not good to change it regularly cuz u will kill off the bacteria thats on it , just rinse it and put the old 1 back

I rinse my black filter sponges in syphoned off tank water every week. I rinse my white filter pads out once a month in tank water. I have to say that I've gone longer and the tank's water parameters have all been fine. When it comes to changing filter pads for new ones I have two in my Aqua One tank and change one side one week and the other side about a fortnight to a month later. Hopefully this helps maintain bacteria levels and won't plunge me into a mini cycle. My LFS say that you should only change the white filter pads when you think they're not doing their job properly anymore.

 

[raptorrex]

why would you need to change your filter pads??? the fine white polishe yes but why the others??? there are members on this forum, whome have had filters for a good while and have never changed their pads.

for the record i change the white polisher every two weeks, the other pads and media are cleaned one at a time, with a week inbetween each cleaning.

black pad, are usually carbon filters and it is not advisable to use them, unless you are removing meds.

 

[PrettyDiscus]

I clean all of my pads at once and the water turns black. Not too throughly though. I have only changes the sponges every three months although i dont change them all at the same time. The water goes cloudy after
cleaning the filter is that normal?

 

[pinkdolphin_113]

I try change the pads as less as i can. if you do change it tho, i would suggest sticking the new one in the tank for a while, before you take the old one out, just to get the bacteria it needs so the stats don't change.
is this right? correct me if im wrong but this is what i've been doin :saddam: sama:

i put my air pump outlet between 2 pads, this makes water go into them like it would in the filter.
this causes a build up of bacteria. i then put one pad in my holding/quarentine/hospital tank and put the other in the filter.

 

[raptorrex]

The water goes cloudy after
cleaning the filter is that normal?

far as i can tell oh yes.

I try change the pads as less as i can. if you do change it tho, i would suggest sticking the new one in the tank for a while, before you take the old one out, just to get the bacteria it needs so the stats don't change.
is this right? correct me if im wrong but this is what i've been doin :saddam: sama:

i put my air pump outlet between 2 pads, this makes water go into them like it would in the filter.
this causes a build up of bacteria. i then put one pad in my holding/quarentine/hospital tank and put the other in the filter.

lol good idea!! i put it in my cannister for a week or two. well i did once and it worked. lol if you have a small ish filter it may be worth cutting your sponges in half. so you take less bactiria out as you change. still cant see why they need changing?

 

[deni]

Regarding changing/replacing filter sponges I assume it depends on what kind of filter you have. I have a Jewel tank with an internal filter which has four blue filter sponges and a white pad on top. I change the white pad every 2 weeks and rinse the top ones alternately every few weeks in tank water and put them back in the filter. The third one down I rinse and put back after around 6 months, the botttom one gets rinsed once year. I don't replace the blue filter sponges, I was told when I bought the tank only to put in a new one if an old one was actually falling to bits and never to replace them all at once. The only gripe I have is the filter housing is really awkward to get at and fiddly to remove from the box in the corner of the tank. But I usually leave that job to hubbie!