Cleaning My Filter

[Lisa67]

My tanks have been up and running for a few months now. I seem to continuously show small amounts of ammonia despite frequent, large water changes. My filters have never been cleaned well... mainly due to my fear of washing away all of the good bacteria that I spent so long establishing.

I have 2 large "hang-on-back" type filters. What is the proper way to clean them?

Thank You!

 

[Tizer]

Bacteria are really hard to shift from most bio pads and ceramics, i would suggest draining off a jug of tank water then giving one sponge a squeeze in the jug to rid it of muck. If you have more than one sponge, leave the other one and do it a week later so you stagger the cleaning process which will give you piece of mind (to some degree) that you havnt cleaned it too much and removed the bacteria.

At the end of the say, as long as you clean it with dechlorinated water it should be fine.

 

[Bazza57]

Next time you do a partial water change, rinse the filter medium in a bucket of the old water. This way you will not kill any of your bacteria in the filter. As Tizer says do each filter on an alternate week to be on the safe side.
10-15% weekly partial water change is my chosen method.

 

[karawr]

Sorry to ask questions in someone elses thread but... how often should you replace bio max? I understand they get clogged. I clean them out in tank water every month and a half or so. But I can't get my ammonia under 0.25ppm so I'm wondering if my media is clogged and needs to be replaced.

 

[Tizer]

Bio max just needs a swish around in tank water, it can last for years, replacing it just means you are removing the bacteria that is breaking down your ammonia and nitrite and could cause your tank to go into a mini cycle while the bacteria colony establishes itself again. personally, i dont ever plan on replacing mine until i see it crumbling. need more info on your situation really, new thread would be best when you can be bothered.

 

[OldMan47]

You never replace any functional biological filter media period. You do rinse out media in a bucket of used tank water as often as the media's condition dictates. I clean my filters while I am doing a water change. One of the first buckets of water that comes out of a tank is used to clean the filter media, that way I can use the next bucket of water for a final media rinse if I have waited too long between cleanings. There is no need to be excessively concerned about the filter losing its biological colony. The colony is fairly tightly adhered to the media and will survive all but the most robust scrubbing.
Cleaning a filter has two main tasks. First is the media cleaning, which we have already mentioned. Second is cleaning the functional parts like the impeller and hoses. I always clean the impeller and the well that it sits in with a brush, so that nothing is left behind in those areas to impede flow. (Don't lose the tiny rubber end pieces on the impeller shaft, they are a necessity) I also clean hoses if they look like they need it.