Filter Question

[GuppyGirl20]

I have a 5 gallon tank. How often should I change my filter? I've heard you're suppose to do it every month but then I when I went to the LFS the guy there was telling me that it shouldn't be changed often and only when it looks grody (my word not his). So I was wondering what it is the right amount of time when it comes to changing filters?

 

[AquaPit]

Well.. First of all, what kind of filter are we talking about here? From what I know, the filter Media is the one that is beneficial to the tank.. Cleaning that too often and cleaning it with tap water will kill all that beneficial bacteria on that Media..

The frequency of cleaning the filter, hmm.. I am not too sure.. Do not want to give you a wrong input though! Hopefully someone will come along to answer you properly aitz!

Welcome to the forum!

 

[kahira]

You don't want to change your filter media until it is literally falling apart. When it starts to look grudgy, put a new pad in WITH IT so that the bacteria on your old media will seed your new one.
 
You want to gently rinse your media in emtpied tank water when doing water changes, NEVER rinse it in water from the tap... NEVER. Do it every other waterchange or so. You don't want to do it too often, but you want to keep your filter clean. Don't listen to the filter packages... all they want is your money thats why they reccomend doing it so much.
 
If you replace your filter media without seeding the replacements, you will cause your tank to recycle, which means you'll get ammonia spikes and your fish will, if you don't catch it quick enough, die because you no longer have the bacteria (or very little) to eat up the ammonia.

 

[AquaPit]

You don't want to change your filter media until it is literally falling apart. When it starts to look grudgy, put a new pad in WITH IT so that the bacteria on your old media will seed your new one.
 
You want to gently rinse your media in emtpied tank water when doing water changes, NEVER rinse it in water from the tap... NEVER. Do it every other waterchange or so. You don't want to do it too often, but you want to keep your filter clean. Don't listen to the filter packages... all they want is your money thats why they reccomend doing it so much.
 
If you replace your filter media without seeding the replacements, you will cause your tank to recycle, which means you'll get ammonia spikes and your fish will, if you don't catch it quick enough, die because you no longer have the bacteria (or very little) to eat up the ammonia.

Well answered Kahira!

 

[GuppyGirl20]

Thanks for the info. I have a bio wheel in my filter. Does that make a difference with the bacteria and ammonia and such

 

[Gvilleguy]

Guppygirl, Kahira gave good advice. I would slightly disagree with the cleaning frequency, however. It depends on the size of your filter, the media type, and how much gunk is accumulating inside of it. For the most part you can usually go a month or longer without touching your filter.
 
You have a bio wheel, which is good, and should go a long time without needing any cleaning. What type of media is in the filter itself? Does it have a floss-based cartridge (a cloth-type material with media inside of it), or is it a sponge or bio-pellets? Floss-based cartridges typically will saturate and clog much more quickly than sponges or bio-pellets, so that would change our suggestions if you are dealing with floss. 

 

[GuppyGirl20]

It's a polyfiber pad with carbon in it (so says the box of filters I have)

 

[Gvilleguy]

Sorry to keep asking questions - but does that polyfiber pad seem more sponge-like, or more floss/cotton-like? If it's a sponge type of pad that is good. If it feels like floss/cotton, then I would encourage you to transition away from it as soon as possible and stuff a filter sponge and/or bio-pellets into the available filter space. You do not always have to use the filter media that matches your brand of filter - anything will work as long as you cut sponges to fit the space properly.

Those floss carbon cartridges will saturate and slow the water flow...hence causing you to replace them monthly. The problem is that helpful bacteria will colonize that floss material, so when you swap it out you can cause problems with your cycle because good bacteria is being discarded.

Would love to see a picture of the filter if you can post one at some point.