Help - Filter Is Clogged, What Do I Do?

[PaulQ]

I just noticed that most of the water going through my filter system is not going through the filter but rather getting backed up and flowing out of the space where the pipe comes in. The filter cartridge is blocked up.

My cartridge filter is filthy. I don't know what to do because I know that's where the good bacteria live. Do I clean it somehow?

Can you help?

(it's a Top Fin model 30 filter with a slide in cartridge, its been used for about 3 weeks now)

Thank you!

 

[Harlequins]

The best way to clean any filter media is to remove some water from your tank in a clean tub(make sure it hasn't had any soap in there) and swish the media cartridge in there,to get the lose bits off,don't over clean it or the tank might go into a mini cycle.

Never use tap water to clean filter media.

 

[PaulQ]

Done. Crisis averted. (the one in my mind)

Thank you!

 

[Harlequins]

You're welcome

 

[OldMan47]

I must assume you have a cartridge much like the ones on my Whisper filters. Mine looks like this.

As others have already said, when it starts to plug up, swish it out well in a bucket of used tank water and plunk it right back into the filter where it came from. After about year or two, I find the outer cover starts to fall apart so I wad it up and stuff it into a new cartridge. That way I am guaranteed the bacteria colony will go on serving my fish. After a few months, I toss the original cover so I will be ready when I need to repeat that process.