Hi everyone. I

[George H]

have a question about using vinegar to clean the ceramics in my canister filter. The aquarium store that I purchase supplies and livestock told me to clean my ceramics using white vinegar to soak them in and then rinse them is fresh water. I did that and then placed them in the sun for a couple of days. They still smell of vinegar and I wonder if it is safe to reuse them. My tank is an 80 gallon freshwater aquarium. I would appreciate any advice or comments.
Thank you

 

[Naughts]

Mmm, I have not heard of doing that. I rinse mine in tank water. I'm not sure if yours are safe for the tank now, and they won't have the beneficial bacteria any more.

 

[Retired Viking]

I have used vinegar to clean my tank glass and decorations and not had any trouble. Just make sure you rinse it off thoughly and then wipe it down with a cloth or paper towel. I usually let it set out for a couple of days.

 

[seangee]

These certainly have no beneficial bacteria left after being dried out. I would only rinse with water. If the pores become completely clogged you could replace them, but not more than 50% at a time so you don't lose the bacteria. This probably won't be neccessary for 10-15 years unless you are overfeeding and not cleaning your filter regularly.

 

[FishGuest5123]

Clean them? I never clean those!

 

[George H]

This is the first time I have cleaned them in the 20 years that I have used them. I put in new ones, but I was trying to clean the old ones and reuse them at some point in the future. I have two trays of them in my fluval 404 canister filter. the ceramics that I cleaned were foul smelling and green. I replace all the ceramics in that tray with new ones. Maybe I should just throw out the old set.

 

[FishGuest5123]

I probably would.

 

[Colin_T]

Vinegar is fine and the worst thing it can do is reduce the pH. However, any residual amount on some ceramic filter beads is not going to affect the pH at all.

Personally I would just rinse the beads in a bucket of tank water and not bother soaking in vinegar. There is no reason to do that. But since it's done, just rinse well with fresh water and re-use them.

monitor the ammonia levels in the tank and do big daily water changes if you need to drop the level.