How Often Do You Clean Your External Canister?

[adamgreen240]

so how often do you clean it then - looking for a rough idea for myself

thanks

adam

 

[Teelie]

Month and a half to two months. Sometimes longer if I get lazy.

 

[Arimus]

As we've got a mostly sand substrate I find I have to clean it once a week or it ends up full of bits of sand. (Our CAE, bless him, loves to dig in the sand just by the filter inlet so generating clouds of sand for the filter to choke on)

 

[The-Wolf]

Last week I cleaned out my tetratec ex1200 for the first time since getting it, around 6 months ago.
my eheims I do around every 3-4 months
haven't cleaned out the Jebo in nearly a year.

by cleaning I don't mean rinsing/replacing floss
that is done every couple of weeks

 

[dylema]

I have an FX5 on a 3' so it doesn't get very dirty. I clean the prefilter I put in once a week but the actual canister one in three months or so. I had a little aquaone on the same tank before and I had to clean it every week.

 

[Miss Wiggle]

truth is you can't get an accurate idea from other people's frequency, the stocking and size of the tank, other filtration used and what media they have will affect how often it gets cleaned.

however it's very easy to see when yours needs cleaning, keep an eye on the flow rate, when it starts to drop it needs to be cleaned

 

[indigo]

...

however it's very easy to see when yours needs cleaning, keep an eye on the flow rate, when it starts to drop it needs to be cleaned

without appearing particularly dense, how does one tell when the flow rate goes down and therefore time to clean the filter? i'm running 2 fluval 404's on a 500 litre tank and i was cleaning one a month and the filter was rank with waste, they were both very noisy as well but that seems to have quietened down now i've changed substrate from sand to gravel, i'm hoping that my quickly learned lesson and effort in redecorating and cleaning the tank will help as will the weekly 50% gravel clean along with the water change now that i've worked out how to do both quickly and easily i had 2 cycles going on with the intakes in each back corner and the spraybars in different positions, one to push the water to the front of the tank, and one to push it along the back, this made the waste collect in the corners, so i've changed one to a jet and now have a couple of airstones in there, there are bubbles being pushed about all over so i suspect the water movement will help greatly in reducing stagnant spots.

man there is so much to take into account and learn in this hobby! frustrating as hell when things go pearshaped but oh so rewarding when it comes good in the end i'll hopefully get some more decor in there soon and deem the tank 'finished' and get some photos up! i'm quite proud of what i've achieved with it

 

[kewskills]

not that often, i check flow and if thats ok and water stats are fine pretty much leave it alone

 

[Miss Wiggle]

your filter output should send a jet of water out of it and across the tank, as the filter gets dirty and clogged up the jet will drop and eventually be just a trickle. watch your filter after cleaning or when it's new, get a rough idea of how far the jet reaches to before it starts to drop, then watch it every couple of days, you'll notice over time as the filter clogs up it doesn't quite reach so far, when the jet isn't as strong as it should be then your filter needs cleaning

 

[indigo]

your filter output should send a jet of water out of it and across the tank, as the filter gets dirty and clogged up the jet will drop and eventually be just a trickle. watch your filter after cleaning or when it's new, get a rough idea of how far the jet reaches to before it starts to drop, then watch it every couple of days, you'll notice over time as the filter clogs up it doesn't quite reach so far, when the jet isn't as strong as it should be then your filter needs cleaning

kk i'll keep an eye out for that then! i've just changed all the pipes and inlet and outlet on one filter, just waiting for the LFS to order in the pipes for the other side which i know currently has compromised water flow (thanks to the pro that was paid to install the tank in the first place... ) i can't see the flow coming out of that filter at all as it's positioned to jet the water well below the water level, the other one is now a jet tho and chucks water out to practically the whole length of the tank, the danios were all surfing in the current last night, well cute!

now i just have to work out why i have a yellow tinge to the water so that i can deal with it and i'll be a happy bunny!!

cheers ^^

 

[Rooster]

Months... only give it a quick shake in old tank water + replace the fine filter mat when the flowrate drops.

 

[Teelie]

however it's very easy to see when yours needs cleaning, keep an eye on the flow rate, when it starts to drop it needs to be cleaned

That's usually the hint for me. When I did my last cannister cleaning, I noticed the outflow was a lot stronger. It was the longest I went without cleaning it, nearly 4 months and it showed.

 

[adamgreen240]

thanks - i dont theink ill bother cleaning mine for a while then!!!!

 

[mlawson]

I have a relatively high fish load, so it's one a month without fail for me.

 

[bare bottom]

i got curious and did mine.

Found two shrimp in the bottom - must have been a good two months

still they're back home and thriving.