How Often Should You Clean The Filter Out ?

[toastie]

hi , so my tanks been on about 3 months , 64l plenty of stock and water tests are coming up ok and close to the same every time .
 
so the question is do it leave the filter alone if all is well or do i need to clean it anyway ? is there a clue in the test results to tell me when to do it ? 
 
thanks for any info  
 
D

 

[Zante]

Simply when the water flow is significantly lower than it should be, other than that I leave the filter well alone.

 

[fm1978]

Nope, you can pretty much leave it alone except for the occasional squeeze of the sponges in tank water. Your filter media is where all the magic happens so you pretty much leave it until it starts to disintegrate.

Giving the impeller a rinse/clean is a good idea too now and again.

 

[toastie]

nice one thanks ., when you say now and again are we talking a months , 6 months , a year ? 
 
i have a good flow at the moment and have the bubble on should should spot it if it slows down to much . many thanks d 

 

[fluttermoth]

The best idea is to check your filter every time you do a water change. 
 
It's impossible to say how often filters need cleaning; it depends on the size of the filter, how heavily stocked you are and what sort of fish you have. You don't want to leave it too long, as the pores in the media will get clogged, and that reduces the surface area for the bacteria to live on.
 
The maim thing is to not over clean your media, nor let it get clogged.

 

[toastie]

thanks , theres a lot of getting a feel for it with fish i think . i already feel i know my tank better than i ever thought i would need and if somethings wrong i hope il pick up on it . cheers for all your help D 

 

[baker360360]

Just got a juwel trigon today when setting up was reading filter manual because it has a whole bunch of levels and wanted to put them on right order, when looking at the leaflet I saw that the poly filter part needs changing weekly carbon monthly I think the blue standard sponge needs changing every 8 months there is a sponge called nitrix I think it's already got some bacteria in it that cleans nitrates so less water changes. And the bio- part needs changing every year.

Now I think it all depends on 1) filter media size by tank size 2) amount of fish and any other waste makers 3) as mentioned flow rate

The juwel will want you to buy their filters daily if they could so i probably won't be changing them as often as they recommend.

 

[raptorrex]

Just got a juwel trigon today when setting up was reading filter manual because it has a whole bunch of levels and wanted to put them on right order, when looking at the leaflet I saw that the poly filter part needs changing weekly carbon monthly I think the blue standard sponge needs changing every 8 months there is a sponge called nitrix I think it's already got some bacteria in it that cleans nitrates so less water changes. And the bio- part needs changing every year.

Now I think it all depends on 1) filter media size by tank size 2) amount of fish and any other waste makers 3) as mentioned flow rate

The juwel will want you to buy their filters daily if they could so i probably won't be changing them as often as they recommend.

I'd get rid of your filter, and get a better one. (please dont take offence)
 
your filter has no proper mechanical filtration (one strip of white pad does not count)
 
but till then:
you will find washing the white pad will bring it back to life. (at least for a few goes)
 
junk the carbon (no basic internal or external filter for 15 years has needed carbon) this will give you more bio area, if you replace it with plain sponge.
 
junk the "nitrix" (lol what a con that is) again you will gain bio area if you replace it with plain sponge.
 
your sponge media will only, thats ONLY, need replacing when it starts falling apart.
 
Carbon, Nitrix and forced changing of sponges are just methods of trying, by Juwel, to get money for no reason. I would say its a con. (as would anybody else with long experience of filtration.)
 
I'd replace the heater too, before it cooks or chills your fish.

 

[baker360360]

Just got a juwel trigon today when setting up was reading filter manual because it has a whole bunch of levels and wanted to put them on right order, when looking at the leaflet I saw that the poly filter part needs changing weekly carbon monthly I think the blue standard sponge needs changing every 8 months there is a sponge called nitrix I think it's already got some bacteria in it that cleans nitrates so less water changes. And the bio- part needs changing every year.
Now I think it all depends on 1) filter media size by tank size 2) amount of fish and any other waste makers 3) as mentioned flow rate
The juwel will want you to buy their filters daily if they could so i probably won't be changing them as often as they recommend.

I'd get rid of your filter, and get a better one. (please dont take offence)
 
your filter has no proper mechanical filtration (one strip of white pad does not count)
 
but till then:
you will find washing the white pad will bring it back to life. (at least for a few goes)
 
junk the carbon (no basic internal or external filter for 15 years has needed carbon) this will give you more bio area, if you replace it with plain sponge.
 
junk the "nitrix" (lol what a con that is) again you will gain bio area if you replace it with plain sponge.
 
your sponge media will only, thats ONLY, need replacing when it starts falling apart.
 
Carbon, Nitrix and forced changing of sponges are just methods of trying, by Juwel, to get money for no reason. I would say its a con. (as would anybody else with long experience of filtration.)
 
I'd replace the heater too, before it cooks or chills your fish.

None taken, I won't clean white pad as they are only 20p each max. There is already room for 2 x bio boxes in there £5 each wich I've put in and as the other stuff wears out will replace about half of total filter with bio. What's wrong with heater?

 

[fishlearner66]

I have a 64l tank and what i do so that it doesnt get clogged up is every other time i clean my tank i just rinse it in the water from the tank and i havent had any problem with water flow since i brought it 9 months ago
 

 

[toastie]

so when i come to clean the sponge bit should i just give it a squeeze out in some tank water ? this wont kill off all the good stuff ? just noticing today that the flow mite be slowing down .. i disturbed a lot of gravel yesterday and bought a load of muck up . cheers d 

 

[fm1978]

Yeah just a good squeeze to get rid of any large bits of dirt on your sponges. I used to find tht the flow decreased when the poly pad got choked up with old food and plant matter.

 

[toastie]

cheers 

 

[ShinySideUp]

 

Just got a juwel trigon today when setting up was reading filter manual because it has a whole bunch of levels and wanted to put them on right order, when looking at the leaflet I saw that the poly filter part needs changing weekly carbon monthly I think the blue standard sponge needs changing every 8 months there is a sponge called nitrix I think it's already got some bacteria in it that cleans nitrates so less water changes. And the bio- part needs changing every year.

Now I think it all depends on 1) filter media size by tank size 2) amount of fish and any other waste makers 3) as mentioned flow rate

The juwel will want you to buy their filters daily if they could so i probably won't be changing them as often as they recommend.

I'd get rid of your filter, and get a better one. (please dont take offence)
 
your filter has no proper mechanical filtration (one strip of white pad does not count)
 
but till then:
you will find washing the white pad will bring it back to life. (at least for a few goes)
 
junk the carbon (no basic internal or external filter for 15 years has needed carbon) this will give you more bio area, if you replace it with plain sponge.
 
junk the "nitrix" (lol what a con that is) again you will gain bio area if you replace it with plain sponge.
 
your sponge media will only, thats ONLY, need replacing when it starts falling apart.
 
Carbon, Nitrix and forced changing of sponges are just methods of trying, by Juwel, to get money for no reason. I would say its a con. (as would anybody else with long experience of filtration.)
 
I'd replace the heater too, before it cooks or chills your fish.
 

 
Agree with Raptorex on this with one addition, the nitrate sponge you have you can leave in as once the 'nitrate removal effect' has gone (if it ever existed) you just end up with a sponge that is green rather than blue (and they all turn a crappy brown colour after  while). You can buy the poly filter stuff in bulk from ebay and cut your own for practically no cost.
 
I too haven't used carbon filtration for over 20 years now. It's only any good for removing medications from the water after treatment is finshed and if you use plant fertiliser the carbon filter will take it right back out again!
 
One thing I slightly disagree with Rapt on is that when I had a Juwel Lido 120 litre, I found the internal filter to be pretty good. It was silent and very easy to keep in good condition. Indeed the only reason I got rid of it and bought a Tetratec EX700 external was that it took up such a lot of room in the tank. However each to their own in this matter.

 

[toastie]

iv just done it and the flow is much better so hope iv done know harm cheers for advice