How To Clean Your Filter

[Sesshis_grl]

Yo

My tank is close to 2 months old and I was wondering if its time to start changing/cleaning sponges. I was reading through the begininers section and am confused ;;

""Beneficial Bacteria. Depending on the type of your filter, you may need to turn it off. Your goal is basically to keep the bacteria at least submerged in the tank water at all times. If this means turning your filter off and throwing the media (sponges, wool, etc.) in to the tank to float, then by all means, do it. Certain filters (such as hang-on-back AquaClear) can be left running up to a certain point. The important thing to remember is if the filter is left to dry, you will have to re-start your cycling process -- not fun. Please always keep your filter in tank water during maintenance
Filter. If you noticed that your filter's flow rate has been reduced in the past week, it is likely due to clogs. Take your filter media and give it a light rinse in the bucket water. NEVER CLEAN A FILTER USING PLAIN TAP WATER, as the chlorine will kill all of the cycle bacteria. You're not trying to make the media look new again (a well-loved sponge will be permanently discolored), but rather just removing scum and large water-clogging particles.""

So obviously you dont want take the sponge out of the water and you don't want to use tap water to rinse it but then how do you clean it? When I kepted goldfish I used to scrub the sponge til it looked black again under tap water but again have learned that this is not good to do. Do you just shake the sponge around and squeeze it in water from the tank? or is there another way? and do you need to do this weekly? or is it a monthly or every couple month kind of thing

clarification on this would really be helpful, thanks

 

[demasonisrule]

I do it once a month. What you do, is during water changes, before you dump the bucket of tank water, you take the cartridge out, and just try and scrape all of the scum off with your hand and fingernails. Also replace the carbon or whatever else was in there.

 

[ajs2294]

I do it once a month. What you do, is during water changes, before you dump the bucket of tank water, you take the cartridge out, and just try and scrape all of the scum off with your hand and fingernails. Also replace the carbon or whatever else was in there.

Yep basically you just squeeze the gunk out into your dirty water change water and rinse with the same water to not shock the bacteria. But as far as Carbon goes its really only effective for 3 days so if you insist on using it changing it weekly is a minimum

 

[JMcQueen]

If you squeeze it too vigourously isnt there a danger of dislodging anything beneficial on the sponge? For example, if you squeeze it until ALL the debris is removed and your just left with a discoloured sponge, is there any bacteria damage or are you best just scrapping (rather than squeezing) the largest parts of debris of the surface of the sponge?

 

[OldMan47]

I thoroughly squeeze out my sponges and have never seen a problem doing it that way. When I get done, a sponge that started out feeling slimy and almost muddy will feel like a new sponge, but it keeps right on working as a biological filter. I do let my filters get a bit dirtier than most people would.