I Cleaned My External Filter Today

[seabear]

So I finally cleaned my external filter this morning after I saw 2 dead fish...
I was a little scared when I was about to open the filter, LOL. There was some algae in there, I think they are dead already and got sucked in, it was not as bad as I imagined but still dirty enough . The I was going to just clean the pads but when I picked them up they already felt apart, I only put one back which is still ok, got to buy some new medias.
I hope it's my dirty filter that's causing my fish died. Need to do a better job going keep everything clean going forward.
And one good news, a female platy that I thought was missing showed up after I cleaned the filter, but hiding again now... My tank only has a driftwood and couple rocks I picked up everything when I was cleaning the filter and doing water change, I couldn't find her. I think they have a portal in the tank that they can travel somewhere else...

 

[balajake]

when you get the new pads rinse them but keep some of your old pads in the filter as it will allow the good bacteria to transfer to the new pads.

 

[seabear]

Yup, I will leave the old ones in there for another month at lease for the bacteria to transfer to the new ones, then I will replace them with new ones.
It's been so long I haven't touched the filter, I had a hard time disconnecting it

 

[balajake]

i'd love to see photos of your tank. if you have to clean the glass on the inside you could used a normal household sponge that you use to clean he dishes with as long as its new and you cleanend it in fresh water and its free from chemicals. i don't know if you have them in he USA but the sponge i use is a yellow sponge but one side has a green rough side for tougher scrubbing . it's great for getting algae off the glass and so much cheaper than the aquarium ones.

 

[seabear]

My tank was full of algae at one point, I didn't get rid of them since my silver dollars eat all green in the tank except the algae so I thought that's at least some green in my tank, lol. After I restock then I started to clean them up, I use the same sponge you said to scrub the glass, I also turn of the lights for most of the time for 2 weeks. But there is still some algae left, I should've took pics of before and after

 

[balajake]

Algae grows like crazy if you have the tank near a window. The direct light makes it grow rapidly. I have to keep the curtains closed in my bedroom because my smaller is right near the window

 

[seabear]

My tank is not near any windows direct sunlight can't get to it, algae started to grow after I changed the light bulb and I used to keep the light on all the time. Here is a pic of my tank now, it used to be algae all over everything