Juwel Compact Filter

[00mitomk]

anyone got any ideas on how to clean it becouse it says dnt clean the blue ones and clean black lightly and green very lightly and this should all be done in the same water the fish are in now.

im realli confused any ideas or inof would be great

M i L e S

 

[sparklefuzz]

anyone got any ideas on how to clean it becouse it says dnt clean the blue ones and clean black lightly and green very lightly and this should all be done in the same water the fish are in now.

im realli confused any ideas or inof would be great

M i L e S

You would clean the sponge out in the water you take off the tank when doing a water change. Drain the water into a bucket, then remove the sponge you need to clean, and rinse it out in the bucket. It helps preserve the good bacteria in the sponges.

You should be changing the white pad each time you do a water change - every 1-2 weeks - completely replace it. Then rotate the others so you only clean one out at a time, maybe every 4-6 weeks. Thats how I do mine anyway. The carbon one (black) should be rinsed lightly so as not to remove the carbon, which is kinda like blank soot stuck to the sponge, if you see my meaning.

The green sponge will likely be a nitrate sponge, so again, you'd rinse it lightly so you didn't remove the stuff the sponge was treated with. Just the fish muck

Hope this helps.

 

[scubadoo]

All sounds good.

The only thing I'd add is that you dont really need the black carbon sponge generally.

I know Juwel want you to buy & replace them regularly, but the reality is that you dont need them.

It's worth having one to hand though because you can use them to remove medicines in your tank after you've completed a treatment, just insert them into the cradle for a few days after you've finished medicating, then remove, allow to dry and keep until the next time you need to do the same.

The only point I'd add about rotating the sponges is that Juwel do tell you what order to put them in - ie coarse blue at the bottom with finer blue above and green above that with the white mechanical filter on top to strain out most of the muck - I would tend to follow this advice.

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

anyone got any ideas on how to clean it becouse it says dnt clean the blue ones and clean black lightly and green very lightly and this should all be done in the same water the fish are in now.

im realli confused any ideas or inof would be great

M i L e S

All sounds good.

The only thing I'd add is that you dont really need the black carbon sponge generally.

I know Juwel want you to buy & replace them regularly, but the reality is that you dont need them.

It's worth having one to hand though because you can use them to remove medicines in your tank after you've completed a treatment, just insert them into the cradle for a few days after you've finished medicating, then remove, allow to dry and keep until the next time you need to do the same.

The only point I'd add about rotating the sponges is that Juwel do tell you what order to put them in - ie coarse blue at the bottom with finer blue above and green above that with the white mechanical filter on top to strain out most of the muck - I would tend to follow this advice.

I agree, its actually a bad idea to buy new sponges unless they are totally knackered out- if you look after them well, they will last years. Even the fine white wool-like floss ones for making the water clearer can be re-used if washed regually, although admittedly they don't last too long.
The black carbon sponge should only be used if you need to remove something like meds from the water;

http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=155399

Sparklefuzz has the filter cleaning pretty spot on, although i don't personally chuck out the white filter pads until they are totally knackered out from being cleaned and re-used over and over again.



The reason for the different type sponge pads is to help maximise the filter's filtering capability.
The sponges with lots of big holes in them are best for removing large solids and waste from the water which is why they are at the top, on the other hand they don't have that much surface area so aren't that great for growing bennificial bacteria on.
The finer hole sponges are at the bottom and are best for growing your benneficial bacteria on as they have more surface area though, although they don't do such a great job of removing solids from the water which is why they are always placed below the solid removing sponges.
The white thin floss pads you sometimes get with fluval filters and can also be bought separately are for removing tiny microscopic solids from the water to help improve water clarity/make it clearer .
All these combined make for a very efficient filter .

 

[00mitomk]

cheers, that is great help was worried it was going to be realli difficult but it seems ok and i think im gna leave the carbon sponge in for a while becouse its a brand new tank i think im going to let it settle.

many thanks

M i L e S