new cannister filter - eheim

[moneywastedonfish]

i have just bought a few new cannister filters for my tanks.
How often should i clean the media?
I have the eheim mech and eheim substrate media in the filters do i have to replace the pads that it came with or just clean them?

I have taken the activated carbon pad out of the filter for my apistos and tetras but left it in the filter for the oscars, does anyone see any problems with this?
Should i eventually take the activated pad out from the oscars filter.

Just in case anyone was wondering they are eheim classic filters that are 2215's or something. And if you were considering buying one for your tank do it, my tank has never looked so clean, nor my fish so active, and they have only been up and running for two weeks.

 

[Tolak]

Cleaning the media depends on how stocked the tank is, and what kind of fish. None of my tanks have only a cannister, they have a hob or some sort of other filter as well. I also stock tanks pretty heavily, Probably more than most. So even with being heavily stocked I clean them every 4-6 months. The hob's have to get cleaned every 2-4 weeks, or the flow slows down big time. Eheims rule.

I rinse the pads, they really don't need to be replaced until they are starting to fall apart. The other media just needs to be rinsed also. I have yet to see this stuff fall apart. Good thing, it isn't cheap.

The only time I run charcoal is for a new or newly cleaned tank, or to remove meds. I only run it for a week, then pull it.

Tolak

 

[moneywastedonfish]

cheers.