People Who Rarely/never Clean Tanks But Fish Live Forever

[Miss Wiggle]

Oh yeah I never change my filter media...... I don't see why, i've used the same sponge on my 15g for 7 years, you can do more damage changing it than leaving it. Aslong as it's cleaned it should be fine.

I'm glad you've said that, jayjay. I've had my tank for about 7 months now (upgraded from a much smaller one), and have to admit to changing the filter sponges several times within that period. I do rinse them in aquarium water (not tap water) between those changes, but I have read several posts on here about not needing to change the sponges atall. If I think about it, my mum's pond (which is a huge affair, 3 feet deep in places) has been going for years, and as far as I know she has only ever cleaned the filter media in there and never replaced it - so I guess it makes sense that the media in an aquarium doesn't really need changing.
I think my mind is now made up!
On the subject of not cleaning tanks, my friend has a pretty large tank - I'd say about 40 gals - with about 4 or 5 fancies in it. It's as green as ever, and she even admits to not cleaning it and forgetting to feed them from one day to the next. They seem to be hanging on in there though!

yeah I only change the sponges if they're literally falling apart, so long as you clean them regularly in aquarium water they should keep in a good enough condition to go for years. I don't see why you would want to change it when you'd just throw out all or a big proportion of your bacteria that's keeping the tank healthy. Same for the ceramic rings and such like. Filter floss I change more often cos it gets really manky but that's only ever a small part of the filtration.

 

[highfire]

yeah I only change the sponges if they're literally falling apart, so long as you clean them regularly in aquarium water they should keep in a good enough condition to go for years. I don't see why you would want to change it when you'd just throw out all or a big proportion of your bacteria that's keeping the tank healthy. Same for the ceramic rings and such like. Filter floss I change more often cos it gets really manky but that's only ever a small part of the filtration.

You're right - just think of all that lovely bacteria that gets thrown out unnecessarily with the so-called used sponges. Ceramic rings are another thing too - the booklet that comes with my filter tells me to replace just about everything except the motor every 2-3 months, 2-3 weeks in the case of carbon. I am now however becoming more worldly wise after spending a bit of time on the forum, and have realised that changing filter media is basically unnecessary on the whole.

 

[raptorrex]

yeah I only change the sponges if they're literally falling apart, so long as you clean them regularly in aquarium water they should keep in a good enough condition to go for years. I don't see why you would want to change it when you'd just throw out all or a big proportion of your bacteria that's keeping the tank healthy. Same for the ceramic rings and such like. Filter floss I change more often cos it gets really manky but that's only ever a small part of the filtration.

You're right - just think of all that lovely bacteria that gets thrown out unnecessarily with the so-called used sponges. Ceramic rings are another thing too - the booklet that comes with my filter tells me to replace just about everything except the motor every 2-3 months, 2-3 weeks in the case of carbon. I am now however becoming more worldly wise after spending a bit of time on the forum, and have realised that changing filter media is basically unnecessary on the whole.

i would dump the carbon now and get another layer of something else

on thread, for years my kid kept goldfish, they sat on a shelf, in a tiny bowl, no filter no air, no real care too. there were many times it was hard to see the poor things. though in six years we only lost two, one jumped out (honestly cant blame it) the other was "fished out" by one of the cats.(lol the same cat is often to be found munching, tinned or boxed sweets, he opens the tin or box and sits there "hooking" them out one by one). i am ashamed of how we treated them, it would never happen now!!!!