Prolonging The Life Of Your Filter Cartridge?

[Sean W.]

what do you do to prolong the life of your filter cartridge? everytime i do a water change i take the cartridge out and shake it alot in the water i took out of the tank, to where it gets its color back then put it back in. so instead of every 2 weeks, i replace my filter around every 3 weeks.

anyone else do something similar?

 

[three-fingers]

Cant say I've replaced any biological filter sponges in about 5 years...

I just squeeze the worst of the mulm out whenever flow is reduced on whatever filter.

Only stuff I replace is filter floss, but I got bored of doing that every 1-2 months so now I just don't use it.

 

[Tina c]

why are you changing your filter cartridge every 3 weeks? this is where all the bacteria are that are needed in the tank, i havnt changed mine in over 2 years lol you really only need to change it when it is literally falling to pieces.
i bet you were told in the lfs to change it every few weeks? they tell you theese things so you keep going back for a nice clean sponge and they make lots of profit lol

 

[mixmaster jay]

its about 4 years for me apart from the filterfloss which i do every 3 weeks maybe 4

 

[Sean W.]

this is a picture of my filter unit...

you guys are telling me that i dont have to replace the thing circled in red ( see picture ) every 2 weeks?
the thing circled in yellow i never change, i never do anything to that, that is what keeps your tank cycled when you change the thing circled in red.


yes?

 

[Tina c]

i have never used a filter like that but unless it is filter wool which it looks like its not then NO you do not need to change it every few weeks
just rinse it out in old tank water when you do your usual maintance routine, just a q how much are those blue sponges costing you every 3 weeks? and was it the fish shop that told you to change every 2 weeks?

 

[mixmaster jay]

i would just give it a couple of squeezes in tank water then put it back in
you would probably end up with a mioni cycle every 3 weeks if you put new one in but i maybe wrong somebody else would tell you better

i haven't replaced my filter pads in my fluval 3 plus for just over a year i just give them a quick squeeze in tank water

 

[mbsqw1d]

do you have a pleco and fourr loach in a 10 gallon tank? sorry was eyeing up your profile details. I've heard they can all quickly outgrow small tanks (anything under 30 Gallons.) The pic youve taken there.. is that when youve put in fresh media or is that what you'd consider to be dirty?

 

[Blueywa]

I mainly use Ehiem cannisters so its 1 or 2 times a year, but I also have a couple of sponge ones and as suggested when the flow slows squeeze gunk into a bucket containing tanks water and refit. The only ones I discard are the carbon pads, but some folk reuse them too.

 

[Sean W.]

i have never used a filter like that but unless it is filter wool which it looks like its not then NO you do not need to change it every few weeks
just rinse it out in old tank water when you do your usual maintance routine, just a q how much are those blue sponges costing you every 3 weeks? and was it the fish shop that told you to change every 2 weeks?

Yea... I bought a 10 pack for $60...

 

[coldcazzie]

I cleaned my filter sponges (ie rinsed them in tank water) a couple of weeks back, and that's the first time I've done it in months. The filter wool pad gets replaced about once a month, if I remember. If I don't sometimes it goes 3-4 months without getting replaced.
I've never yet replaced a filter sponge, and I've had 2 different tanks over 5 years.

 

[Tina c]

well Sean this just proves that you should never trust what the fish shop says lol they are just there to make a profit!! the filter sponges you have will now last you for a few years at least lol

 

[indigoj]

I've not changed any filter media apart from carbon or floss in 2 years - just rinse once every few weeks in tank water - I usually only do that if flow seems slower than normal.