Should I Clean My Filter?

[Joller]

i have an aqua one filter that has the two sponge compartments in it, is it a good idea to clean the sponges every once in a while?

 

[lordofthesea]

yeah. i clean mine whenever i do a water change - about once every 2 weeks. also make 100% sure you wash the sponges in water removed from the tank or you will kill the filter bacteria. something you DON'T want to do.

 

[Joller]

yeah. i clean mine whenever i do a water change - about once every 2 weeks. also make 100% sure you wash the sponges in water removed from the tank or you will kill the filter bacteria. something you DON'T want to do.

i don't understand how you can wash it without washing out the bacteria

And since i just did a 90% water change does that mean i killed the bacteria?

 

[Miss Wiggle]

no, the bacteria do not live free swimming in the water, they cling onto surfaces so removing the water does not remove your bacteria.

you do need to be careful when washing your filter sponges but you should still do it!

basically wait until the flow rate from the filter starts to drop off, when that happens it's time to clean them. take a bucket of water from the tank then gently squeeze out the sponges in it. don't be keen to get them too clean, just try and get some of the worst of the gunk off them so that the flow won't be restricted through them anymore.

 

[Fisses]

yes clean them out, but 2 weeks does sound too often for my liking

 

[waterdrop]

Yes, to add to the others, I'd say its confusing, to say the least, to a beginner, this business of cleaning out filter media. You're confronted with a bunch of brown muck and you wonder how it relates to the precious bacteria you've perhaps been so patient to grow! An important thing to know is that most of the muck you're seeing is debris, whereas the freshwater bacteria you want are mostly clinging tightly to your media (sponge, ceramics, bioballs etc.)

When your tank is still under 6 months old, you want to still be quite gentle about squeezing the sponges, or swishing the ceramics or bioballs in tank water (and yes, you always use tank water for these operations, not tap water!) You want them to still look pretty dirty. Of course, during cycling itself you try to avoid cleaning them at all unless the flow becomes restricted.

I like to recommend that a beginner start with a habit of monthly cleaning, after cycling is over. Then adjust that somewhat if necessary based on whether the filter flow gets blocked sooner or whether the media didn't look like it needed it that much. Smaller filters (specifically, smaller media volume) and/or larger fish loads will require more frequent cleaning.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[Joller]

oh ok, thanks for the help guys. and by the 90% water change i meant i emptied most of the water and filled it up with the hose (no fish in the tank of course) so would that tap water destroy all my bacteria? (i put the treatment in after it was full too)

 

[dcarmor927]

nope, the hose water wont kill it...as long as the bacteria stays wet and has a food source (and is undisturbed in the filter) it should thrive

 

[Miss Wiggle]

you should really add dechlor to the tank before you fill it up, if too much chlorine gets into the filter bacteria it can nuke them.

probably be OK though but in teh future try and remember to add it before.

 

[Schmill]

I amy be proven wrong here, but as well as dosing the dechlor first be careful of extremely cold water. When I was cycling I shut off the external filter, drained 90% ish of the tank, and then refilled from hose with dechlor. Of course the water direct from the hose is very cold, and when you switch on the filter again, although it's dechlor-ed it's still cold, and my results seemed to show that knocked me back a good couple of days in the cycle.
After doing that a couple of times I reverted back to using buckets and putting a kettle of boiled water in each one. Still had a slight effect, (which I put down to having the filter off whilst I did the change), but nothing like I had with cold water.

Just food for thought!