Filter Cleaning Time

[jwh0818]

How do y'all clean your filters?
I have 2 - AC 70's that I clean but everytime I clean them and turn them back on, a big milky looking cloud spews out into the water. Am I doing something wrong?

 

[trkchezz]

On my AC's I turn them off, put some tank water in a bucket remove everything, with the tray. And rinse, I have a small sponge that I use on the tray itself. Squeeze out the filter sponge and replace the filter floss.

 

[jwh0818]

On my AC's I turn them off, put some tank water in a bucket remove everything, with the tray. And rinse, I have a small sponge that I use on the tray itself. Squeeze out the filter sponge and replace the filter floss.

Thats exactly what I do minus the small sponge to clean the tray. I rinse that by hand in old tank water and its always clean. This time I took both filters completely apart and rinsed sponges and bio-pellets in tank water and rinsed everything else under the faucet. Aparently I had built up gunk because now its crystal clear and I replaced the poly-fil

 

[trkchezz]

Don't do both at the same time. Try double rinsing, use new tank water the second time. Don't use sink water unless its been treated. Don't want to kill all the BB

 

[jwh0818]

Don't do both at the same time. Try double rinsing, use new tank water the second time. Don't use sink water unless its been treated. Don't want to kill all the BB

Yeah I know this. I wouldnt ever clean sponges or bio media in sink water. I rinsed the actual filter and intake pipe jn the sink

 

[wildroseofky]

For general maintenance on my Aquaclear50 I rinse the filter media out in a bucket of tank water. I use a small piece of sponge and long tongs to clean the tubes in tank water. Once a month I take the whole filter apart and clean the impeller and casing. I get a lot of slimy build up in my filter. I use clean water in a bucket treated with Prime to do that. If I do not clean it once a month, the filter doesn't seem to work as well. I also use a prefilter sponge on the intake pipe. I just clean it in the sink when it plugs up. I keep several so I can replace it regularly.