When and how to clean the filter

[olegdulin]

I have this filter (100 gph):



It has been almost a month since we got it. I am just wondering - at what point am I supposed to clean it ? When do I replace the media ? How do I get it out of the tank without it dumping its contents into the water ?

Thanks all!


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[jglover]

Don't change your mechanical media, just wash it out in some old tank water when your filter flow slows or the tanks is not cleaning properly. The filter media is where your bacteria reside and replacing the media will cause your tank to cycle again. When the media is beat up and ragged to the point it will no longer function, that's when to replace it, but keep about half of the old media in the filter chamber to seed the new media.