Washing filter cotton tips.

[mansiz]

Hi all, is there any tips in washing the cotton wool in the filter in order not to destroy good bacteria? My filter have just 1 piece of wool, can I wash it with tap water? Or must I draw out some SW in the tank to wash it? How to wash it? Just dip a few times in the water or scrup it? What if the wool is in bad condition? I have to replace it with a new one, then how to save the bacteria?

 

[scuba_steve]

can i ask why ya using wool ?!?!

 

[steve-s]

If this is an FO tank, then rinsing the floss in removed tank water would best preserve the bacteria in the floss. If an FOWLR or reef tank, I would suggest ridding yourself of any floss/sponge materials completely. It is not really needed and the LR will take care of your bacterial filtration much more efficiently without the fuss and muss that comes with keeping the canister clean.

If the floss is essential, when it comes time to replace it there is not really much you can do except swap out the old for the new. If you have multiple media trays or a housing for carbon, then only replace one item at a time. This will cause less of an impact and allow nitrifying bacteria to colonize the new media faster.

Cheers
Steve