Filter change question
- Thread starter Itsasylum
- Start date
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Yes.
Changing filter cartridges or filter media essentially throws the microbes you have grown in the trash. Over cleaning filters can wash it away or kill it off.
If you have a filter that takes cartridges, then the best thing to do is to forget the cartridges and replace them with sponges and filter media that doesnt need replacing. If thats not an option, then cartridge filters often have 2 or more cartridges, so firstly if the cartridge csn just be rinsed in dechlorinated water, do that, only replace them if the are falling apart, and then replace them 1 at a time so you arent discarding all those microbes at once.
Cartridges filters are a bit of a scam IMO. They often come loaded with zeolite which absorb ammonia and starve those microbes of food so your cycle never establishes. You are then compelled to keep changing the cartridges. They are convenient however and fairly easy to maintain.
If you have a more traditional filter that houses sponge and biomedia, then just rinse them with dechlorinated water (usually just take some water from your tank), so that water flow doesnt get restricted by clogged up sponges and biomedia. Only change sponges or biomedia if its falling apart, and again dont do it all at once. Sponges should last several years. Biomedia should last decades.
What kind of filter do you have? How is it set up?
Changing filter cartridges or filter media essentially throws the microbes you have grown in the trash. Over cleaning filters can wash it away or kill it off.
If you have a filter that takes cartridges, then the best thing to do is to forget the cartridges and replace them with sponges and filter media that doesnt need replacing. If thats not an option, then cartridge filters often have 2 or more cartridges, so firstly if the cartridge csn just be rinsed in dechlorinated water, do that, only replace them if the are falling apart, and then replace them 1 at a time so you arent discarding all those microbes at once.
Cartridges filters are a bit of a scam IMO. They often come loaded with zeolite which absorb ammonia and starve those microbes of food so your cycle never establishes. You are then compelled to keep changing the cartridges. They are convenient however and fairly easy to maintain.
If you have a more traditional filter that houses sponge and biomedia, then just rinse them with dechlorinated water (usually just take some water from your tank), so that water flow doesnt get restricted by clogged up sponges and biomedia. Only change sponges or biomedia if its falling apart, and again dont do it all at once. Sponges should last several years. Biomedia should last decades.
What kind of filter do you have? How is it set up?
Joe_D
Aquarium Advice Freak
I have a Seachem HOB filter on my 10 gal tank
I change the filter cartridge when I have to.... when very little water will go through it.
If no / adequate water no longer goes through it, but goes through a filter by pass, what is the point of not changing it?
I also have pre filer on the filter's inlet tube which is cleaned when needed.... This pre filter extends the life of the main filter
I change the filter cartridge when I have to.... when very little water will go through it.
If no / adequate water no longer goes through it, but goes through a filter by pass, what is the point of not changing it?
I also have pre filer on the filter's inlet tube which is cleaned when needed.... This pre filter extends the life of the main filter
Joe_D
Aquarium Advice Freak
BTW I never clean the filter housing with the good bacteria in it. 
