Filter cleaning?

[Jman17H]

I have an Eheim 2260 cannister running on a 75 Malawi cichlid tank with juvenile yellow labs (10), very small blue labs (10) and snyodontis catfish (3) along with a few low-light plants.

How often should I open and clean the cannister?

It is filled with a mechanical pad, filter floss and bioballs. it has been up and running for maybe 6 weeks but just became fully stocked over the weeeknd.

 

[Zagz]

With that bio load, I would check it monthly and probably clean it every 2 months. As they grow you will need to increase the frequency of cleanings. Remember to rinse pads and bio medias out with old tank water only. The filter floss may need to be changed every 2 weeks to monthly. Are you buying it from a lfs? If you are you can purchase filter floss from places like walmart, it is just pure polyester filling for pillows. just make sure there is no additives.