clean filter with bleach?

[reefmaster]

hey its time for me to clean my filter and i asked my lfs about how to clean it. I have a canister filter (eheim ecco 2234 or 2236 not sure. its green.). He said to put the cleaning pads i guess (he said whatever material you got in there) in the washing machine with half a cup of bleach and do a full rinse cycle in the washing machine. Then do it agian with no bleach. Im not quite sure if i should do this. the instructions say i just have to clean it with water.

 

[Hara]

no, i would not use bleach. I run my cannister filters in a strong vinegar solution.
An easy way to do this is to pour a gallon of vinegar (very inexpensive) into a bucket, add one gallon of water and then have it circulate through the cannister filter. Be sure to take out the media that you want to keep live such as the ceramic or whatever media you use for this. JUst set it up and let it run for an hour or so. Less is ok, but I like to think the longer you run it, the cleaner the tubing and lines get.