Cleaning new filter! How to do this? Help!

[lewis.r]

So i have recently got a new fish tank 5.5 gallon.
the tank has now been running around 1-2 weeks. for the first week i did not add any fish but just fed the tank a few flakes every day.
Now i have got 3 little White Cloud mountain Minnows in there to properly start the Cycling process. so far so good the ammonia does not reach about 0.25 PPM at the moment it was heading that way but did a 50% water change last night and it back to 0.25.

i was just wondering as now the filter SOUNDS like it may have become blocked with fish flakes is its making a rattling sound and sound like the water is struggling to get into it (i believe that this is down to the sponge getting blocked).

So my question is how do i clean the filter? i have a super fish aqua internal 100. its got a cartridge that you can release and a little flap you pull off to open to get access to the sponge which also has activated carbon in the middle of it. I don't want to do it wrong as it could upset the cycle in my tank.
any advice on this would be helpful as i don't want to do it wrong and it prolongs or hinders the cycle.

Also if anyone knows, does this kind of filter have media in it somewhere as the manufacture recommends you replace the cartridge every month or so but surly i will loose all the good bacteria that has built up right?


thanks

Lewis

 

[MissGurnus]

Lightly rise the filter pad in tank water and put it back in the filter itself. If you don't return it, it will kill a lot of your beneficial bacteria


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[biondoa]

I'd be surprised if the filter is blocked with fish flakes to the point that it makes a noise. Make sure the cover is on properly, and check the impeller to make sure it is secure. It can make a lot of noise if it is not correctly in place.
As far as cleaning it, I am not familiar with that type of filter, but generally you would take some water out of the tank , (or use dechlorinated water) and rinse the filter media in that water. If you are doing a water change you will have some tank water in a bucket that you will be discarding anyway, so that is a good place to rinse the media.
As far as the cartridge goes, YES you will be throwing out a lot of good bacteria with that cartridge. Before you toss it, add some bits of porous media and let them develop a healthy load of bacteria. Then when you get rid of the cartridge you can leave the porous bits, and add more of the porous media into the filter instead of another cartridge. The type of porous media that I use is Fluval BioMax, but there are many different ones available. Generally you don't really need the carbon except for specific purposes for example to remove medication from the water.