filter cleaning question

[mollymama]

So my tank finally cycled...and both fish made it! Now I'm wondering about cleaning the filter. The directions say to replace the filter every 2-4 weeks, but I thought I read here that some of you just rinse out the filter with tank water and replace it. Will that work ok? I certainly don't want to lose all the good bacteria that finally made an appearance!

[aquabeast]

well, eventually, bacterias going to be in the gravel.. i advise not to rinse it out till its filthy.. every 2 to 4 weeks is a load of crap. ijust rinse my filter pads out with COLD water, hot water will kill any bacteria on the pad. then you may run into trouble.. you can use tank water or cold water from the tap(depending on where you live). i have a total of 7 filter pad and 5 filters in my 2 tanks.. it gets old cleaning them constantly.

[The Jam-is-on]

Congrats!

I'm curious about this as well....

[adadkins1]

I wouldn't clean the filter yet. Wait a couple more weeks to make sure your tank is stable and has a large population of bacteria. Then you can swish the filter media in a bit of tank water during a PWC to keep it from getting clogged.

[ShadoeFox]

Just rinse unless it looks truly wreaked and is falling apart. If you do need to consider a change, stick the new one in behind the old fora few days to a week. The longer the better

[ShadoeFox]

Oh, and yeah, rinse in old tank water

[BBradbury]

Good morning Molly...

No doubt you're getting numerous opinions, so I'll throw in one too. I rinse the filter media once every three weeks when I do a 50 percent water change in my tanks. I rinse the media in a bucket of the old water and put it all back in the filter.

Filter media can be expensive, so the longer you can safely reuse it the better. Recently, I've started using filter pads rather than the bags of filter materials, it's much cheaper and seems to work just as well.

Having a lot of plants will extend the life of your filter media too.

B

[adadkins1]

I really don't rinse mine often either Bradbury. Many places recommend every 2 weeks, but it really depends on what kind of fish you have and how messy they are. In a lightly stocked tank you could probably go 1 month without cleaning the filter. You don't throw the media away until it is literally falling apart.

[spoonman]

Originally Posted by aquabeast

well, eventually, bacterias going to be in the gravel.. i advise not to rinse it out till its filthy.. every 2 to 4 weeks is a load of crap. ijust rinse my filter pads out with COLD water, hot water will kill any bacteria on the pad. then you may run into trouble.. you can use tank water or cold water from the tap(depending on where you live). i have a total of 7 filter pad and 5 filters in my 2 tanks.. it gets old cleaning them constantly.

Water from the tap will kill your beneficial bacteria. It is the chlorine in the water that kills the BB, not the temperature. Only use tank water to rinse your filter pads. And only replace them when they start to fall apart. When you have to use new pads, keep the old ones in the filter with them for a week or so to let the BB transfer to the new pads.

[mollymama]

Originally Posted by spoonman

Water from the tap will kill your beneficial bacteria. It is the chlorine in the water that kills the BB, not the temperature. Only use tank water to rinse your filter pads. And only replace them when they start to fall apart. When you have to use new pads, keep the old ones in the filter with them for a week or so to let the BB transfer to the new pads.

I know...I made this mistake shortly after stocking the tank and before the cycle had completed. Learned the hard way there!

Thanks for the comments. I'll just rinse it with tank water for sure, then, next time I do a water change.