Question about filter maintenance

[felku]

Well this is another confusion I have. Reading articles and thread it says I should not change the bio-bag from my filter because the bacteria. The instructions from the filter(Tetra whisper it came with a kit for a 10g) says I should replace the bag each month. I'm very confuse and I don't know what I'm suppose to do. By the way my tank hasn't finished to cycle yet, already 5 weeks and it in the stage when there is almost no ammonia but nitrites are high.

[ImACoolguy]

It's marketing dude they want you to change it because that means they get $$$$. Just rinse it every couple weeks in tank water to keep it semi clean.


Caleb

[brads]

Like "ImACoolguy" says, it's marketing. I never change mine. As long as it's still in good shape, just rinse and go. Happy Fishkeeping

[felku]

Thanks a lot for your replies. There is a lot of misinformation out there.

[brennae]

Just to reiterate what was said above, make sure to rinse in your tank water not your tap water or you will lose your bb.

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[felku]

Great, thanks all for the tips.

[felku]

So since the time I made this thread I notice the water is overflowing out of the filter. I guess that means the filter is clogged( I think). I'm not really sure how to fix this I rinsed the pad the other day but since my tank hasn't cycled yet I'm afraid to damage something. Any advice please. This is being kind of frustrating.

[IllusionX]

Is it a fish-in cycle?

When you are doing your water change, just take the cartridge out of the filter, and shake it vigorously in the old tank water. You should see all the junk coming out of it.

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[felku]

Yes, it is a fish-in cycle. I mentioned in another thread that I learned about cycle after buying the tank for my daughter i have 6 week working with wc to keep nitrites down. I already did the shake thing with the cartridge. The filter is a Tetra whisper 10i that came with a kit(I will never buy a kit again). I was thinking in buying a better filter but wanted first to know if there were possible to keep working with that one.