I have been putting new filter in my water filter once a month, when I do my water change. I was told this was not good because it would hurt the cycling process. The filter is dirty & seems to me needs changed...???
Water Filter
- Thread starter mt6571
- Start date
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TomK2
Aquarium Advice Addict
Can you be more specific about your tank set up and filter type? I presume you are talking about replacing an activated charcoal insert?
trennamw
Aquarium Advice Addict
Dirty is ok. Dirty can be good in fact.
You'll want to rinse it gently in a bucket of tank water to knock solids off of it, but let it be brown and a little bit yucky.
That being said it will fall apart over time. Can you get a piece of foam/sponge made for canister filters, and rubber band it to your current filter cartridge? Then your bacteria will populate the foam, which you can keep for years.
It'd help to know what kind of filter you have.
Sent from my iPhone with three hands tied behind my back.
You'll want to rinse it gently in a bucket of tank water to knock solids off of it, but let it be brown and a little bit yucky.
That being said it will fall apart over time. Can you get a piece of foam/sponge made for canister filters, and rubber band it to your current filter cartridge? Then your bacteria will populate the foam, which you can keep for years.
It'd help to know what kind of filter you have.
Sent from my iPhone with three hands tied behind my back.
FWFishTanks
Aquarium Advice Addict
At one point, I owned a old aqua tech hob I think, and it had the carbon cartridge, and a rough foam piece called the bio foam. Considering it was from a walmart kit, it was pretty darn good. Just wanted to give a good example of what trennamw suggested.
Mebbid
Aquarium Advice Addict
Theres no reason to replace the filter cartridge. It will damage the cycling process. Water changes are good as well, especially for a cycling tank because the water is fairly devoid of any bacteria.
trennamw
Aquarium Advice Addict
I don't know that one.
But try to keep the cartridge as long as possible and make a plan for when it starts to fall apart.
Sent from my iPhone with three hands tied behind my back.
TomK2
Aquarium Advice Addict
I would agree with the above, no need to throw away the activated carbon. Activated carbon is good at removing some contaminants, medications, and such, but only for a certain period of time. After that, it isn't absorbing much, but it is acting like a high surface area good water flow media for your nitrogen cycle bacteria to colonize. If you aren't trying to remove something specific, just clean up the activated carbon and let it be more surface area for you biofilter to colonize.
