What a noob!

[malkore]

I'm talking about myself

See the below image? That's the 'micro filter pad' for my Rena Filstar XP3. (ya know, its normally white and fluffy when new)

I forgot I had one in there! I've been trying for a week now to get the stupid filter to run right...as it was barely pumping back into the tank. Servicing the filter today (for the second time this week), I finally found the problem.

I don't know how I overlooked it.

 

[toddnbecka]

Depends on what it's made of, but most filter pads are rinsable. Just use strong water pressure.

 

[Wizzard~Of~Ozz]

Or in that case, a pressure washer

Glad to see you found the problem. Try rinsing with a showerhead as I've found "rubbing" the floss tends to weaken it considerably.

 

[Jchillin]

You may be able to rinse out a lot of the detrius, don't count on it looking as good as it did when purchased.

Isn't fishkeeping wonderful, amazing what little details we can overlook.

 

[sherry]

The rena filter micro pads rinse only slightly.. the truth is, after a year of rinsing and rerinsing my old eclipse pad I have gotten used to the idea that I have to toss my rena filter pads if I want the filter to pump up to capacity.

Their own help desk told me this, and I still didnt believe it until I tried everything. Toss em and buy them new. They come 4 to a box so it isn't so bad.

 

[anythingscales]

Yes you can re-use those pads. Companies want you to buy new ones, to make money, DUH.

 

[malkore]

Can't re-use this pad. trust me. This is the SECOND time I've left a micron pad in there for more than a month.

This pad is the equivalent of filter floss, and while it can be rinsed once or twice...its really not durable or easy to clean. It came free with the XP3 I bought late last year. Normally I don't run any floss/micron pads.

But it definitely filters out the tiny stuff.

 

[jadefoodog]

i use the sprayer on the sink to rinse mine

 

[anythingscales]

I use filter floss on most of my filters. It does a great job taking out the small stuff. It is so easy to clean, and cheap. All I do is squeeze gently under the sink. I feel sorry for the suckers who go to the store to buy new filter pads.

 

[sherry]

I never bought new pads on my eclipse and that was 2 years old... I do for the filstar... I tried to go without, but as Malkore pointed out.. it really does a nice job of filtering out the small stuff... so instead I use a sponge prefilter on the intake to catch a lot of the goop (and rinse that out twice a week) and change the micron pad when I feel like the pressure on the filstar has declined.

I am not a sucker. I am someone who has reused many pads, but not these! it's not worth having the filter not work as well. The other option is to go without, but the water polishing is nice.

 

[Zagz]

I'm not familiar with the particular filter but couldn't you use filter floss purchased from Walmart (aka 100% pure polyester filling for pillows)? I use this in place of all my carbon filters and it is cheap and can be thrown away easily and replaced cheaply. It is exactly the same thing as filter floss but considerably cheaper.

 

[kay-bee19]

For my XP3 instead of the micro filteration pad, I economically substitute bonded filter pads (which I basically cut to size from a 18" x 24" filterpad sheet).

They work just as well and can be used a few times before being tossed (unlike the micropads that come with the filstars; depending on my bio-load I get no more than a month out of them).