Fluval Fx5

[shaunb93]

How often do people stripe there's down and give it a good clean ?

[TMaier]

I do mine every 1 to 2 months. If I've been heavy handed with the chow and nitrates are creeping up I will do it every month.

[shaunb93]

Originally Posted by TMaier

I do mine every 1 to 2 months. If I've been heavy handed with the chow and nitrates are creeping up I will do it every month.

Cheers

[dalto]

Depends on the tank. Generally between 1-6 months.

If you have a lot of material(like uneaten food) is getting caught in the sponges it will cause tons of nitrate production as it decays.

If you open your canister up and it is totally disgusting then you probably are not cleaning it often enough.

[shaunb93]

Originally Posted by dalto

Depends on the tank. Generally between 1-6 months.

If you have a lot of material(like uneaten food) is getting caught in the sponges it will cause tons of nitrate production as it decays.

If you open your canister up and it is totally disgusting then you probably are not cleaning it often enough.

Yeah just got the tank a month ago and thought I'd take it completely apart and I'm glad I've done it as it was filthy

[Autumnsky]

The older they get with the sponges losing structure over time, in what I have seen, they will clog up more quickly. Mine I will clean out every 3-6 months also depending upon what is going on in the tank. I need to clean mine out this weekend because I had a bunch of duckweed multiply out of control kill off other plants like the floating water wisteria, and get sucked up in the filter. This time has been 2 months.

Last clean out I noticed the solid structure of the side sponges which are in the sides of the filter baskets are much more squishy than originally. I think I am going to order a new set and start replacing one basket set every 3-6 months when the next filter clean out comes around. I have had mine, used but not very used when I got it, maybe 4/2013 when I set it up. They were very stiff then.

[shaunb93]

Originally Posted by Autumnsky

The older they get with the sponges losing structure over time, in what I have seen, they will clog up more quickly. Mine I will clean out every 3-6 months also depending upon what is going on in the tank. I need to clean mine out this weekend because I had a bunch of duckweed multiply out of control kill off other plants like the floating water wisteria, and get sucked up in the filter. This time has been 2 months.

Last clean out I noticed the solid structure of the side sponges which are in the sides of the filter baskets are much more squishy than originally. I think I am going to order a new set and start replacing one basket set every 3-6 months when the next filter clean out comes around. I have had mine, used but not very used when I got it, maybe 4/2013 when I set it up. They were very stiff then.

Yeah that's the great thing about the filter that you can replace a sponge with effect the nitrogen cycle

[Autumnsky]

Glad for that ability. This is a monster filter and really well made!