whisper 5-15 power filter

[Wes910]

I have one of those filters in my new tank. How often do i need to change the filter?

[Menagerie]

I would not suggest changing it completely for a long time. When it gets full of crud, rinse it in tank water during a water change

[Wes910]

i saw some where that ur suppose to change filter every 3 weeks?...is this only on a planted tank?

[Wes910]

i saw some where that ur suppose to change filter every 3 weeks?...is this only on a planted tank?

[Devilishturtles]

Not true. The filter cartiridge harbor beneficial bacteria in your tank. Changing it every three weeks is a bit much. I rinse mine every two weeks in the water. But have only actually replaced them ( I have 4 different cartiridges) twice so far, and I've had the tank close to a year...

[Atlarge]

And whispers are terible, if you have to replace the filter due to breakage eventualy get an aquaclear or penguin.

[MikeWinLDS]

I have a Whisper 30-60, so I just clean out one half of the filter (it has two compartments that each hold one floss bag and one sponge) weekly when I do my gravel vacs and water changes. Yours is probably the single one, so I guess you could cut your sponge in half or not use the floss bag and buy another sponge, and then you could rinse out one sponge whenever you do your maintenance, your other sponge will stay there until the next maintenance, and then you'll clean that one.

I did an experiment once (I always clean my filter media under tap water, just quicker and all) and wondered what would happen if I just cleaned out all the filter media under the tap. Well, turns out nothing bad happened. Checked the water parameters later and everything was in the up and up. I think what happened was that bacteria from other places in my tank quickly re-colonized my filter media. I don't suggest you do this, but just something interesting to share.

[breadlowry]

Mike's got the idea. Bacteria are all over. It's in the water, on the rocks and plants. In my opinion, washing the filter in the water during a water change would only creat dirtyness. I say rinse the thing out in the sink when it needs it. bacteria will always be around. (bio-wheels are a good way to keep your bacteria about.

[Menagerie]

In my opinion, washing the filter in the water during a water change would only creat dirtyness.

That would be gross. Sorry, wash the filter in a bucket of dirty tank water during a water change.