Cleaning external filter

[Andyskoi]

Hi i have a juwel rio 180 with a tetratec ex700 external filter. The tank has two small ghost koi around 2-3inches and a shubunkin and commen goldfish 4-5 inches. My question is how often should i be cleaning the filter as it has been running on the tank for 5-6 weeks now.

Thanks

 

[fort384]

Every time you do a water change, you should rinse the filter media in the old tank water you tank out. With the fish you have chosen, I would suspect this would mean you should be doing 50% water changes weekly, and rinse the filter each time.

 

[Andyskoi]

I do a 50% water change every week but as the filter was new i let it run for 5 weeks before cleaning. When i opened it up to clean it was fine no dirt really at all so now wondering why its so clean makes me wonder if its working properly.

Thanks for reply