Cleaning hang on back power filter w/o losing bacteria during cycle

[Spaullba]

Title pretty much says it all.

How frequently should I clean my Aqueon Quiet Flow 20 filter, and how should I do it?

The filter carbon pad can be disposed, right? The plastic biological filter then just rinsed in tank water? Do I scrub it or anything?

I do not want to kill the cycle/bacteria I am currently doing. This is a two week old tank with 3 (soon to be 5) Zebra Danios in it.

Thanks

 

[NRB]

You can replace the carbon pad every month or two. The plastic piece in the filter should not be cleaned anymore than a quick rinse in tank water. If you scrub it you will lose the bacteria.

The other place the bacteria grows is in the substrate. When you clean the tank, only clean half the substrate at one time. You can hover the siphon tube over all the substrate to pull up any loose debris, but don't deep clean it all.

 

[Delapool]

On mine I have found some room in the HOB to add a few ceramic noodles as an extra spot for the bacteria to live.

The bacteria will start colonising the carbon after a week or two so for the first couple of changes I would test ammonia a couple of times over 48hrs just to see what is going on.

 

[Betta keeper]

I've also heard of people adding lava rock into their filter units to house beneficial bacteria