filter change advice

[Ochana25]

Hey everyone so I have a 100 gallons tank with a parrot, jack Dempsey, fire mouth and severum in there I'm currently running 175 external canister and 2 70 gallon aqua clear filters on top they been running for about a year the water perimeters are perfect I just think it's time to change the filters what's the proper way of doing the change or do I just go ahead and change all at once

 

[Kennyw43]

Fluval fx5 but I think it's the fx6 now is perfect I have on my 120 that I coverted to salt. It up to 400 gallon canister and trust me u won't be disappointed!!!

 

[Ochana25]

I'll look into it but I meant cleaning the filters replacing the filters inside

 

[Masha]

What makes you want to replace the filter media? No reason to do it unless it's clogged or falling apart. Don't want to lose your good bacteria

 

[Ochana25]

Oh really Ya no reason I figured that it's gotta be changed once awhile to keep everything clean lol

 

[Masha]

Nope, rather leave it alone then
Don't fix what's not broken. Those filters probably have a great bacteria population, don't want to mess with that

 

[Kennyw43]

I'm sorry I misread ya post just change one at a time. So if u change one this month do the other the next.

 

[Ochana25]

It's OK no worries Ya I'll do then the I'll start on the aqua clears then work down to the canister slowly thanks for advice

 

[Kennyw43]

you want to keep all the good bacteria you can

 

[mistersprinkles]

It's OK no worries Ya I'll do then the I'll start on the aqua clears then work down to the canister slowly thanks for advice

No. don't. The only media that ever needs to be changed is carbon and filter floss. That's it. Other than that, keep your foam, bio balls, bio rings, bio pellets, bio spheres, bio stars, etc. The only reason to ever replace biomedia is that it has completely disintegrated. The only thing that's going to disintegrate on you will be the reticulated foam (such as in the aquaclear sponge insert). But that takes at least five years. You're going to do harm, and no good, by replacing your perfectly good filters and biomedia. Don't do it.

 

[Ochana25]

Lol OK OK thanks so leave the sponges alone then but the carbon is OK to change

 

[threnjen]

Just take out the carbon. It should not be in a filter all the time.

 

[mistersprinkles]

You only need carbon to remove medication. The rest of the time it's totally unnecessary. It actually removes a lot of trace elements from the water that can be beneficial to fish.
Take the carbon out, and use the space that frees up for more biomedia.

 

[Ochana25]

Ohh really I always thought the carbon help keep the water clear to what else can I put in there instead. Of carbon more of those sponges

 

[mistersprinkles]

Ohh really I always thought the carbon help keep the water clear to what else can I put in there instead. Of carbon more of those sponges

Actual biomedia would be the most effective use of the space. Ceramic rings, Eheim EHFIsubstrat, BioHOME mini, etc.