Filter

[katw1986]

Hello everyone, I *just* got 5 gallon tank cycled a couple of weeks ago. All the levels are great now. My cartridge that is in my filter looks like it's starting to get clogged, because water is starting to come out the side of the filter now. It an aqueon filter and cartridge. I might need to put in a new cartridge soon. Am I going to lose beneficial bacteria and destroy all the hard work I did to get the tank cycled?

I added pics to show what I have and explain whats going on. Thanks!

 

[Andy Sager]

You can take the cartridge and rinse off the outside of it to remove the items that are clogging the flow. You don't really need to replace the carbon as water changes will do the same thing and the carbon generally has a short life span in aquariums.
When it does come time for the filter cartridge to be replace because it's no longer filtering out things, you'll want to add the new cartridge and keep the old one somewhere in the filter box for a couple of weeks so that the new cartridge can get a good bacteria bed growing on it as well.
The whole issue with filter cartridges is that the nitrifying microbes need oxygen and congregate in the areas of the tank where the oxygen levels is the highest. That is usually in the filter so they congregate on the filter cartridge. This is why you don't want to just toss the cartridges out.