When should l clean my canister filter

[JCD]

My 46 gallon tank cycled over a month ago, and l have 0 ammonia levels but the nitrates are almost at 50 , l have done a 50%water change everyday for the last week! there is 0 nitrates in the municipal tap water but the do use chloramines,so l use prime at every water change.

I only have 24 small fish in the tank , and l only feed them once per day all the food on top of the water does not even have a chance to sink to the bottom, l have good flow form my eheim canister filter ,l have never cleaned it yet, is it time to clean it?

Thanks for your help
JCD

 

[tnfinfan]

Prior to the nitrates going red, did you change water weekly? Vacuum the substrate?

Treat the biomedia with care and you can only improve things by cleaning the filter. But if you haven't been cleaning the substrate (and I mean moving decorations and really sucking the yuck out), it's the more likely culprit. Still, doing both won't hurt.

 

[Mifsud]

It could very well be time to break it down completely and clean it out. Refer to your filer's owner manual on how this process should be performed. If you don't have it, most are available online.

Proper filter maintenance will substantially extend the working life of the unit. Generally, an internal power filter, including "waterfall' types, should be broken down and cleaned once a month.

 

[JCD]

Prior to the nitrates going red, did you change water weekly? Vacuum the substrate?

Treat the biomedia with care and you can only improve things by cleaning the filter. But if you haven't been cleaning the substrate (and I mean moving decorations and really sucking the yuck out), it's the more likely culprit. Still, doing both won't hurt.

Hello
Yes l did vacuum all the substrate every time l did pwc and moved the decorations as we'll , as before the tank was cycled the ammonia was high and l was trying to get it down to safe levels, but l never touched the canister filter because l did not want to disturb the cycling. The guy at the lfs told me to clean the unit every 3 months , but l think l wii do it today, and l wii make sure to clean it with my aquarium water only.

Thanks for your help tnfinfan
JCD

 

[JCD]

It could very well be time to break it down completely and clean it out. Refer to your filer's owner manual on how this process should be performed. If you don't have it, most are available online.

Proper filter maintenance will substantially extend the working life of the unit. Generally, an internal power filter, including "waterfall' types, should be broken down and cleaned once a month.

Thank you Mifsud
Will have a look at it.

JCD

 

[gilpi]

If you are going to clean the filter which I wouldn't, just lightly rinse the media in some aquarium water, keep the same media. I don't touch my canisters sometimes for a year (I don't recommended it) and never had any issues but I do water changes very often and try not to over feed. Gravel vacuuming is a must, lots of gunk gets in there.

 

[JCD]

If you are going to clean the filter which I wouldn't, just lightly rinse the media in some aquarium water, keep the same media. I don't touch my canisters sometimes for a year (I don't recommended it) and never had any issues but I do water changes very often and try not to over feed. Gravel vacuuming is a must, lots of gunk gets in there.

Thank you Gilpi
I do vacuum gravel all the time when doing water changes, just never did the canister filter and l cannot get nitrates down, sol will lightly clean the filter using aquarium water to see if it helps, l never over feed as we'll.

Thank you
JCD

 

[tnfinfan]

My canister is about 75% biomedia. I pour that in a clean bucket with tank water. The other 25% (a little of the ceramic noodle stuff and a coarse sponge at the bottom, floss and a polishing pad at the top), I clean under running tap water and then toss in a second bucket with tapwater and Prime. That sits while I clean the impeller and seal. I then reassemble. The biomedia is drained with a colander and the freshly dechlorinated water that I used to soak my pads is poured over it to rinse any gunk off.

It's really not difficult and the bacterial population seems none the worse for the bother. I clean the canister filter often. Mine is the classic Eheim so I can see into it and I just go by how dirty the floss looks. I've never noticed any slowing of the flow of water and IMO, that's too late and likely not good for the motor.

 

[JCD]

My canister is about 75% biomedia. I pour that in a clean bucket with tank water. The other 25% (a little of the ceramic noodle stuff and a coarse sponge at the bottom, floss and a polishing pad at the top), I clean under running tap water and then toss in a second bucket with tapwater and Prime. That sits while I clean the impeller and seal. I then reassemble. The biomedia is drained with a colander and the freshly dechlorinated water that I used to soak my pads is poured over it to rinse any gunk off.

It's really not difficult and the bacterial population seems none the worse for the bother. I clean the canister filter often. Mine is the classic Eheim so I can see into it and I just go by how dirty the floss looks. I've never noticed any slowing of the flow of water and IMO, that's too late and likely not good for the motor.

Thanks tnfinfan, l will give it a try.

JCD