Steve113

Hello again folks,

Been a while since I've had a question, but here goes:

I had a look at my external filter the other day and found that it was very dirty - very cloggedup with brown gooey stuff
- I figure that this is just decaying plant matter + fish poo.
If I squeeze the filter media i get what looks (and smells) like peat bog slushy muddy goo out of it.

- My question is: Should I rinse this out lightly (in a bucket of aquarim water) or should the filter be kinda gunky?

- Any chance I could see a pic of someone's established filter media to see what it looks like?

I appreciate that it may not be the most exciting pic to put up but it will help me out loads.

I have no doubt that the brown goo to which I refer is full of good bacteria - but I'm not sure if it's supposed to be as clogged...
Ta.

Lucy

Hi Steve,

I think I know what you mean.

Mine gets that way sometimes, but I've never smelled it .

I rinse it really well in used tank water, if it's really bad I squeeze it. I don't think it will effect your bacteria colony.

Barbrella

The brown gunk is normal, and it does have a very pungent and earthy smell. It should never smell foul, fishy or rotten.

As Lucy said - when you clean your tank, just swish the sponge around the tank water you siphoned out and give it a few squeezes to get all the solid gunk out so it won't clog up and make the filter overflow. The sponge will still be dark coloured, but you don't want it gunky.

COBettaCouple

When we do our weekly tank cleaning, i'll squeeze out the filter media and use a turkey baster to squirt water through the intake tube.

Steve113

Perfect answer.

Thanks.