gsg623

Hi All,
My tank has cycled and all my water tests are as follows:
ammonia-0
nitrite-0
nitrate-10
pH-7.4
Temp-80

Now that everything seems to be fine,when do I change my filter media?

alicem

If your tank is newly cycled, I wouldn't touch the filter for atleast another month, depending on your plans.
The good bacteria is very fragile, not as strong as it will be in say, 6-8 months.
You need to be careful with it right now.
Some questions:
Do you have fish in the tank yet?
Are you adding more?
What brand/name filter is it so we know how to advise "cleaning" it when the time comes?

alicem

Shawnie

filter media can last forever...do not change it until its totally falling apart and just cant filter anymore...you can clean it in tank water you remove when doing water changes...just swish it back and fourth in a bucket that has the tank water in it...but that doesnt need to happen either for at least a month or two after being cycled with good readings...my media is replaced totally about once a year..but 3 weeks prior to doing that, i have new media in the filter so I can just remove the old without disturbing the bacteria colony...

gsg623

Hi alicem,
I cycled with fish and all are doing well.Dont want to add more fish for now.
4-cories
3-balloon mollies
2 swordtails(m&f)
1 platy
1-gourami
5-cherry barbs
1-CAE

filter is a tetra whisperjet 20-40 3way filter system.

kimb

Good advice from Shawnie (as always). I always keep extra media stuffed into my existing filter. You never know when you will need it. The only thing that could make a difference is if you have a filter that holds carbon. After a month, the carbon is inactive and actually leaches chemicals back into the tank. I slit the media and empty the carbo out of my whisper filter pads. If I need carbon, I can put it in a mesh nylon and add. By the looks of your tank, you are well stocked. CAE can get, large and aggressive with tankmates as they grow. Good luck with everything

alicem

Good point, Kim, and I agree, Shawnie's advise takes care of the rest.
Also, yes, your 30G is fully stocked.
Sounds like a nice aquarium!
Enjoy,
alicem

aquarist48

Good morning and congrats on the cycle. Great information above. Carbon should be changed every 3 weeks. However since it is a new tank I would not replace more than 1/2 of it at a time until the tank gets more established. Hope you can send some pictures our way!

summersquash

I was wondering about this same thing. I did rinse my filter a few weeks back. I have two filter systems so I guess it would be o.k. to change out one side and then the other side a month or so later. I'm glad I read this topic because I bought carbon but was not sure what I should do.

kimb

You can rinse them as often as you need to in tank water when you are doing your water changes, then put them back in. I wouldn't change them out until they are completly falling apart, and not doing any filtering anymore...months and months!!!

Shawnie

you dont need to rinse them often either if you arent overstocked or overfeeding, you can go a few months without rinsing filters..of course everyone has a particular cleaning schedule, but IMO, over cleaning isnt good either..you really need to let nature take its course and breath now and then

fishchick

i take notes on my board , and change them the next month !

aquarist48

Hello...I keep a log of everything I do and when I do it. Great cleaning instructions above. Never rinse your filter media in tap water that is chlorinated, use the siphoned tank water. Too, don't change and or clean everything in your aquarium/filter at 1 time. Reason being you don't want to destroy the good bacteria on all of your surface area causing you to go into a mini-cycle. (having ammonia issues/nitrogen cycle)

Craig-D

This is good advice for most situations, but it depends on the setup. My Marineland Eclipse system has the carbon built into the media cartridge, so it cannot be rinsed. The whole thing must be changed once a month to swap out the carbon. This does not affect my cycle at all because the system also has a bio-wheel upon which most of the bacteria resides. The bio-wheel never needs replacing. It's wasteful to toss the media every month I suppose, but at only around $3 a cartridge, it's a minimal expense.

alicem

Taking into account that I've never used the eclipse system, something to consider is that,
unless you definately prefer using carbon,
after the initial use of the cartridge, you could just cut a slit in the cartridge floss, pour out the carbon
and run the used cartridge with rinsed floss for a while longer.

Craig-D

I tried that once but one, I want to use the carbon. Once I let it go too long without changing the carbon and the tank aquired a bad odor and the water turned a greenish hue. New carbon cleared all that up in 15 minutes. So whatever it's removing, I want it to continue. Two, with the Eclipse system, the cartridge lies horizontally above the top of the tank. When working properly, all water flows through it. When it is clogged with gunk, water starts flowing over it, and thus going back into the tank unfiltered. Merely rinsing it out and replacing it does not stop this from happening. That's when you know it's time for a change.

I'm sure most people think it's wasteful and expensive to swap out media every 30 days, but it's how this particular system works best. My babies' water is nearly as clean as drinking water and it only costs $3 a month for the media. For them it's worth every penny.

alicem

No, not wastefull at all when it is what you need to do for the health of your tank.
Keep up the good work!
alicem

harpua2002

I wouldn't call it wasteful, but unnecessary IMO. Carbon leaching toxins into the water after 3 weeks is just another myth that, for whatever reason, is perpetuated in the hobby. After some time, the carbon won't absorb anything out of the water, but it won't leach anything back into it either. It just becomes more biological media.

kimb

Really?? That is the first time I have heard that! I don't mean to hijack, but this means I don't have to empty out the filter cartridges all the time! I don't understand how "rumors" like this get started?

harpua2002

I don't either. Most of the info I've seen that "supports" carbon leaching impurities back into the water are articles from online retailers that clearly have an agenda... every "article" tells you to buy more carbon every 2-4 weeks.

Here are a couple links that disagree. The site I was wanting to search for more info is under maintenance atm, so I'll have to check that out later.
http://www.thetropicaltank.co.uk/carbon.htm
http://forum.simplydiscus.com/archiv...p/t-57584.html