Brown Sludge In Filter. What Is It?

Hey just want to make sure this is normal, also what is it; my dad wants me to wash it with a hose or something (I didn’t btw I gently cleaned it with some tank water). I don’t want to do anything in case it’s something important. Also does this correlate to a cycled tank? I keep having trouble with my water parameters being consistently the same so I don’t know if my tank is cycled or not.

 

Hey just want to make sure this is normal, also what is it; my dad wants me to wash it with a hose or something (I didn’t btw I gently cleaned it with some tank water). I don’t want to do anything in case it’s something important. Also does this correlate to a cycled tank? I keep having trouble with my water parameters being consistently the same so I don’t know if my tank is cycled or not.

It's a combination of decomposing organics and bacteria....the best thing to do is to clean the debris off but use tank water so you don't kill the bacteria....unless its a carbon bag then you should just throw it out and replace....

 

It's a combination of decomposing organics and bacteria....the best thing to do is to clean the debris off but use tank water so you don't kill the bacteria....unless its a carbon bag then you should just throw it out and replace....

Thank you!

 

It's a combination of decomposing organics and bacteria....the best thing to do is to clean the debris off but use tank water so you don't kill the bacteria....unless its a carbon bag then you should just throw it out and replace....

Most of those filter cartridges have carbon in them. Pull the black clip off, dump the carbon. Rinse the rest in old tank water and continue to use it until the filter floss is falling apart. Carbon isn't really needed most of the time.

 

That is the gunk of an uncleaned filter.

Simply take out some tank water, rinse the filter media in the tank water until all the gunk is gone, then put back in the filter and turn on.

Throw away the carbon and replace it. It only works for about a month.