Filter Cleaning Frequency

Hello!
I have a 170L planted community freshwater fishtank.

How often do I need to clean the hang-on (I think that's what it is? It sucks water up, passes it through a box and spits it back out up the top of the tank through a power head) filter? And how would you clean it? Rinse in tank water?

The filter has those black carbon sponges, some white filter sponges, a bag of carbon, these black balls and some air stones. Apologies for sounding ignorant, I don't really know much about my filter or what it's parts do.

 

The answer depends a lot on your tank and what's going on in it. Yes, wash it in tank water or you can use tap water with your dechlorinator (just like if you were prepping it to add to the tank).

As to how often, I do mine about every other week for my invert tanks because there is usually extra food that gets sucked up, making them get gross pretty quickly. For my betta tank, about once a month.

 

What brand of filter is it? With the media (sponges, carbon bag, bio media, etc) you can rinse in a bucket of removed tank water or dechlorinated tap water during each water change.

The filter unit itself you can clean monthly. I disassemble and clean each part (unit, holster/basket, intake tube, impeller, motor unit) with a sponge and different sized brushes under running tap water.

 

Thank you! It's a blue planet brand filter. Came with the aquarium

 

I'm not familiar with that brand but if it's your basic HOB (hang on back) filter, you can clean it the way I described above.

There might be a YouTube video for that brand if you want to search for it.

 

Awesome! Much appreciated