Quick filter cleaning question. (Sorry to dump this in beginner area, I could swear there was a cleaning/maintenance subforum but I can't find it on the app.) I have a 10 gal tank that's been set up since March (cycled since April) with an aqueon filter. I am going to change my filter cartridge for the first time today (I'll save the floss from the old one and stuff it in the side). Should I wipe all the slime down that's accumulated on the filter? The intake tube, the main body. Etc? I won't do anything to the blue pieces (where they claim BB live). But what about everything else? Any advantage/disadvantage? Thanks! Sent from my iPhone using Fish Lore Aquarium Fish Forum
I scrub all the sludge out of my filters, but it's not totally necessary for the most part, just helps to prevent breakage. Those blue plastic things are useless, they can't hold bacteria, just not a good surface for them. I know CindiL modified her Aqueon so that it held more floss and also bio-media (Seachem matrix, bio balls, ceramic rings). The floss isn't the best place for the bacteria to live, as it can get clogged easily and backs the filter up, and eventually you will need to replace it (which means you need to re-cycle the tank...).
BioHome plus is another good media! And yes you can swish it around in old tank water during water change and get some gunk off.
Thanks! And yes CindiL has been super helpful with modifying the filter. I guess my original post didn't make sense. I'm not asking about cleaning the filter media, I'm talking about the body of the filter itself. The filter "tank"? And tube and ... Waterfall area. Sorry if this doesn't make sense. Sent from my iPhone using Fish Lore Aquarium Fish Forum
Hi, What I do monthly with mine is just rinse the box, I don't scrub it because the bacteria live on the inside of the filter too. Anything that is loose comes out. You can wipe the top inch of slime off just so it doesn't get on your hands all the time. I use a bottle brush, clean out the intake tube. I pull the impeller out and wipe it down and usually use a couple of q-tips in the hole where the impeller sits because it gets full of slime that will eventually slow it down. The blue filter holster I rinse so none of it is plugged and the oxygenater (small waterfall with holes) I actually take the sprayer nozzle from the sink and stick it right on it. I am always amazed how much gunk builds up in the holes too. And of course use old tank water or dechlorinated tap Sometimes I forget to say that because I'm on a well and can use my tap.
I always scrub all the gunk off of my filters, but I rinse my filter media in the tank water to keep the good bacteria.
Ohh got it. How long do you have to keep in behind the new one before the bacteria adequately transfers? And if I just cycled for 2 months how long should I wait before changing the cartridge?
You can keep rinsing it in old tank water weekly to get gunk off of it until it starts the water starts to go over the bypass and into the tank. Then you'll want to cut the floss off of the frame, dump the carbon and the frame and put just the floss in with the new cartridge for a couple weeks.
I have the same filter. Haven't changed the cartridge or cleaned it in 7 months. Works great and does its job
You must have a very low bio-load? My filter pads are filthy on a weekly basis. The problem with not rinsing filter media is that heterotrophic (organic decomposing) compete for space within a tank and will cover and smother the nitrifyers which we rely on for our biological filtration. They will appear in a brown slime over media and are a problem if you see that.
