Filter Maintenance - Am I Doing It Right?

Hi, I just want to make sure I have the correct understanding on my filter maintenance. This is for my 29 gallon planted tank.

I have two HOB filters on my tank. One on each end. I have a prefilter on the intake tubes, then the incoming water goes through filter floss before reaching the ceramic bio rings in the overflow/waterfall part.

Every water change I do the following:
-Prefilter is swished in old tank water and put back on - replace how often?
-Filter Floss - Replace if gunked up, otherwise swish in old tank water and put back in
-Ceramic Bio Rings - Swish in old tank water, put back in - no need to replace

Thanks.

 

Sounds fine. If the bio rings aren't gunked up, I wouldn't bother rinsing it in tank water.

 

I do my prefilters every wc but only do what's in the filter about once a month or if I notice a change in my flow rate. When I have heavily stocked tanks I do it more often.

 

I don't replace all the filter floss at one time. It's another surface to grow bacteria on, so keeping some of the bacteria rich old floss and putting it 'upstream' in the filter helps the bacteria migrate to the new material.

Depending on how dirty your filters get you may not need to clean them every time you do a water change. If you don't notice it gunked up then you may be able to do it every other time, or even every month, but it does depend on how big the filter is.

 

Less is more. The hardest thing to do is keep out of there but it's best. I never touch the bio-rings. Never change all the media at once. I rotate one at a time once every 3 months or so (even less). In a small tank regular water changes are more important. If it's gunked up you'll know but if it's flowing fine why mess with it. When they break down from constant maintenance it's discouraging - definitely avoid that. "If it ain't broke don't fix it"
Sponge filters last forever just keep rinsing in wc water when it needs it not more - there's bb in there. I kno a guy that's had certain sponges for 20+ years

 

Chief is right, you have to resist the temptation to get in there and change things.

I change things ... LOL ... but then again I have two canister filters and a AC110 on a 75 gallon goldfish tank, and a Cascade 1000 + TWO Fluval C3 HOB's + 2 sponges in a 40 gallon cory catfish tank. As long as I don't muck with all the filters at one time, I can do moderate changes.

But if you are relying on only one filter or even two small ones, then a bacteria die-off is going to hit hard.

 

I would never leave my mechanical media in until it disintegrates-- twenty years? Wow, that's truly disgusting.
Why would you do that?
In an established tank (which takes 3 months in a heated tank above 70 degrees and 6 months in temperatures below 70 degrees to maximize in proliferation of beneficial bacteria) mechanical media should be periodically changed out because the layering of mulm eventually will cover over beneficial bacteria leading to die off and become a site of nitrate toxicity.
Especially in canister filters.
Additionally Mechanical media (sponge material) left in a filter until it disintegrates is no "stronger" or healthier ( its actually less so) than mechanical media that is properly reseeded periodically and changed out for new. And anyone that tries to convince someone else that it is somehow "Better" doesn't have a true grasp of the nitrogen cycle.
Beneficial bacteria grows to match the bioload of the fish that are in the system--- plain and simple.
So, change your mechanical media out in your HOB when rinsing out in dechlorinated water no longer proves useful ( usually every few months) and make sure to reseed this sponge material before adding the new.