HOB filter Maintenance

How does everyone clean their Hob filters and how often? I mean the actual inside of the filter and the intake tube part NOT the media. My tank has been running almost 6 months and I haven't cleaned the filter at all! I just rinse the media every once and a while in old tank water. I imagine there's quite a bit of gunk in there at this point. This may be a silly question, but how do you thoroughly clean the inside of the filter?

 

It will depend on the setup, the plants, how much you are feeding etc how dirty the filter gets.

During a water change, I remove the intake tube on my 20g once or twice a month, and use a bottle brush to clean inside it, while it's in the bucket of old tank water. Gets any bits out really quick. I also give the impeller a quick brush at that time as well. If gunk is building up in the filter box (only seems to happen every couple of months), I just remove the media to the bucket of tank water, and scrub around the box with a piece of filter floss (one that I'm replacing anyway). All the gunk that's built up on the sides & bottom of the box stick to the floss.
This HOB in particular gets fairly dirty because I don't use a sponge on the intake of this filter. My other tanks have shrimp, so they all have a sponge on the intake, which I clean weekly. I find on those tanks the filter itself doesn't need cleaning nearly as often.
Hope that helps!

 

It will depend on the setup, the plants, how much you are feeding etc how dirty the filter gets.

During a water change, I remove the intake tube on my 20g once or twice a month, and use a bottle brush to clean inside it, while it's in the bucket of old tank water. Gets any bits out really quick. I also give the impeller a quick brush at that time as well. If gunk is building up in the filter box (only seems to happen every couple of months), I just remove the media to the bucket of tank water, and scrub around the box with a piece of filter floss (one that I'm replacing anyway). All the gunk that's built up on the sides & bottom of the box stick to the floss.
This HOB in particular gets fairly dirty because I don't use a sponge on the intake of this filter. My other tanks have shrimp, so they all have a sponge on the intake, which I clean weekly. I find on those tanks the filter itself doesn't need cleaning nearly as often.
Hope that helps!

That was very helpful thank you. I accidentally detached the intake tube thing from the filter box last week and noticed the filter spit out some dark gunk that temporarily clouded my water, which I assume is mulm that's accumulated in the filter intake/impeller. That's when I realized I should probably clean the inside of the filter which will be done tomorrow!

 

How does everyone clean their Hob filters and how often? I mean the actual inside of the filter and the intake tube part NOT the media. My tank has been running almost 6 months and I haven't cleaned the filter at all! I just rinse the media every once and a while in old tank water. I imagine there's quite a bit of gunk in there at this point. This may be a silly question, but how do you thoroughly clean the inside of the filter?

Good Evening Valkyrie,
As far as your HOB filter it depends first of all if you have a planted or non-planted aquarium. I've had both types through the years and I noticed that on my tanks which were NOT planted the filter was always dirtier at the end of the month versus those on my planted tanks. Now with this said, I would get into the habit of at least once a month remove the media from the filter completely and leave it in a bucket with tank water while you break down the rest of the filter and clean it really good. Your pick up tube will get alot of mulm build up on the inside which will need to be removed and also the impeller housing will be pretty nasty. Clean it really good in tap water and wipe it dry once your are finish scrubbing it. This is a good time also, to physically inspect your electrical cord, impeller housing, pick up tube, filter housing (check for cracks) and the lid to your filter. Take your time with it and really spend quality time performing this monthly maintenance. With time you will get to know your equipment so good that when something is wrong you should be able to identify the problem quick and will know what actions to take to remedy the situation. Maintenance is key in this hobby and sadly a lot of people don't take it serious enough.

I been at this for over 24 years and I have never had a filter fail on me due to lack of maintenance. On the contrary it allows you to see the internal components of your filters and identify pieces that may need replacing before they break. Furthermore, it teaches you to really learn your equipment and become extremely proficient with its operation and utilization. So its a win win for everyone. Your fish are entirely dependent on your level of commitment and knowledge...! Hope this helps.

Respectfully,
BB72

 

Here are steps to clean HOB filter. Hope they would help you.
1. Have fresh filtration media, a small pitcher, and a bucket used only for fish tank cleaning on hand before starting.
2. Place about 2 quarts of tank water in a small pitcher and set it aside.
3. Turn the filter off and unplug the cord from the electrical outlet. You may also need to unplug your aquarium heater if the water level of the tank drops below the top of the heater.
4. Gently lift the filter off of the aquarium and place in a clean bucket.
5. Remove the sponge or filter media insert. If it is disposable, discard it and skip to step nine.
6. If the sponge or filter media insert is refillable (contains activated carbon), discard the filtration media inside it.
7. Place part of the tank water in a small bowl and gently rinse the sponge or media in it.
8. Refill the washed insert with fresh media (carbon), close and set aside.
9. Remove any algae or lime deposits from the filter housing, and rinse thoroughly with fresh water.
10. Rinse the new or refilled sponge insert using the pitcher of tank water.
11. Place the rinsed sponge insert into the filter housing.
12. Hang the filter back on the aquarium.
13. Using a small cup, partially fill the filter with aquarium water, then replace the cover.
14. Plug the filter in and turn it on. You now have a clean filter. Plug in the aquarium heater if it was also unplugged.

 

Regardless of tank type I only clean filtration on demand. If the flow is fine the filter is fine and there is no need to clean. The only exception is with some filter designs if the filter gets 'clogged' the water will flow fine but it will by pass filtration.