How Often Do You Change Your Filter?

I was cleaning my tank the other day and my filter is looking a little gungy, I rinsed it out a little but it didn't help much. Do you replace this? and how often?

 

What type of filter do you have? (An air filter, intake filter, etc.)

 

What type of filter do you have? (An air filter, intake filter, etc.)

I have an Aqueon 30 filter

 

You really shouldn't change the media. It is where 99% of your beneficial bacteria lives, and tossing it is essentially tossing your cycle.

 

I was cleaning my tank the other day and my filter is looking a little gungy, I rinsed it out a little but it didn't help much. Do you replace this? and how often?

No don't replace that unless you also have something meant to grow BB in the filter.
The filter media is what houses the beneficial bacteria for the nytrogen cycle. Those words should highlight blue, please click on them and read the article, it'll help a lot.
Did you wash the media in tap water? If so, you may have to recycle your tank

 

If you must, here is a short article I wrote: Transfering Beneficial bacteria

 

No don't replace that unless you also have something meant to grow BB in the filter.
The filter media is what houses the beneficial bacteria for the nytrogen cycle. Those words should highlight blue, please click on them and read the article, it'll help a lot.
Did you wash the media in tap water? If so, you may have to recycle your tank

I rinsed in a bucket of the tank water, the filter still seems to be doing its job just fine it just looks very orange lol so I thought maybe it might need replacing. I will leave it the way it is

 

Great! As long as you rinse it in tank water, it's fine for literal years. You can also scrub the worst parts with your fingers to get it off, I haven't found that to affect the bacteria nuch at all

 

I actually have a water softener so I can just use my sink without worrying about chlorine.

 

My won’t last for years but do last a long time. When it’s time to change it just cut the floss or media off of it and stick it in the filter with the new pad or media. That will keep the cycle.

 

My won’t last for years but do last a long time. When it’s time to change it just cut the floss or media off of it and stick it in the filter with the new pad or media. That will keep the cycle.

That is one way to do it. I have ran Quiteflow (and that style) filters for years, the blue cage holds the BB, so if you can afford it, just change the pad regularly and you won't have to worry about the bb in the pad.

 

You can also add a sponge (cut to the same size as their "Speciality Filter Pads") into the "Bio Media Grid" at the bottom where the water flows back into the tank if you don't have something there already. That would provide some more surface area for BB to grow.

 

I also run a sponge filter in all of my tanks along with the main filter as an insurance factor. These filters work great if you want to kick start a new tank, just pull 1 or 2 out of your tanks and plug them into the new tank to get the cycle going.

 

Sponge filters are great and cheap.

 

I was cleaning my tank the other day and my filter is looking a little gungy, I rinsed it out a little but it didn't help much. Do you replace this? and how often?

I asked this question recently myself and basically the answer I got was don't change it until it is falling apart. You will lose your cycle if you do that and it will kill all ur fish. If you want to change it then you have to buy another filter cartridge, keep the old one still in but see if there is room in front or back for your currrent cartridge to stick it in. Wait about 3 weeks or more and your cycle should cycle that cartridge over to the new one and cause that filter cartridge to have ur cycle l and then you can safely remove the old one.

 

If you must, here is a short article I wrote: Transfering Beneficial bacteria

This is a good write up and could work well but shouldn't it start out in bold letters saying one must have more than one form of bio media in their filter housing to use this method? Someone scanning this otherwise well written article may not get down to the most important part of this method of seeding a new filter.

Personally I just clean my filter media in water removed from my tank during a water change and only replace those pieces that are literally falling apart or if it is a cartridge and the water will no longer flow through it freely. Then I cut the fiber off the cartridge and run that fiber along with a new cartridge for at least a month before discarding the old fiber.

Some bacteria will be on the plastic part of the cartridge but the majority of it is living on that fiber so cutting it off saves your cycle. The filter media is the one thing in ones home that one wants to be grungy. The grungier the better.

 

Is the filter cartridge activated carbon? I have not used those filters but maybe it is possible to fit a mesh bag with some bios rings or matrix bio in place of the cartridges? Unless you need the carbon, seems like it would do a much nicer job and you don't have to worry about it falling apart or buying new cartridges.

 

That is one way to do it. I have ran Quiteflow (and that style) filters for years, the blue cage holds the BB, so if you can afford it, just change the pad regularly and you won't have to worry about the bb in the pad.

I guess my way of thinking is why toss perfectly good B.B? Recycle it so you don’t risk a minI cycle. I don’t trust the plastic grids, myself but each has their own preferences.

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Is the filter cartridge activated carbon? I have not used those filters but maybe it is possible to fit a mesh bag with some bios rings or matrix bio in place of the cartridges? Unless you need the carbon, seems like it would do a much nicer job and you don't have to worry about it falling apart or buying new cartridges.

I agree. I do have carbon but I also throw ceramics rings in my filter box.

 

My won’t last for years but do last a long time. When it’s time to change it just cut the floss or media off of it and stick it in the filter with the new pad or media. That will keep the cycle.

I agree but a new cartridge will help remove the discoloration of the water. That's if the cartridge contains carbon.

 

Never. Don't change the sponge ever, it's where all of your good bacteria lives. Just do a partial water change into a bucket then rinse the sponge with that tank water. Squeeze it a bunch of times. It will get all of the gunk out, but it will permanently be discolored. That doesn't matter.... As long as the gunk is out, you're good.

Change the carbon every month. It becomes worthless after a month. It also doesn't house much, if any bacteria, so throwing it away won't affect your tank's ability to break down waste.

 

The only thing that gets changed in my filters is the floss which sets on the top and only gets changed when it really gets crummy.

 

I’m in the group that keeps air driven sponge filters in all of my tanks.

In my hob filters that only have one cartridge, I put the old one upstream of the new cartridge for a month before removing it.

My favorite hob has small, side by side cartridges. I usually clean one in tank water every month and only replace one every 6 months.

But the sponge filters are insurance the cycle doesn’t get upset.