Why Use Pond Water To Clean A Filter Media

It doesn't make sense to only use pond water to clean a filter media, when no matter if I use water from my well, the filter will immediately be rinsed with pond water as soon as I put it back into place.
Can someone enlighten me?
Thanks in advance!

 

You could use well water too. Main reason is chlorinated water will kill the good bacteria that eats your fish poo and ruin your cycle.

 

Welcome to Fishlore
Do you have a pond, I presume?
It’s better safe than sorry, your well water *could* have chlorine, so I wouldn’t.
You should only clean your filter media when it gets junked up anyway

Edit: Your profile says you don’t know about the nitrogen cycle, please read this: cycle

Edit: the link didn’t work. Give me a sec...

Aquarium Nitrogen Cycle

 

The only way a well would have chlorine in it is if they added it. So unless they are adding it rinsing filter media with well is perfectly acceptable. That's what I do as I have a well too.

 

The only way a well would have chlorine in it is if they added it. So unless they are adding it rinsing filter media with well water is perfectly acceptable. That's what I do as I have a well too.

 

It doesn't make sense to only use pond water to clean a filter media, when no matter if I use water from my well, the filter will immediately be rinsed with pond water as soon as I put it back into place.
Can someone enlighten me?
Thanks in advance!

Lots of folks have chlorine in their tap water. Chlorine will kill bacteria. That is why it is added to the tap water to begin with. If you are using well water that hasn't had chlorine added to it you should be able to use it to clean your filter media.

For those of us that do have chlorine in our tap water it is recommended one washes their filter media in water that has been removed from the tank/pond. You aren't needing to clean it 'til it looks like new. You are just getting the buildup of solids that has accumulated on the media off of it. That accumulated build up isn't the bacteria. It is too small to see and is clinging to the media. By cleaning it occasionally you are able to prolong the length of time before it has to be replaced. One doesn't want to replace the media until it is literally worn out or will no longer allow water to flow through it freely and even then you will want to run some of the old media in with the new to allow the new to get seeded with bacteria.

 

A lot of people go crazy with only using tank water on their filter media.

Just swishing around a sponge in tank water isn't going to clean much. People regularly post about their filters backing up, flow issues etc and I suspect they are using media that has never been properly cleaned.

If you have dedicated biomedia such as ceramic rings matrix etc that is never cleaned then it would be a good idea to properly clean a sponge under pressurized water like a faucet.

I clean two sponges under tap water and throw away and replace floss weekly with no lost tank cycles because I have dedicated biomedia.

 

A lot of people go crazy with only using tank water on their filter media.

Just swishing around a sponge in tank water isn't going to clean much. People regularly post about their filters backing up, flow issues etc and I suspect they are using media that has never been properly cleaned.

If you have dedicated biomedia such as ceramic rings matrix etc that is never cleaned then it would be a good idea to properly clean a sponge under pressurized water like a faucet.

I clean two sponges under tap water and throw away and replace floss weekly with no lost tank cycles because I have dedicated biomedia.

I do the same thing, but only 1 filter at a time over the course of a few days. The OP is probably using a hob filter so it's better to be safe than sorry.

 

Thank you, that gives me better context!

 

Welcome to Fishlore
Do you have a pond, I presume?
It’s better safe than sorry, your well water *could* have chlorine, so I wouldn’t.
You should only clean your filter media when it gets junked up anyway

Edit: Your profile says you don’t know about the nitrogen cycle, please read this: cycle

Edit: the link didn’t work. Give me a sec...

Aquarium Nitrogen Cycle

Thanks!
Yes I have an 800 gallon pond & thank you for the link.