How/when should I clean my filter?

How should I clean my filter and when? I used to have a 70l uk filter and I cleaned it fully with tap water. Apparently that's really bad?

I now have a 200l uk tank with a powerful filter for 500l - 800l.
I've only had the tank running for about 2 weeks.
I decided to do a fish in cycle, all of my fish apart from one have survived.
The fish living in my 200l:
Male guppy = 10
Cardinal tetra = 12
Red phantom tetra = 3
Platy = 1
Kuhli loach = 6 (1 adult, 5 babies)
Panda garra = 1
Peacock eel = 1
Shrimp = 2
Snail = hundreds (6 nerites, hundreds of trumpets)

How often should I clean my filter and how?
The man in my lfs uses the filter, he said he hasnt cleaned it for about a year.

I cleaned my last filter every week when I did a water change.
I have a lot of plants in my 200l and I'm using a vacuum more often to get anything off the bottom.
I also have a lot more snails than I did before, meaning less algae and ammonia??

The filter is keeping the water very clear and clean. I'm just not sure how or when I should clean it?
How often should I do a water change? I've got plants and I don't want to disturb them too much.

Sometimes, I vacuum the filter to get any leaves off the side.

What kind of filter is it? You can clean the filter media with tap water cause the beneficial bacteria are pretty hardy. Some people recommend cleaning it every month or so but if you don't have very much bioload you can get away with cleaning it every 2 to 3 months

I clean my Marineland HOB filter every 21 days using tank water. I squeeze out the sponge in the tank water and replace a layer of filter floss. I clean the housing and impeller area about every 2 months using tap water.

lnsaneM said:

You can clean the filter media with tap water cause the beneficial bacteria are pretty hardy.

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IF the tank was established and stable for 12 months this could be reasonable advise. It's not, its a 2 week old tank.

Naughts said:

IF the tank was established and stable for 12 months this could be reasonable advise. It's not, its a 2 week old tank.

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I have put all of the water of my 70l into the 200l, twice. So there is some bacteria I think?

ella777 said:

I have put all of the water of my 70l into the 200l, twice. So there is some bacteria I think?

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Beneficial bacteria colonise hard surfaces like the filter media, the substrate, decorations and ornaments; they are not in the water column.

lnsaneM said:

What kind of filter is it? You can clean the filter media with tap water cause the beneficial bacteria are pretty hardy. Some people recommend cleaning it every month or so but if you don't have very much bioload you can get away with cleaning it every 2 to 3 months

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It's a hydra 50. I have put all of the water from my 70l in the 200l, twice so I think there should be some bacteria

This is what it looks like and info

There is certainly some misconception on filtration here. First thing to establish is that the filter is doing two functions, mechanical filtration (keeping the water clear) and biological (sort of keeping it clean--clear and clean are very different things here). Plants enter the discussion on a couple of fronts.

First, mechanical. This is achieved by the water passing through the media to remove particulate matter, most of it being microscopic. The foam/sponge/floss is the prime media keeping the water clear, and you want to maintain the proper flow through this media in order to achieve clear water. If you let the foam/sponge/floss clog it is not going to do the job, and the water usually finds an alternate path--the way of least resistance. So on this aspect, you want to rinse the media regularly and often. On my tanks with sponge filters or small internal filters, I did this every water change. The canisters were less often, but I found that every month or two usually worked. My tanks were not crowded with fish, and I fed sparingly, so accumulation of solid matter was very, very, very minimal.

Second, biological. In a well-planted tank this is unnecessary. Biological filtration will occur on all surfaces, in the filter media (no matter what it is), substrate, etc. With live plants, "encouraging" biological filtration is unnecessary and detrimental to the plants because it is a competitor after the same thing...ammonia/ammonium. Plants need nitrogen, and most of our aquarium plant species prefer ammonia/ammonium, and they are faster at grabbing it than the nitrifying bacteria. So "encouraging" biological filtration is useless and wasteful, if not actually detrimental.

For 30 years I cleaned the filter/filter media under the tap. I agree that a new beginner is probably best advised to use a bucket of tank water, but once things are going...and without question once you have good plant growth...you will not have issues. As I noted above, the plants are assimilating all the ammonia they possibly can, and they have what often seems an inexhaustible capacity. "Ammonia sinks" refers to floating plants especially. You could turn the filter off and it would cause no harm except for the water movement, which may be needed for certain fish, and keeping the gaseous exchange. That's one fact. A second is, that chlorine and chloramine do not kill all the nitrifying bacteria, unless the chlorine/chloramine is at such a high level it is deadly to humans as well. Not very likely with municipal water systems. I have cited more than once in older threads a study that chloramine killed less than half of the nitrifying bacteria present in tap water--and more scary, fish TB was also not killed. That's another story, but the point is that you cannot kill the nitrifying bacteria with chlorine or chloramine at the levels allowed by public authorities. And where do these nitrifying bacteria come from in the first place when we "cycle" a tank? From the tap water. They are not airborne, they live only in water (and not soil, those are different species of nitrifying bacteria).

As for water changes, the more water you change the better, provided the parameters being GH, pH and temperature of tap and tank water are basically the same. Water changes do not harm plants, nor fish.

Byron said:

You cannot kill the nitrifying bacteria with chlorine or chloramine at the levels allowed by public authorities. And where do these nitrifying bacteria come from in the first place when we "cycle" a tank? From the tap water.

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Okay thank you so much, people were saying different things which was confusing.

So its perfectly fine to clean the filter in regular tap water?

How often did you say I should clean it? The fish I have dont create much waste and I never over feed them.
Did you say every month or so? I always make sure theres no leaves clinging on to the outside.

Also I have a question about guppies, as I mentioned already, my filter is very powerful for the amount of water the tank holds. For some reason, my guppies seem to love the bubbles from the filter, and the flow, which doesnt make much sense as I thought they liked calmer waters.

They arent being forced near the filter, about three quarters of the tank is almost still.
They seem to like it, as they keep going near it and getting sort of blown around?

Are they just having 'fun', are they just a bit dumb?

So long as the fish are able to get out of strong currents, to "take it easy," I wouldn't worry. We sometimes forget that this situation is 24/7, and that can be very tiring. It may be "play" but is more likely a natural response looking for food...food drifts downcurrent so staying in a current just might be rewarding!

As for cleaning, the Hydra looks very much like the Aqueon Quiet Flow internal filters I had, and I cleaned them at every water change (once each week). The one in my 40g cory tank really got clogged up if I didn't do this.

And yes, clean it under the tap, in warm but not hot water. As I mentioned previously, a beginning aquarist is better to be cautious. But once you have plants obviously growing, no worries.

Are the guppies possibly hungry? Only a few do it at one time, I can try to film it tomorrow or whenever they do it next.

How much water should I take out when doing a water change?

A thing about water conditioner, if I clean 50l, do I add 50l worth of tap water conditioner or 200l?
In my smaller tank, I didnt think much of it and put 70l worth of water conditioner, instead of 35l (50%)
I'm not sure if that made any sense, sorry about that.

The man in the shop did say he hadn't cleaned it for almost a year... he seemed to know as much as you when it comes to fish!
Could I possibly clean it and do a water change every month? Or is that too long, I do vacuum the sand and filter every few days.

Why can't I clean it in cold water? Does it kill more bacteria?

Sorry for all the questions, I feel quite stupid for not knowing

ella777 said:

Are the guppies possibly hungry? Only a few do it at one time, I can try to film it tomorrow or whenever they do it next.

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No, I did not mean to imply hunger...but all fish know that food comes down current, and they also never know when they may get their next meal, so the food instinct is strong. This is why you cannot judge fish interactive behaviour when you are in front of the tank moving around...to the fish, this is a probable sign they are to be fed.

ella777 said:

How much water should I take out when doing a water change?

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I always do at least 50%, usually closer to 70%. Provided the parameters are the same, or nearly. The aim is water stability, and the more water changes the more stable. Read my article:

ella777 said:

A thing about water conditioner, if I clean 50l, do I add 50l worth of tap water conditioner or 200l?
In my smaller tank, I didnt think much of it and put 70l worth of water conditioner, instead of 35l (50%)
I'm not sure if that made any sense, sorry about that.

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Manufacturers want you to buy twice as much as you need, so they advise treating the entire tank. Utter nonsense. A quality conditioner works instantly, and I have never added more that what was needed for the fresh water going in the tank. If you use a bucket, obviously only enough for the volume of each bucket at that time.

ella777 said:

The man in the shop did say he hadn't cleaned it for almost a year... he seemed to know as much as you when it comes to fish!
Could I possibly clean it and do a water change every month? Or is that too long, I do vacuum the sand and filter every few days.

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This depends upon the specifics. I've no idea how many fish, how much he feeds, how often he does water changes, the tank volume, live plants. But, a clogged up filter is no benefit. This can cause nitrates, problem algae from the organic matter.

ella777 said:

Why can't I clean it in cold water? Does it kill more bacteria?

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I never like my hands in freezing cold water! So I aways had warm. Not hot which can kill bacteria though that as I said before doesn't really matter with plants. But no point scalding or freezing your hands.

Byron said:

No, I did not mean to imply hunger...but all fish know that food comes down current, and they also never know when they may get their next meal, so the food instinct is strong. This is why you cannot judge fish interactive behaviour when you are in front of the tank moving around...to the fish, this is a probable sign they are to be fed.

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Okay, I'll continue feeding them like usual.

Byron said:

I always do at least 50%, usually closer to 70%. Provided the parameters are the same, or nearly. The aim is water stability, and the more water changes the more stable.

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50% seems like so much water! 50% - 70%? I'm fine with that if its every month... every week or two seems like so much.

Should I leave it for about two more weeks (bringing it to a month) of having the filter in use and then seeing how clean it is? Or if I can go longer maybe?
Could I maybe only clean the filter and not take out so much water? It just seems like a lot of back and fourth into the bathroom.

Byron said:

Manufacturers want you to buy twice as much as you need, so they advise treating the entire tank. Utter nonsense. A quality conditioner works instantly, and I have never added more that what was needed for the fresh water going in the tank. If you use a bucket, obviously only enough for the volume of each bucket at that time.

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Okay, I'll do that. Saves me a lot of money!

Byron said:

This depends upon the specifics. I've no idea how many fish, how much he feeds, how often he does water changes, the tank volume, live plants. But, a clogged up filter is no benefit. This can cause nitrates, problem algae from the organic matter.

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I'm pretty sure one of them has a 200l and about 500 guppies... he breeds them for the shop to sell. I have no idea about anything else.
The other guy had a 200l and live plants, no idea about anything else though. Hes the one who said it can be cleaned about 3 months to a year.

Byron said:

I never like my hands in freezing cold water! So I aways had warm. Not hot which can kill bacteria though that as I said before doesn't really matter with plants. But no point scalding or freezing your hands.

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I'll do that then! Thanks haha

On the water changes...we cannot ever match what occurs in nature. Last week a member posted one of Oliver Lucannus' video of cories in their habitat, and Oliver noted the water current and said we can never come anywhere close with water changes to what fish frankly need and from which they benefit. Discus breeders often change 90-95% of the water in fry tanks two and some even three times a day--the result is healthier and faster growing fry. The point here is that the fish benefit from more water changes and that should tell us something as to the incredible value of water changes. I had a fish room with 8 tanks, including a 115g, 90g and 70g plus smaller tanks, and I changed 60-70% in each tank every Sunday without fail. I never had all the disease issues that are rampant on this forum, and I have not the slightest doubt that the water changes were a major factor.

Many in this hobby have no real understanding of the complex relationship between fish and their aquatic environment. It is quite unlike that of any terrestrial animal. Clean fresh water is the most important factor in healthy fish. It is no surprise that many members here first recommend a major water change at the sign of problems. Read my article on water changes.

I have been fishkeeping for decades and have always rinsed my filter media with tank water, works for me and has worked for me, I'd rather play it safe and it is no more difficult than rinsing with tap water. When to clean, I'm not consistent, I look at the flow coming out of the filter, that determines for me if it's too clogged or not.