Cleaning My Filter

[Tizer]

bacteria lives in your filter, not in the water, yes, if you wanted to change 100% of the water 5 times a day, you could, if you were an idiot. dechlorinated and temperature matched water will not kill your bacteria.

 

[Mikey1]

bacteria lives in your filter, not in the water,

yes i realize that

dechlorinated and temperature matched water will not kill your bacteria.

the water you put in will be neither, so yes it will kill bacteria

 

[Tizer]

bacteria lives in your filter, not in the water,

yes i realize that

dechlorinated and temperature matched water will not kill your bacteria.

the water you put in will be neither, so yes it will kill bacteria

why not? dont you add dechlorinator? no hot tap to mix with the cold?

 

[snazy]

No, it won't kill the bacteria, but doing large unnecessary water changes will stress the fish in certain cases.
As Tizer says, doing it slow enough is ok, it's like acclimating your fish to the dechlorinated tap water but it's better to do smaller water changes, but more often if possible which will cause no stress.
If you always do 70% water changes once a week, then the tank water quality will be close to the tap water and then it doesn't matter to the fish. But if you do once a week 20% water changes and then one day you feel like an 80%-90%water change, it can stess the fish.
Fry tanks with water changes daily would have the water almost the same as the tap water, just dechlorinated so that's not a comparison.
Over time, a tank will have different total dissolved solids content and even Ph than the tap water. My tap water Ph is 6.6, my tank water is 7.4, so too large water changes can't apply to everyone. Also, it's hard to get the temperature of the new water right if you have one of those thermometers that need a magnifying glass to see what's written.

 

[Tizer]

i think the discussion was about bacteria dying, not stressing fish due to ph changes

tell a Discus keeper hes stupid for changing 50% of his tank water every other day, he will soon set you straight

anyway, nuff said on my part, bored.

 

[RockyStafford]

So can anyone answer my question, Will using meds kill off the beneficial bacteria in my filter? Or does it depend on the med?

Thanks

 

[snazy]

i think the discussion was about bacteria dying, not stressing fish due to ph changes

tell a Discus keeper hes stupid for changing 50% of his tank water every other day, he will soon set you straight

anyway, nuff said on my part, bored.

I said 70% is too much, not 50% which makes a small bit of a difference. If you are changing it every other day, then the tank water will be as close to the tap water quality as it can be and if the schedule is followed, that will not cause stress. But done once in a blue moon or changing different amounts of water each time, will in time cause stress. If you are advising large water changes are ok, then cover up for the scenarios when it's not ok just in case someone applies the logic literally.

 

[Mikey1]

i dont think the discussion should be about what is safe and whats not, it should be about what is NESSESSARY and what is not....

under normal circumstances on a healthy, properly stocked tank and a properly fed tank, changing more than 50% of the water once a week is way overkill

 

[snazy]

The safest way to go is no more than 50% water change at a time if done only once a week or once in a few weeks. If you are doing daily 50-90% water changes, then it's a completely different story.

 

[MrsM]

Just to be clear....its about when and how to clean my manky filter........ Got it now though...thanks......

 

[snazy]

That's already answered really. A filter is always going to be manky so not sure what you mean by that. Don't overcleen it yet as it needs time to properly establish itself without causing mini ammonia/nitrIte readings when you wash it of. If it's getting very, very manky and you mean on the outside as well,affecting the clarity of the water and water flow, then the filter is not doing it's job and you need an upgrade. You only have 3 corys in 70 litre of water, setup not that long time ago, so it should have been tip top without it being even touched. Make sure you are not overfeeding.

 

[creeker]

So can anyone answer my question, Will using meds kill off the beneficial bacteria in my filter? Or does it depend on the med?

Thanks

It does depend on the med. Antibiotics could definitely kill your bacteria. Some of the other meds can as well. That's one reason why most people treat in a hospital tank.

 

[MrsM]

That's already answered really. A filter is always going to be manky so not sure what you mean by that. Don't overcleen it yet as it needs time to properly establish itself without causing mini ammonia/nitrIte readings when you wash it of. If it's getting very, very manky and you mean on the outside as well,affecting the clarity of the water and water flow, then the filter is not doing it's job and you need an upgrade. You only have 3 corys in 70 litre of water, setup not that long time ago, so it should have been tip top without it being even touched. Make sure you are not overfeeding.

Yes thanks, i got it, biut i was actually refering to what the thread was about, i see lots of people like heated debate on here just the way i like it

 

[Mikey1]

That's already answered really. A filter is always going to be manky so not sure what you mean by that. Don't overcleen it yet as it needs time to properly establish itself without causing mini ammonia/nitrIte readings when you wash it of. If it's getting very, very manky and you mean on the outside as well,affecting the clarity of the water and water flow, then the filter is not doing it's job and you need an upgrade. You only have 3 corys in 70 litre of water, setup not that long time ago, so it should have been tip top without it being even touched. Make sure you are not overfeeding.

Yes thanks, i got it, biut i was actually refering to what the thread was about, i see lots of people like heated debate on here just the way i like it

syphon your gravel more often and that wont happen, at least once a week,

how much and how often are you feeding?

this is one of the many reasons why i dont use gravel in most of my tanks, all gravel does is trap the crap

 

[MrsM]

only got 3 corys, 2 are only about 1.5" the bigger one is almost 3"..so they get fed once a day...and its about 1/4 of a wafer...and occasionally a few flakes rather than the algae, they also get bloodworms as a treat now n again......is this too much...oh n a starve day once a fortnight......and i gravel clean weekly, just give it a good turn over once every couple of weeks though....