Dumb Question Time

[goin_all_out]

i never really thought about it before but is there a periodic scheduale i should be keeping myself on when it comes to cleaning my fluval 104 filter? should i just be rinsing my sponges every now and then and elaving the rest? should i be replacing the carbon cardredges often? or at all? clearly i need a general filter care lesson casue i feel dumb and clueless!

 

[Mikaila31]

Depending on you bioload and how much you overfilter. A canister should be cleaned every 1-2 months IMO. Clean the sponges in aquarium water. I also clean my ceramic media too, but that is up to you if you have any. You should also take out the impeller and clean it and the impeller housing. You can set a date if you want, I just clean mine when I realize it has been a while.

 

[WILDER]

Don't clean all your sponges at once it can send your tank into a mini cycle if you over do it.
If you mean black carbon you only need to add that to the filter for removing meds.
You would be wasting your money running it all the time.

 

[rdd1952]

The next time you clean your filter, replace the carbon with some other type bio filter such as ceramic rings. They offer a much better surface area for colonization and don't have to be changed. Carbon is full saturated in as little as a day and at most a couple weeks. As far as how often, I clean my fluvals about every 3 months. I have 2 on my 75 gallon tank and clean them on an alternating basis. I get one this month and then in about 6 weeks the other so each gets cleaned about every 3 months and I don't have to worry about any significant bacteria loss even when I do a thorough cleaning.

 

[goin_all_out]

i ahve the ceramic rings thatt eh filter came with in there right now. iv just left the carbon in and havent changed it i a while. i changed it one other time and it went through a mini cycle. lol kinda scared me out of cleaning it again.mind u thinking about it now the sponges could be cleaned soon i think. but ill tak the advise and not clean all fo them.

 

[xxBarneyxx]

For the sponges just siphon off some tank water into a bucket and then rinse the sponges out in that. It will clear out all the debris and gunk and not damage any good bacteria in there.

 

[CFC]

There is no set time period for cleaning filters, you simply clean them when they need cleaning and that is dependent on the ammount, sizes and appetites of the fish you are keeping. Watch the flow rate of the filter and when you notice it starting to get slower that is when it is time to rinse the media, for some tanks it could be once a month for another it might be once every 6 months.

 

[Lateral Line]

Another thing to look for if the flow rate is falling is crud buildup in the hoses. I clean my hoses out a couple of times a year. Tie a nail or similar to a length of string and pull the nail through the hose with an algæ magnet. Then tie a rag to the end of the string, sized to be a good fit but not too tight, and pull it through. Repeat 2 - 3 times per hose.

 

[CFC]

I do the same but instead of using the nail and string method i flush them through by attaching them with a jubilee clip to a pressure washer and jetting them through.