Filter Cleaning/changing?..

[dannym]

hello all..

I have a juwel 190 L aquarium which i recently bought, but im confused as to what filter/filters i clean?

There are 4 filters in all

1 black

1 green

and 2 blue

With my old 60 litre aquarium the filter only had 2 sponges which i occasionally cleaned in tank water, but surely if i change my old filters for brand new ones every 4-6 weeks or whatever it was, like it says in the booklet i will loose all the good bacteria i have built up wont i?

Thanks

Danny

 

[mark.w.jones]

but surely if i change my old filters for brand new ones every 4-6 weeks or whatever it was, like it says in the booklet i will loose all the good bacteria i have built up wont i?

Correct. But Juwel won't make nearly as much money out of you The green sponge is a nitrate removing one. Not really needed especially if you are doing regular water changes and have real plants as these are what keep your nitrtae under control without having that sponge BUT it needs replacing every month to keep it working. The black sponge is a carbon one. Good for removing fish meds, tannins and slightly helps with keeping your water cleaner BUT it needs replacing every month to keep it working. Most people here replace it with a normal sponge. Your 2 blue sponges are your normal every day sponge. One is probably coarse and the other fine. In short, you don't actually need your green or black sponges and if you do want them to work properly they need regular replacement as the chemicals within them stop working over time. However, even if they are no longer working chemically they are still a sponge so you can leave them in there and they will do much the same job as you blue sponges. A fortnightly squeeze in old tank water is all they need. Incidently if you don't have any filter floss/wool in your filter at the moment (looks light cotton wool) it may be worth replacing the last sponge the water passes through before returning to your tank with it. Its great at straining out really small particles, often referred to as "polishing" your water.