Filter Question

[AmyStardust]

Hello!!

So - I've had my tank set up for just over 2 weeks now - my fish have been in for just over a week! (I know, I know - I didn't cycle the tank - I'd never heard of cycling before, I followed my LFS's advice - now I'm doing a fish-in cycle that seems to be going really well )

Um - so the filter appears to be a bit "grimey" already - is this normal?? The water is clear and the fish are fine!

Also - when I clean the filter sponge - how do I do it??

Any advice would be great, thanks!

 

[puppyjess123]

To clean it. Turn off the filter take out the media (sponges) and don't keep them out of water for to long. Ideally clean the sponge when doing a water change as when you have a bucket of the old water dip the sponge in and bring it out and rinse it and again for about 4 times. Then put it back in and wolaa! Never wash under tap water - i did and went through a mini cycle stupid me.

 

[AmyStardust]

To clean it. Turn off the filter take out the media (sponges) and don't keep them out of water for to long. Ideally clean the sponge when doing a water change as when you have a bucket of the old water dip the sponge in and bring it out and rinse it and again for about 4 times. Then put it back in and wolaa! Never wash under tap water - i did and went through a mini cycle stupid me.

Thanks for that!!!

How often should I clean the sponge?

 

[puppyjess123]

Every month is when i do it. No problem.

 

[Truck]

if they get to grimey buy some new sponges and replace a thrid say every month.

 

[drobbyb]

Every month is when i do it. No problem.

Do not change the sponge! You will have to cycle all over again if you do. The good bacteria live in the sponge so if you throw it away you will have to cycle all over again. Instead, rinse it out in a bucket of tank water. This preserves the bacteria and cleans the sponge.

 

[puppyjess123]

She said how often do i CLEAN not replace itt.

 

[andywg]

Then put it back in and wolaa!

Or even voila?

Never wash under tap water - i did and went through a mini cycle stupid me.

This is true of biological media (which if one has nothing but sponge the sponge will be acting as) but if you have sponge as a pre filter to other biological media (such as bioballs or ceramic media) then I recommend rinsing sponges under a mains pressure shower to get far more of the physical waste out than rinsing in a bucket can ever do.

 

[puppyjess123]

Thanks for the tip. Voila!

 

[waterdrop]

Amy, have you gone ahead and actually -done- it?

The advice here has been all good and correct I believe but as someone doing a new two-week old fish-in cycle, I don't believe we would usually advise cleaning the filter yet. A new filter that has just begun to get cycled is pretty fragile (well, some of the bacteria will be anchored on the media and will be quite tough, but..) in the sense that it seems to help to preserve all the "gunk" you can in the filter unless you actually have visible flow restriction.

Unless you had something unusual like lots of dead plants or something or the filter were way undersized for the tank, it would be quite unusual for a filter that is fishless cycling to need to be cleaned after the first two weeks, I'd think. It is quite normal for a filter to look quite "grimy." It is catching debris and is hopefully growing beneficial bacteria that are brown and black in appearance.

Often the advised maintenance of cleaning the filter once a month (this being a guideline to get you started and not necessarily what you'll decide is best) starts maybe a couple of weeks or even a month -after- the fishless cycle has finished.

This being said, it should never be all that much of a setback to have done a filter clean during fishless cycling if the cleanings in tank water were done fairly gently I'd say.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[rabbut]

Remember a well cared for biological filter sponge will be PERMENANTLY discoloured with dirt To a certain extent, a dirty sponge will be more efficient than a clean one, just so long as the flow isn't dropping off I would only clean out the filter once the output from the thing starts to drop. When it does, just gently squeze it out in a bucket of tank water

HTH
Rabbut

 

[AmyStardust]

No I haven't cleaned it - I told my fiance that I was pretty sure it looked normal at that I shouldn't really need to clean it this soon!

He was kinda worried cus it looks grimey - but it just looks like food flakes, which seems fine to me, makes me think the filter's doing it's job!!

Thanks for everyones advice - I'm sure you'll all be bored of my questions soon!!!

 

[OldMan47]

The filter is a place that all the stuff in your tank tries to collect. Mine always looks bad because I refuse to clean the media until it looks spotless. My filter is a bacterial colony and I don't really want it spotless, I want it to keep that bacterial colony going instead. I do try to get the worst of the buildup off but the color always remains.

 

[kevinthecow]

Well, for my smaller tank, I replace the cartriages, and the sponge. Also, I clean the grimy stuff off.

Try that? You should replace the cartriage each, two weeks. (Advised w/ the instructions.)

 

[rabbut]

Instructions contain manufacturers instructions that are profit motivated, not care motivated If the cartridge is the only thing in your filter, replacing it every two weeks will not allow the tank to cycle, and that can and almost always will be a major problem for you later. NEVER just change a cartridge because the manufacturer says you need to, it can do far more harm than good. When the media starts falling appart (in the case of sponge for example) or when chemical media is saturated (carbon) you should replace it, not untill When you do replace media, only do it 1/3 at a time, and leave 4 weeks between replacememnts.

What are in your cartriges Kevin? If it's zeolite, I'd break them open and replace the zeolite with a decent biological media, as the zeolite will eventually sting you. Once you have done this, you will have to do a fish-in cycle on the tank to establish the biological filter, and then you have a filter that is more reliable than a chemical media based on, less expencive to run than a chemical media based one, and that can be used while the tank is being treated for disease, unlike one filtered on chemical media If there is just spnge and other medias in there, get a dremmal to the cartridge so you can clean the media out rather than replacing it, thus keeping your biological filter media "bacteria friendly"
If the cartridge is just a pre-filter, and you have plenty of biological media behind it, you could get away with just replacing/cleaning whenever the flow drops, rather than throwing money into the manufacturers and LFS's pockets every two weeks

All the best
Rabbut