How Often Do You Clean Your External?

[UKSPEED]

Just out of interest, how often to people properly clean out their external filters?

 

[Mikey1]

this is just like asking how often should you do water changes.....there is no golden rule, blanket rule, or anything written in stone....there are too many different factors that come into play.....tank size, types of fish, how many fish, what your feeding, how often your feeding, type of filter, flow rate of filter, etc etc....
 
some filters i clean once a week, some every two weeks, some every three weeks....its really something you just need to get used to and go by feel....i would never recommend cleaning any filter more than once a week.....cleaning too often can be more harmful than not enough....

 

[CezzaXV]

I've never cleaned my external. Is that bad?

 

[crago1990]

I cleaned my external for the first time couple of weeks ago and ive had it for 6 months lol. Wasnt even that dirty to be fair.

 

[star4]

It depends on the tank, some of mine I do fortnightly, some monthly others 3 months at a time, I only really clean the filter floss and tip out the dirty water. Once a year I take off all the pipework and clean all that.

 

[garyspence84]

Once a month or so, I will clean part of my external filter. ie, pads one month, 1 of the cartridges the next, an other cartridge the next and so on till I'm back to the start again.

Then once a decade I clean the tubes

 

[The Taffy Apple]

Once a month as part of my monthly 'deep-clean' regime. A gentle swish of pads, media and filter floss in some old tank water, a thorough clean of the impeller and i take off the seal and wipe it clean, rubbing a small amount of lubricant into it if need be. So yes, monthly for me...but on 2 or 3 occassions i have noticed a loss of flow, so a quick clean up maybe required to get it back to where it needs to be.
 
Terry.

 

[Ruskull]

I cleaned my external for the first time couple of weeks ago and ive had it for 6 months lol. Wasnt even that dirty to be fair.

 
Same here.  I had my Rena XP3 running for about 5 months and I only cleaned it cause I felt guilty.  It wasn't bad inside at all.  I've had an XP2 running for about 2 months and I don't plan to mess with it for at least another month.  My Hang on Back filters need cleaning every 2 to 3 weeks.

 

[Shaddex]

Cleaned mine a week or so ago.  Before that, about 6 months.
 
Usually clean it when the flow is reduced.

 

[sadguppy]

I haven't done mine in ages, not since it was sunny enough outside to do without freezing! I'll probably have another go in spring. If the flow dropped off I would do it then but after having a small nitrite spike from overcleaning I would rather be cautious!

 

[UKSPEED]

Thanks everyone. I switched to an external from and internal at the new year, so just wanted a feel as to what others do. I was thinking every month or so, but I guess if flow is still good, it can last longer.

 

[fluttermoth]

It really depends on what your set up is.
 
The external on my oscar's tank needs doing once a month, or it just gets skanky.
 
The ones on my planted tanks just need the strainers cleaning monthly; they're fairly lightly stocked with small shoalers, so the filter itself needs doing only a couple of times a year.

 

[IcQb]

external JBL crystal 1500e

I clean the first layer every month (clogged with detritus)
then the next sponge once every 6 months...
Also monthly; check propeller and seals

The rest I leave as is (bacteria)

same with the internal:
first layer of floss is changed every month,
next layer spunge cleaned every 1-6 months.

the rest I leave as is (bacteria)

 

[Alm0stAwesome]

Every 6-8 weeks and I renew my floss every time.

 

[Zikofski]

i clean mine around once a month unless i notice a huge drop in flow, but it all depends on what you have in the tank i guess, if you have plants, its a different story depending on how much plant matter goes into the filter, i have quite a lot so i need to clean regularly 


i have 2 tetra tec 1200, and i change my floss every time clean the foam pads in tank water along with the bio balls and clean the ceramic rings in normal water