How Often Should I Do A 25% Water Change?

[emmuscat]

Hi

How often should i do a water change in my 35 gallons with 7malawi fish 2 inch big

I was told to do a 25% every week



I have a fluva Filter 203.

Thanks

 

[Ginge]

Sounds about right to me.

 

[emmuscat]

Thanks Ginge and what about the filter cleaning ? At the moment i have 3 seperate compartments in the filter the top one have cotton the middle one has carbon and the bottom one has ceramics rings.

Should i stay with cotton,carbon,ceramics at the bottom


Thanks

 

[j.c]

Thanks Ginge and what about the filter cleaning ? At the moment i have 3 seperate compartments in the filter the top one have cotton the middle one has carbon and the bottom one has ceramics rings.

Should i stay with cotton,carbon,ceramics at the bottom


Thanks

DO NOT clean out the filter cartridges on the same day as it gets rid of too much bacteria!!

 

[emmuscat]

Thanks Ginge and what about the filter cleaning ? At the moment i have 3 seperate compartments in the filter the top one have cotton the middle one has carbon and the bottom one has ceramics rings.

Should i stay with cotton,carbon,ceramics at the bottom


Thanks

DO NOT clean out the filter cartridges on the same day as it gets rid of too much bacteria!!

So do i have to clean the filter every week as well but on different date

Thanks

 

[j.c]

Thanks Ginge and what about the filter cleaning ? At the moment i have 3 seperate compartments in the filter the top one have cotton the middle one has carbon and the bottom one has ceramics rings.

Should i stay with cotton,carbon,ceramics at the bottom


Thanks

DO NOT clean out the filter cartridges on the same day as it gets rid of too much bacteria!!

So do i have to clean the filter every week as well but on different date

Thanks

well in my 4ft tank 46 gallons i clean it every fortnight and in between those two weeks i clean my cartridges so maybe thats a better way to do it?

 

[Ferris]

I do a 25-30% water change every week on both my tanks.

When cleaning filter material, do so in tank water only as anything else will kill the bacteria colony and could cause your tank to re-cycle. I run 2 seperate filters on both tanks so that every 3 months or so i can completely clean or replace the filter material in 1 filter only, leaving the good bacteria intact in the other filter. The following 3 months, i do the other filter, which saves lots of potential problems. Plus you can never have too much filtration and i never have any water quality issues.

 

[Soaup]

I do the same as ferris. I will clean one filter every few months as i am running two on my tank.. Also might i say. Although i could be wrong but it sounds like you are using an aquaclear filter, which it is my understanding the foam goes on the bottom, carbon in the middle and those ceramic rings are the ammono rid bag which belongs on top...

 

[emmuscat]

I do the same as ferris. I will clean one filter every few months as i am running two on my tank.. Also might i say. Although i could be wrong but it sounds like you are using an aquaclear filter, which it is my understanding the foam goes on the bottom, carbon in the middle and those ceramic rings are the ammono rid bag which belongs on top...

Hi i do not know what is an aquaclear filter . I have a FLUVAL 203 filter and on the manual it looks cotton on top carbocn in the middle and Ceramics rings at the bottom.




So i will have a problem when i clean or change the cotton + carbon? What should i do ?

Thanks for all the help

 

[Soaup]

You should be good cleaning the cotton and the carbon but what i do with my aquaclear filters is that your not supposed to change the ammno rid which is likely the ceramic disks and the carbon at the same time.. You remove too much beneficial bacteria when you do this all at once.. That should be what needs to be done in your case.. If you take a look at the fluval instruction booklet im sure there is a maintenance section which should outline how to properly change your filter.

 

[j.c]

You should be good cleaning the cotton and the carbon but what i do with my aquaclear filters is that your not supposed to change the ammno rid which is likely the ceramic disks and the carbon at the same time.. You remove too much beneficial bacteria when you do this all at once.. That should be what needs to be done in your case.. If you take a look at the fluval instruction booklet im sure there is a maintenance section which should outline how to properly change your filter.

when you are cleaning out your filter you can wash the foam and other things in the tank water as the bacteria then goes in the tank.

 

[Miss Dib Dabs]

I don't use carbon in my tanks except after a medication process (Thankfully not a regular occurance). I don't clean the filter that often. I do check to ensure the outlet is still clear and the water coming from it hasn't decreased etc. So long as the flow is good the only thing you need think about is the cotton foam bit. That can get clogged quite quickly in a well stocked tank and may need changing as often as weekly but with a good rinse can do longer. (Rinse in tank water syphoned into a bucket like during a water change). So long as you keep an eye on it and all is running smoothly the rest shouldn't need more then a rinse every few months (Again in old tank water). If the water does decrease in flow, more often then not there's clogging and the filter foan will either need changing or rinsing or there's a block in one of the pipes (Inlet or outlet) They can be easily cleared. The other thing to watch for it the propellor head. That can get clogged and reduce the turn around of the filter so it's a good idea to check that once in a while, especially if you get common snails in your tank. They can get right inside even external filters and cause havoc.
Hugs,
P.