icky spicky filter

[JacopoFishy]

my filter.....

-is gross.

looking at it, there are a ton of stringy accumulations of gunk. I kind of imagine this occurs with all filters, but I could be wrong to assume that. in any case, I'm wondering if this is okay, or if it is a problem. is this gunk good (and bad) bacteria and necessary for a cycled tank?

I don't even know what I'm trying to ask you guys here!

should I clean it on occassion, and if I should, how often? (every couple of months? every year? every week?)

 

[The-Wolf]

The gunk is the home for the bacteria. I only clean mine every three months then I used the water that I've cleaned it to dunk the media in, so as to keep some bacteria.

 

[Tolak]

Yes it happens with all filters. They can get pretty slimy and nasty. Depending on the manufacturer of the filter, you should probably clean it every week to once a month. The cheaper ones have little pads that slide in, they should probably be cleaned weekly if it is on the tank in your sig. The better ones will stack a larger sponge, and some sort of bio media or floss, bottom to top. You could probably go 3-4 weeks on a tank like yours with this sort of filter.

Tolak

 

[JacopoFishy]

uh-oh, don't know whether or not to follows The-Wolf's recommendation of every three months-ish or Tolak's on 3-4 weeks!

when you clean it, does your tank have to re-cycle itself?

 

[The-Wolf]

No mine dosen't re-cycle because i've saved the
bacteria by dunking the sponge.

Like all things, what is good for one is not nessacery good for another.

 

[Tolak]

LOL, typical for aquarium advice! Like The_Wolf said, what works for one person doesn't always work for another. If you can get by for longer, and your fish are healthy & the water is reasonably clear, by all means do so. No sense in making more work for yourself. I tend to stock tanks more heavily than most. but also double or triple up on filtration. Makes for more frequent maintainance.

Keep an eye on your water parameters, and the flow rate of the filter. If they are all ok, let it go for a while longer.

Tolak

 

[RYO]

On a small tank like yours that is pretty well stocked (same here lol) i'd tend to do 2 water changes a week + a filter clean every 2weeks.
As the wolf said wash the filter in a bucket of old tank water so you dont loose all the beneficial bacteria

 

[canarsie11]

How long has thatfilter been running?

 

[JacopoFishy]

since late august. I plan on cleaning the filter within this week.