Newbie With Sick Fish

[CoryLover95]

25% water change every Sunday, includes cleaning accessories, cleaning/changing filters

If you mean replacing the media (this means the filter pad/cartridge), you should not do this every week.  And you say that you are rinsing the filter--make sure that you don't do this too aggressively or it could kill the colonies of good bacteria.  A gentle submersion in warm, dechlorinated water and maybe a very light brushing with a toothbrush at really mucky parts would be all that I would do.  If you take the filter completely apart and clean it every week, every week you'll be starting a new cycle.
I change my filter cartridge every month (I have a HOB [hang-on-back] filter) and gently clean it with a toothbrush and with the submersion method that I talked about, when it looks like it needs it, usually on my weekly water change cleaning sessions I check on it.  (I change 10% every week and about 25% every month.)
I don't mean to seem overly critical.  I hope I didn't come across that way!
Hope this helps,
-CL95

 

[This Old Spouse]

25% water change every Sunday, includes cleaning accessories, cleaning/changing filters

If you mean replacing the media (this means the filter pad/cartridge), you should not do this every week.  And you say that you are rinsing the filter--make sure that you don't do this too aggressively or it could kill the colonies of good bacteria.  A gentle submersion in warm, dechlorinated water and maybe a very light brushing with a toothbrush at really mucky parts would be all that I would do.  If you take the filter completely apart and clean it every week, every week you'll be starting a new cycle.
I change my filter cartridge every month (I have a HOB [hang-on-back] filter) and gently clean it with a toothbrush and with the submersion method that I talked about, when it looks like it needs it, usually on my weekly water change cleaning sessions I check on it.  (I change 10% every week and about 25% every month.)
I don't mean to seem overly critical.  I hope I didn't come across that way!
Hope this helps,
-CL95

Erm, if you're changing your filter cartridge every month, you're also starting a new cycle when you do this, unless you're just changing a part of it and not the whole thing. Your statement is a bit confusing, as you state later you change "10% every week and about 25% every month." Changing what? Water or filter media? If it's water, most people change larger volumes. I just don't want to confuse the OP. 

 

[CoryLover95]

 

25% water change every Sunday, includes cleaning accessories, cleaning/changing filters

If you mean replacing the media (this means the filter pad/cartridge), you should not do this every week.  And you say that you are rinsing the filter--make sure that you don't do this too aggressively or it could kill the colonies of good bacteria.  A gentle submersion in warm, dechlorinated water and maybe a very light brushing with a toothbrush at really mucky parts would be all that I would do.  If you take the filter completely apart and clean it every week, every week you'll be starting a new cycle.
I change my filter cartridge every month (I have a HOB [hang-on-back] filter) and gently clean it with a toothbrush and with the submersion method that I talked about, when it looks like it needs it, usually on my weekly water change cleaning sessions I check on it.  (I change 10% every week and about 25% every month.)
I don't mean to seem overly critical.  I hope I didn't come across that way!
Hope this helps,
-CL95

Erm, if you're changing your filter cartridge every month, you're also starting a new cycle when you do this, unless you're just changing a part of it and not the whole thing. Your statement is a bit confusing, as you state later you change "10% every week and about 25% every month." Changing what? Water or filter media? If it's water, most people change larger volumes. I just don't want to confuse the OP. 

Sorry, didn't mean to be confusing.  By the 10%, 25% I meant water.  And my filter is one where you have to change the cartridge every 4 to 6 weeks.  (If I confused anyone with the kind of filter I have, here's a link to a similar one: http/www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2752295&f=PAD%2FpsNotAvailInUS%2FNo

 

[This Old Spouse]

You don't need to change these cartridges, just rinse them out when you do your water changes until they literally fall apart. And when it does disintegrate, just add a new cartridge so the bacteria can start building a new colony. I used to put the old falling-apart floss in the new cartridge, maintaining the bacteria colony. If you're putting carbon in them it's not necessary unless you're trying to remove any medication that you were using. 

 

[CoryLover95]

You don't need to change these cartridges, just rinse them out when you do your water changes until they literally fall apart. And when it does disintegrate, just add a new cartridge so the bacteria can start building a new colony. I used to put the old falling-apart floss in the new cartridge, maintaining the bacteria colony. If you're putting carbon in them it's not necessary unless you're trying to remove any medication that you were using. 

Wow!  I didn't know that.  But won't the carbon become ineffective over time?  Or am I just imagining that I read that somewhere?

 

[This Old Spouse]

The carbon does indeed become ineffective after a few days, which is why we only use it to remove residual medication from the tanks, not all the time. All you need are the floss cartridge bags. You could keep some ceramic media in them if you could find some small enough. What I did with my HOB filters (very similar to yours) was to ditch the floss bags and switch to sponges, which will last just about forever. Just rinse them in old tank water (very gently ... your not trying to get them clean, just get the excess goo off them) and you're good to go.

 

[CoryLover95]

The carbon does indeed become ineffective after a few days, which is why we only use it to remove residual medication from the tanks, not all the time. All you need are the floss cartridge bags. You could keep some ceramic media in them if you could find some small enough. What I did with my HOB filters (very similar to yours) was to ditch the floss bags and switch to sponges, which will last just about forever. Just rinse them in old tank water (very gently ... your not trying to get them clean, just get the excess goo off them) and you're good to go.

Thanks so much!!  Very, very helpful.

 

[This Old Spouse]

It'll save you tons of money in the long run, too, much to the chagrin of the manufacturers!

 

[the_lock_man]

All good advice there.
 

chagrin

 
Now there's a word I haven't heard in a while. Word of the day awarded to TOS.

 

[This Old Spouse]