Proper Way To Clean An Internal Filter?

[death]

what is the proper way to clean the filter ive heard that you clean it n water from the aquarium ? does this mean you clean the filter in the tank? and squeeze the sponges in the tank? if so wont this just make the filter dirty again n quick time ?sorry for sounding thick but i want to make sure i do it right thanks in advance joe

 

[Annastasia]

I clean my filters, when I'm doing water changes. I take some of the water from a tank, stick it in a bucket, and then clean the sponges in there. If you do it in the tank, you wouldn't really be cleaning it as you said.

 

[Valmyre]

hi red pleco, as Annastasia said , clean the sponges when doing a water change in a bucket, but dont clean all the sponges at the same time, just clean one at a time as you will loose too much beneficial bacteria, and then another the next time you do a water change. also don't squeeze the sponges out , just remove any debris you can see as squeezing the sponges will remove alot of the beneficial bacteria . hope this helps

 

[death]

thanks for the replies guys some helpfull stuff in the posts there

 

[Ranoa]

Yep, it helps the lot of us noobies