Should I Change The Filter Media In My Filter

[cmfoggy]

i was thinking the carbon and sponge in my filter is very old, how often should it be changed and how do i go about it.

i have a 150 litre tank, not sure what kind of filter it is.

the tank has 4 bristlenose, 3 bronze corys, 3 albino corys, 1 peppred cory, 8 neon tetras, 1 albino red finned shark.

i don't know a lot about keeping fish and would appreciate any help.

 

[poopsydrew]

Replace no more than 25-50 percent of the media max, as this is where all your beneficial bacteri colonizes (what keeps your tank healthy, in a nutshell). As for the carbon, if you feel the need to use it then it should be replaced at least every month as it ADsorbs, not ABsorbs. Meaning it will leach whatever it has collected when it runs out of surface area.

Most people that have freshwater tanks dont use carbon except to remove medications and polish the water. As for your filter media, you can buy a bag of polyester fiberfill real cheap at the craft store and just throw that in your filter and your done.

If you notice that your media is clogging be sure to rinse it off in tank water or dechlorinated water, as straight tap water will kill your beneficial bacteria.

Best of luck,

Drew

Edit-For my terrible grammar.

 

[cmfoggy]

Replace no more than 25-50 percent of the media max, as this is where all your beneficial bacteri colonizes (what keeps your tank healthy, in a nutshell). As for the carbon, if you feel the need to use it then it should be replaced at least every month as it ADsorbs, not ABsorbs. Meaning it will leach whatever it has collected when it runs out of surface area.

Most people that have freshwater tanks dont use carbon except to remove medications and polish the water. As for your filter media, you can buy a bag of polyester fiberfill real cheap at the craft store and just throw that in your filter and your done.

If you notice that your media is clogging be sure to rinse it off in tank water or dechlorinated water, as straight tap water will kill your beneficial bacteria.

Best of luck,

Drew

Edit-For my terrible grammar.

thanks Drew, so if my filter came with carbon AND a sponge i can just replace the carbon with some fiberfill is that right.
with old sponge and new fibrefill it would still have enough good bacteria in it to do the job.
cheers thanks

 

[poopsydrew]

Replace no more than 25-50 percent of the media max, as this is where all your beneficial bacteri colonizes (what keeps your tank healthy, in a nutshell). As for the carbon, if you feel the need to use it then it should be replaced at least every month as it ADsorbs, not ABsorbs. Meaning it will leach whatever it has collected when it runs out of surface area.

Most people that have freshwater tanks dont use carbon except to remove medications and polish the water. As for your filter media, you can buy a bag of polyester fiberfill real cheap at the craft store and just throw that in your filter and your done.

If you notice that your media is clogging be sure to rinse it off in tank water or dechlorinated water, as straight tap water will kill your beneficial bacteria.

Best of luck,

Drew

Edit-For my terrible grammar.

thanks Drew, so if my filter came with carbon AND a sponge i can just replace the carbon with some fiberfill is that right.
with old sponge and new fibrefill it would still have enough good bacteria in it to do the job.
cheers thanks

Yup, you dont need to keep buying those stupid expensive carbon filter replacements anymore! With a filter your looking mainly for mechanical and biological filtration which is exacly what any kind of floss or sponge gives you. In this case the cheap stuff works just fine and youll find most people dont buy the replacements.

As for replacing it I would possibly cut a small portion off of the filter of just tear that blue mesh part off and keep it in with your new polyfilter to make sure the bacteria stays on the new media. This is known as seeding (using mature media to colonize new media) once you have had your polyester in there for a few weeks, take out the last of your old carbon filter and fill the rest of the filter with polyfilter. Now all you have to do is wash it in tankwater once in awhile and change 25 percent when u think it needs to be replenished.

Regards,

Drew

 

[cmfoggy]

Replace no more than 25-50 percent of the media max, as this is where all your beneficial bacteri colonizes (what keeps your tank healthy, in a nutshell). As for the carbon, if you feel the need to use it then it should be replaced at least every month as it ADsorbs, not ABsorbs. Meaning it will leach whatever it has collected when it runs out of surface area.

Most people that have freshwater tanks dont use carbon except to remove medications and polish the water. As for your filter media, you can buy a bag of polyester fiberfill real cheap at the craft store and just throw that in your filter and your done.

If you notice that your media is clogging be sure to rinse it off in tank water or dechlorinated water, as straight tap water will kill your beneficial bacteria.

Best of luck,

Drew

Edit-For my terrible grammar.

thanks Drew, so if my filter came with carbon AND a sponge i can just replace the carbon with some fiberfill is that right.
with old sponge and new fibrefill it would still have enough good bacteria in it to do the job.
cheers thanks

Yup, you dont need to keep buying those stupid expensive carbon filter replacements anymore! With a filter your looking mainly for mechanical and biological filtration which is exacly what any kind of floss or sponge gives you. In this case the cheap stuff works just fine and youll find most people dont buy the replacements.

As for replacing it I would possibly cut a small portion off of the filter of just tear that blue mesh part off and keep it in with your new polyfilter to make sure the bacteria stays on the new media. This is known as seeding (using mature media to colonize new media) once you have had your polyester in there for a few weeks, take out the last of your old carbon filter and fill the rest of the filter with polyfilter. Now all you have to do is wash it in tankwater once in awhile and change 25 percent when u think it needs to be replenished.

Regards,

Drew

thanks a heap for your help Drew, im slowly but surely starting to learn the basics about keeping happy healthy fish

cheers

 

[poopsydrew]

Replace no more than 25-50 percent of the media max, as this is where all your beneficial bacteri colonizes (what keeps your tank healthy, in a nutshell). As for the carbon, if you feel the need to use it then it should be replaced at least every month as it ADsorbs, not ABsorbs. Meaning it will leach whatever it has collected when it runs out of surface area.

Most people that have freshwater tanks dont use carbon except to remove medications and polish the water. As for your filter media, you can buy a bag of polyester fiberfill real cheap at the craft store and just throw that in your filter and your done.

If you notice that your media is clogging be sure to rinse it off in tank water or dechlorinated water, as straight tap water will kill your beneficial bacteria.

Best of luck,

Drew

Edit-For my terrible grammar.

thanks Drew, so if my filter came with carbon AND a sponge i can just replace the carbon with some fiberfill is that right.
with old sponge and new fibrefill it would still have enough good bacteria in it to do the job.
cheers thanks

Yup, you dont need to keep buying those stupid expensive carbon filter replacements anymore! With a filter your looking mainly for mechanical and biological filtration which is exacly what any kind of floss or sponge gives you. In this case the cheap stuff works just fine and youll find most people dont buy the replacements.

As for replacing it I would possibly cut a small portion off of the filter of just tear that blue mesh part off and keep it in with your new polyfilter to make sure the bacteria stays on the new media. This is known as seeding (using mature media to colonize new media) once you have had your polyester in there for a few weeks, take out the last of your old carbon filter and fill the rest of the filter with polyfilter. Now all you have to do is wash it in tankwater once in awhile and change 25 percent when u think it needs to be replenished.

Regards,

Drew

thanks a heap for your help Drew, im slowly but surely starting to learn the basics about keeping happy healthy fish

cheers

No problem at all, you sound like your doing just fine

Drew