When To Change, The Three Stages Within Filter

[azores]

Hi everyone, this forum is lovely!

I graduated from a 10 gallon to a 46 gallon bowfront mid Feb. I now know I have so much to learn on how to maintain a healthy community tank, I look forward to interacting with you all while learning.

I bought a Aqua Clear filter with CycleGuard and Biomax, it has three stages within the system. Only one stage is to be removed at one time to maintain the beneficial bacteria.

I do not know which order to change them. How long inbetween changes and how often to rinse off the others.
Since it was a new tank, I used Cycle to start off the beneficial bacteria. But two weeks ago, an invasion of brownish/green algea appeared

So far I have rinsed off all three at the same time while I did a partial water change of 25%, because my family and I had been overfeeding. The foam filter was quite dirty! I rinsed them off with the tank water, not with tap water.

My tank is now back to normal and the water is surprisingly crystal clear! I have yet not changed any of the three stages within the filter. I also used a magnet to clean off the algea.

The day I decided to attack the tank is right after I noticed one of my fish was ill. A pearl white molly, he appears to have fin rot. I took him out and have him in a separate tank with a separate filter.

I was afraid my other fish would become ill as well, but they appear very healthy!

If it matters which I suspect it may, I have 5 black skirt tetras, 5 neon tetras, 2 mollies, 2 platys, and one algea eater.

So knowing the history of my filter now, if that even matters...what should I do?

The three stages are held in a basket, the bottom is the foam filter, the middle is the activated carbon and last is the biological biomax.

Thanks!

 

[Tessla]

I've been using the same filter on my ten gallon for a while, recently got a larger model to use on my 22 gallon, they're nice filters.

One thing to note if you're ever medicating your tank: remove that activated carbon! It will just remove whatever medications you put in your tank. Put it in after you've finished using your medication to remove any leftover.

Here's what I do and would suggest for filter maintainence:

I keep the activated carbon bit in the plastic wrapper, stashed away in case I need to remove any medications. You don't need activated carbon in your filter all the time, I put in an extra bit of sponge cut to fit (you can purchase sponge and filter floss in big packages very cheaply, it's not at all necessary to buy the AquaClear replacement media and you'll save a bit of money). I give the sponge a good rinse in tank water with each weekly water change, if it becomes clogged I'll replace it but I haven't had to yet. The ceramic media also gets a rinse in tank water as needed, this should never have to be replaced unless it becomes clogged with algae or debris. As the directions, say, never replace all of the filter media at once, but only one piece at a time if you have to. I'd ignore their changing schedule however, and only replace as needed. If you do use the activated carbon for whatever reason (I'd only use it for removing medications or if there are some paint or other harsh chemical fumes around) it should be changed according to the directions as it's effectiveness as chemical filtration will decrease over time. Otherwise you can leave the activated carbon in there and treat it as biological media like the ceramic bits.

 

[azores]

Thanks Tessla!