Hey, I'm just wondering how often people clean out their filters.

I was advised not to do it too often as it gets rid of the bacteria in the filter, but I find that my filter gets clogged up with a slimy brown gunk pretty quick (2 weeks) shortly after it does't really have the guts to suck water through because the pads are full said brown gunk (4 weeks).

BTW it is a Fluval 4 i think.

I usually rinse mine out each week when I do water changes. But I just give them a quick rinse in the bucket of old tank water to get rid of the worst of the gunge. That way most of the bacteria survive and you dont kill off the cycle.

Cheers

Ian

Don't change unless you absolutely have to, even when you do have to, it might be a good idea to cut a piece of the old sponge off and place it with the new sponge, this way you still have some of the bacteria.

Rinse your sponge in the water from your tank, this way you won't lose as much bacteria as when you rinse it in normal tap water.

Hope this helps.

Canister filter, I will rinse when I wash my filter which is around once every 9 - 12 months

HOB filters.... fortnightly

Cool cheers guys. I have been washing the sponges in the tap until now, but when I do I don't do a gravel vac. The reasoning behind that was that if I'm flushing out the bacteria in the filter, I'm not sucking out the bacteria from the gravel.

But will do a rinse out in the tank water. Do you find that the gunk just makes a mess in the tank though?

Chuck some tank water in a bucket when you do the water changes and rinse the filter in that.

I just rinse them whenever they get clogged.

They work best when they are 3/4 full of gunge

They work best when they are 3/4 full of gunge

true - dont try and get them really clean, just scrape / rinse out the worst and bung them back in.

Cheers

Ian

I couldnt put a time frame on cleaning my filters if i tried.... i dont do them regularly, just when i feel i need too.... When they become quite decreased in flow, i usually give them a clean and they go for another couple months

I just give them all a rinse and a squeeze in the bucket of tank water I siphon out before pouring the water into my pots plants. Great liquid fertiliser! Tank seems very happy with a change and rinse each week.

The only time you clean your filter is when the return flow of water has lessened significantly.

My Jebo 819 got cleaned recently - for the first time in 12 months. My son is about to clean his and it has been running 14 months.

I agree with Caryl. Also, rather than rinsing it clean in water from the tank I just rinse off enough to get the flow going again. As I said earlier they work best when 3/4 gunked up.

I don't rinse the buckets of noodles etc, I just change the filter wool and bung everything back in.