How to properly clean a power filter and how often?

[discusnoob]

Hi everyone

How often should I be cleaning out my power filter?

I have one with the sponge filter media. I plan on washing the sponges (3 in total inside) alternately. Ive been told this is a good idea... Also can someone please inform me, lets say I washed out the sponges (I have rain water) does it destroy the good bacteria ive created with on an established tank? or is it ok to do this.

Cheers

[calculator]

You clean sponges when it is starting on Impacting the flow.

as long as the chemistary of the tank water and rain tank water (ph and salinity mainly) are simmilar I have found that there is no problem washing filters in that water.

[discusnoob]

at work, on the fish forums, best way to be at work i think

so can I please ask, by washing the sponges out in rain water, am I washing out the good bacteria also? therefore should it be a light rinse out of the sponges?

[alanmin4304]

I only clean them when the flow is being restricted and sometimes that only means cleaning the input hose.

[Caryl]

You have to clean them when they clog and yes, it does destroy some of the good bacteria. I assume you also have the ceramic noodles in there too? There will be a lot of bacteria living in that also so you will not lose it all by rinsing the sponges. Doing them alternately is a good idea but don't bother until the water flow slows down.

[Sophia]

I just squeeze the sponges out in tank water taken out during a water change, the gunk stays in the water being chucked and then the degunked sponge goes straight back in the canister.

[Thr33Swords]

I just squeeze the sponges out in tank water taken out during a water change, the gunk stays in the water being chucked and then the degunked sponge goes straight back in the canister.

That's what I do as well.

[Ira]

I just give everything a good rinse under the kitchen tap with lukewarm water, but I have a rainwater tank. I figure even if it does rinse out or kill some of the bacteria it really doesn't matter. I couldn't kill much more than a fraction and they breed extremely fast.

[alexyay]

It's the chlorine that kills the bacteria (I think?) so rainwater should be fine, but just squeeze them a bit. I only wash my sponges (well filter wool in my case) if it's impacting the flow or I need to replace them (sticking in them to cycle another tank for example). Assuming you have plenty other filter media giving them a quick rinse shouldn't have a bad effect on the bacteria colonies, so cleaning them occasionally is OK.

[Ira]

It's the chlorine that kills the bacteria (I think?) so rainwater should be fine, but just squeeze them a bit.

I squeeze, shake, squeeze, smack against the side of the sink, squeeze, swish around and repeat until either I don't get any more brown water out or I get sick of doing it. Whichever comes first. Back when I could be bothered testing I tested after some times I'd forgotten to plug the filter in for a couple days, power outages, etc that were long enough to presumably have killed the filter. And I never got a measurable ammonia reading. So, I think assuming you have a mature tank and aren't overstocked there's no need to worry about it. The bacteria doesn't just live in the filter, it llives on every surface in the tank, the gravel, the glass, the plumbing, probably even on the fish. So killing off some isn't going to be a big deal.

[disgustipated]

good post ira