Biological Filter Cleaning

[Beachdude]

Can somebody throw some advice my way about the biological filter... obviously it should not be disturbed too much, but my pump flow is somewhat reduced so I imagine I need to perform a partial clean of the filter.

The filter is an external canister type layered from bottom to top with:

Bio-Balls, Fine filter pad, Ammo Chips, another Fine Filter Pad, Filter Wool and then a Course Washable Screen Filter on the top.

Should I remove and replace the filter wool and wash the top screen filter media without disturbing the Ammo Chips and Bio Balls? Also, is this the correct way to have the filter media set up?

[suphew]

not sure about the order of media, every brand is different but sounds about right. some filters run the wool before the bio balls to stop them clogging up so fast.

I would remove the ammo chip and replace with more bio media, if your tank is cycled the bio side of the filter should be taking care of any ammonia.

As for cleaning, replace the filter wool, it's cheap just buy dacron (sp) from spotlight so not worth cleaning. also clean your filter pads, foam, etc, but unless you can see lots of crud on your bio balls leave them alone. clean everything in a bucket of tank water not tap water. if you do need to do the bio balls leave a week between cleaning them and cleaning the rest of your filter and just give them a quick shake in the water to remove the worst of the crud.

also dont forget to clean your hoses every so often and your filter pump every clean, the impella will come out so you can clean it properly. motor and hoses can be cleaned using tap water.

[alanmin4304]

Check that the hoses are not partly blacked with crud, often this is what is restricting the flow. Don't clean unless the flow is severly restricted as they only work properly when they contain enough crud.