Are canisters nitrate factories?

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soul_assassin

Candiru
MFK Member
Sep 13, 2009
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Mississauga
I like my 2217 and Emperor 280 combo on my 65G but every time I clean the canister (3 months) I find myself horrified at the amount of waste in there. Over that time span would the canister not significantly contribute to nitrates? Further, I know peeps that clean them once a year :WHOA: Any thoughts?
 
Water changes I agree, but they will not affect the gunk in the canister. Also, "relatively" is a tricky concept. Canisters are not the most fun things to clean, IMHO. That is why people slack off...
I have one 5.5" fish in a 65g and 3 months later the gunk thick. I can only imagine on an african tank
 
soul_assassin said:
Water changes I agree, but they will not affect the gunk in the canister. Also, "relatively" is a tricky concept. Canisters are not the most fun things to clean, IMHO. That is why people slack off...
I have one 5.5" fish in a 65g and 3 months later the gunk thick. I can only imagine on an african tank
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Hey, maintenance is part of the game. Look, i've seen people who clean thier filters once a year, do bi-weekly water changes, and their fish look great. Every situation is different.

All filters, if they have a mechanical aspect to them, are nitrate producers, no? There is no need to abandon canisters, you just make it work, and do your best to clean them as often as your time permits - keep up with water changes, and manage the amount you feed, and there you have it.
 
It is my understanding (rightly or wrongly) that the physical debris/mulm that you find in the canister has already had all of the material that produces ammonia etc reduced out by the biological processes. The main reason to clean it out is to keep it from becoming too thick of a coating and smothering the nitrasoma/nitrobachter (sp?) colonies in the filter bed.

ETA and BTW: I'm one of those guys who has left a can a little over a year between cleanings. I was going through a long healthier issue and left an Eheim classic can for about 14 months on a 100 gallon with a Tang Community. Fish not only survived but thrived even with a messy filter.
 
@Tex, I would be very interested in finding out if you are right or wrong in your assumption.

@Red, Overall, you are correct but I am looking to make my system as efficient and maintenance free as possible and cleaning the 280 is a breeze, so I will think about getting rid of my canister and replacing it with a DIY bottle filer with an air pump. I wanted to incorporate an automatic back up filter for power failures for some time and this will do the trick.

I have nothing against canisters BTW, just wanted opinions, there is a reason why Reefers dont use them...
 
Redearsunfish said:
Hey, maintenance is part of the game. Look, i've seen people who clean thier filters once a year, do bi-weekly water changes, and their fish look great. Every situation is different.

All filters, if they have a mechanical aspect to them, are nitrate producers, no? There is no need to abandon canisters, you just make it work, and do your best to clean them as often as your time permits - keep up with water changes, and manage the amount you feed, and there you have it.
Click to expand...

I am one of those hobbyists that clean my FX5's once a year. However, now that my fish are bigger, I might bump it to twice a year. ;-)

Just stay on top of your WC regimen and you should be fine. I'm not saying to clean your canisters once or twice a year - it's just what I do. ;-)
 
Soul. I also do a canister(fx3) and mechanical(ac110) combo on my 60 gal. I keep the intake short on the fx3. Less waste gets sucked in that way. The ac110 is set just off sand bed and picks up most of the waste for easy cleaning. I have 2 5.5" fish in there. My 2cents.

Btw I clean the can every 3 months, weekly 20% water change, and no issues with nitrate. The can is never that dirty.


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