Canister filter cleaning schedule?

[T1KARMANN]

Well with feeding raw seafood, I figured I never know what ends up in the water so the carbon filtering covers that.

I honestly have no idea how well the sponges work compared to the ceramic rings or the plastic balls. Is there something supposed to be growing on them or is the positive bacteria clear/invisible and just supposed to be a slime? The filters on the back also have these grates over the water flow that are supposed to also grow beneficial bacteria/microbes and I never ever wash or rinse those.

well as most people on this forum feed the same sea food you mention and have been doing for years i think its safe to say you don't need carbon

if you are that worried about it start feeding pellets

 

[Deaths Sting]

i have 2 canister filters running on my 120 gal: Fluval FX5 and Eheim 2028 pro. i clean 1/3 of 1 filter every 6 months (mechanical media only). i alternate canisters every 6 months and i only do a very minimal cleaning job.

 

[FSM]

Think about the quantity of waste that breaks down inside your filter, and therefore the excess nitrate that is added to the system, because you don't clean your mechanical media regularly.

 

[PinkLady]

Think about the quantity of waste that breaks down inside your filter, and therefore the excess nitrate that is added to the system, because you don't clean your mechanical media regularly.

That's exactly why I clean mine as often as I do -- stuff builds up and ends up getting put back into the water.

T1KARMANN, like I previously mentioned, I've been using carbon because that's what came in the canister. I don't mess with things unless I find a good reason to. I check my water parameters every day and they're always fine, never any spikes or levels going above what is safe. My interest in everyone's cleaning schedules and thoughts on it is more due to my own anal retentiveness and obsession with cleaning and keeping things gunk-free. I hate germs and nastyness. Also due to the fact that I have extremely hard water and calcium builds up on everything constantly, despite the fact that the tank is brackish and salt should cut down on it but doesn't, thus requiring more cleaning effort.