Cleaning AC

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mopani

Fire Eel
MFK Member
Oct 18, 2012
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With all the cleaning threads, a question got stuck in my mind. How much bio do you need in a tank before you can clean your filters with tap water. See I have a 125 with 1 Oscar, small cats and 3x bichirs And running 2 AC110s and 2 double tapped sponge filters. Without loosing cycle if I kept sponge filter running could I clean ACs out with tap water. What dictates amount of bio vs. amount of fish. If that makes since


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Never use tap water unless as stated theres no chlorine, always use water from the tank and washing your filter wont really impact your BB unless your pretty aggressive. just do a couple dips in water and it should clean the sponges out unless there really gunked up. Your bio load should primarily be in bio media such as ceramic media and the sponge more or less for just mechanical filtration so washing it often shouldn't be a problem.
 
Danielcho said:
Never use tap water unless as stated theres no chlorine, always use water from the tank and washing your filter wont really impact your BB unless your pretty aggressive. just do a couple dips in water and it should clean the sponges out unless there really gunked up. Your bio load should primarily be in bio media such as ceramic media and the sponge more or less for just mechanical filtration so washing it often shouldn't be a problem.
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+1
 
With all the cleaning threads, a question got stuck in my mind. How much bio do you need in a tank before you can clean your filters with tap water. See I have a 125 with 1 Oscar, small cats and 3x bichirs And running 2 AC110s and 2 double tapped sponge filters. Without loosing cycle if I kept sponge filter running could I clean ACs out with tap water. What dictates amount of bio vs. amount of fish. If that makes since
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I had about the same bioload in my 125 and similar filtration. If you feed lightly enough that your filters aren't terribly taxed/overgrown, it is good practice to gently swish/rinse one filter per weekly water change. That way (you have 4, right?) each one gets gently rinsed once a month. Don't try to get them clean, of course, just enough squeezing, whooshing to loosen up all the crud and make sure water is getting all the way through the sponge. If you only have 3 filters, still clean one per week, just don't clean any filters on week 4 (blank slot on the schedule), and then start the pattern over again next month.

If you overfeed and are still using this style of filtration, these cleanings could remove too much bacteria and cause an ammonia spike in theory. Some pothos dangled in the tank will pretty much cure this, though. Everybody should have pothos on their tanks, anyway. :)
 
harleyboy said:
Bb lives in the tank on all objects you shouldn't have ammonia spikes on a establish tank from cleaning your filter


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???? I don't have ammonia. Basically I just want to clean only my AC sponges with tap water will leaving my sponges running in tank. Well at my new house suppose an hope chlorine won't be on it


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