Cleaning out a filter

[joxer]

I have an Emperor 280 running on my 30g. Well its starting to have a lot of white build up going on from the water.

My question is if I want to completly detail clean this filter how can I do so I dont loose all my good Bactirea?

Put the Bio-Wheel into the tank so it don't dry out?

Could I then detail clean the whole inside and outside of the filter system? How much Bacteria is on the inside of the filter housing itself? THe filter itself I can throw out and put a new one in after cleaning the unit.

Is MOST of my Bactire stored on the Bio-Wheel? I don't want my tank to go into a mini cycle.

 

[88GT]

we clean our emperors fairly regularly. Dont mess with the bio wheel and you should be fine. rinse the filters in old tank water when doing a water change. We dont change the filter when we do this, just rinse and reuse

 

[Ianab]

You should be OK cleaning out the case of the filter. There is some bacteria living on it, but most is in the sponges and biowheel. Leave them in bucket of tank water while you work.

I wouldn't spring clean the whole unit though. If you rinse the sponges one water change, clean the case next time etc.

Remember that crud you can see is partly made up of the bacteria that you need in the fiter - plus generic fish poo and algae. You have to rinse it out occasionally or the filter blocks up, but a partly dirty filter is good So dont get too carried away with cleaning it, a rinse and a rub with a brush to remove the worst of the crud is fine.

Cheers

Ian