Does rinsing filter media through tap water kill BB?

[Hendre]

That is great info. Thank you.
As you mentioned, key is to find how much chlorine in local tap.

My city says it is safe to drink from tap. Does that mean the Chlorine and Chloramines are low, safe?

BB probably way more resilient than me, lol

Chlorine is fine for us, it's meant to inhibit microbes, aka our awesome beneficial bacteria. When doing water changes I always drain out a bucket of tank water at the beginning to wash my media in. I would never advise cleaning media under chlorinated water..

 

[FINWIN]

I fill a bucket with tank water and do the 'squeeze and wring out' method. Or I scrub the sponges together to clear stubborn stuff. Sometimes I take a siphon hose and press against the sponge hard. You wouldn't believe the amount of crud siphoning lifts out...even when you think you've got it all.

I only rinse mechanical media in tap water and have no problems.

 

[FINWIN]

Thanks

It is Matala media, nothing you can squeeze.
I will do one media at a time.

Looks to be if you have enough bio media, it will not be a great impact if one piece is removed for cleaning.

What's matala media?

 

[duanes]

That is great info. Thank you.
As you mentioned, key is to find how much chlorine in local tap.

My city says it is safe to drink from tap. Does that mean the Chlorine and Chloramines are low, safe?

BB probably way more resilient than me, lol

When your city says its safe to drink, that means pathogenic bacteria have been killed by the chlorine, but not that its low.
The reason chlorine, and/or chloramine are added to drinking water is to kill pathogenic bacteria, that cause disease in humans.
A certain amount of chlorine is added and needed to do this, and is called chlorine residual.
Although a relatively low dose helps humans from succombing to water borne disease, even a low dose is not good for our fish.
Since water purification is to keep humans safe, its up to aquarists to protect our fish, by removing that chlorine, and its easy to do.
You might ask don't my fish count, the answer is "no" they don't. It is the mission statement of water purifiers to keep humans safe, and clean water for humans, is generally diametrically opposed what is safe for fish. So the fish part is our responsibility as aquarists.

 

[Bengalcats888]

When your city says its safe to drink, that means pathogenic bacteria have been killed by the chlorine, but not that its low.
The reason chlorine, and/or chloramine are added to drinking water is to kill pathogenic bacteria, that cause disease in humans.
A certain amount of chlorine is added and needed to do this, and is called chlorine residual.
Although a relatively low dose helps humans from succombing to water borne disease, even a low dose is not good for our fish.
Since water purification is to keep humans safe, its up to aquarists to protect our fish, by removing that chlorine, and its easy to do.
You might ask don't my fish count, the answer is "no" they don't. It is the mission statement of water purifiers to keep humans safe, and clean water for humans, is generally diametrically opposed what is safe for fish. So the fish part is our responsibility as aquarists.

That is true. Safe for humans, bad for fish.

 

[Pterophyllum sp]

I clean my filters in tap. If the amount of chlorine in my tap water was enough to kill bacteria with less than one minute of dwell time, I'd save a fortune on hand sanitizer, soap, and clorox spray for the counters....

 

[neutrino]

Good information from Duane. The quote below means you can't always apply someone else's experience to your own tanks and you can't always extrapolate universal advice from your personal experience, also true of some other topics.

Do you actually know what the chlorine/chloramine concentration, coming from your tap?
You may want to test your tap water to find out.
If you live a long distance from your water purification plant, or pumping station, the residual might be only a trace, and be benign.
If you live close, the residual may be high.

 

[dr exum]

i usually do 1/2 at a time with no water change

 

[WalksWIthGobies]

I don't know why anyone would rinse their biomedia in tap water. I have large prefilter sponges at the intake of my Aquatop canister filter with no sponges in the canister. I just squeeze out the prefilter sponges in tank water when I do water changes. I rarely have to crack open my canister.

 

[Hybridfish7]

I forgot where I heard it, but pretty much the thing I go by with waterchanges is rinsing the filter with tap kills the stuff instantly, meanwhile having the filter in tap water for a bit starts a 30 minute countdown to when the chlorine completely kills my filter.