Filration Cleaning & General

[chloe]

i have a 305 and 2 HOBs on my 125.
the 305 gets cleaned monthly otherwise it just stops....and only ever when im away for the wknd.
and my HOBs i seem to need to clean out when i do my water changes which is weekly and 25%.

i replace media when it needs it, generally between 2-5 months.

 

[shelbyzman]

This is going to sound a bit daft...but how do you actually tell?

I changed my cleaning cycle a bit. I have to Aqua Pro 2 Canisters. One was cleaned in Late January and the other was last cleaned in late February so I am planning on cleaning the first one again this week.

But how can you tell if your flow is not as good?

I can tell when my canister isn't flowing as good by the stream that comes out of the return. Mine site above the water (to provide better oxygen) so it's easy to tell when it isn't putting out as much water.

 

[prskiller]

I run 2 XP3 on my 125g and I clean both once a month but I stagger them. 1st canister gets cleaned on the first of every month and the other gets cleaned on the 15th. I never change or rinse my biomedia.

 

[LowCel]

I can tell when my canister isn't flowing as good by the stream that comes out of the return. Mine site above the water (to provide better oxygen) so it's easy to tell when it isn't putting out as much water.

You (not you specific) can also tell if the flow has dropped once you start your water change if your outputs are below the water level. If they still appear to be providing quite a bit of flow then you are fine.

 

[Natural_Born_Killer]

See, the strange thing was when I got my first tank (about 7 months ago now) I was told that once you clean out the filters you should refill it with clean water...

But then then I read now that you should refill it up with tank water...

Is the clean water method "wrong" ? I was also told to clean out all the bio media as well...

 

[ward1066]

See, the strange thing was when I got my first tank (about 7 months ago now) I was told that once you clean out the filters you should refill it with clean water...

But then then I read now that you should refill it up with tank water...

Is the clean water method "wrong" ? I was also told to clean out all the bio media as well...

yeah, dont use tap to clean or fill your canister and dont clean the media too well,,usually rinsing the filters/sponges in tank water will unclog everything. every few months gently rinse biomedia in tank water. if you use floss or carbon replace those entirely more frequantly. no need to replace sponges or media

 

[TwistedPenguin]

I think the confusion with "use tank water, not tap water" arises because most people live in town and have chlorinated tap water. We've got a well that hasn't ever seen chlorine so I can use all the tap water I want without declorinater and it's nothing but fresh clean water.
Edit: I clean my FX5 canisters once a month and all HOB's are rinsed weekly.

 

[T1KARMANN]

cleaning them once per month it to much

my pro3s i only change the white pad every 6 months

no need to mess with cleaning the rest of the media

it takes about 1-2 weeks for the filter to get back to full strength after cleaning so buy cleaning every month you are not getting the full potential from the filter

 

[Natural_Born_Killer]

So basically it sums down to this:

Canisters can be cleaned roughly every 2-4 months.
Floss or carbon should be replaced more frequently, but sponges or media don't.

Cleaning with tank water is good, tap water depends on the quality of the water that you have where you are.

Did I get this straight?

 

[ihavegills]

I check the out flow simply by putting my fingers in front of the outflow tube to check how powerful it is coming out of my Rena XP Canister. You will notice the difference, if you check it right after a cleaning, and then check it before a cleaning.

One problem I have with the canisters, is my hoses seem to get a lot of lime/or calcium (floaters) build up in them. After I clean the canister and restart a lot of floaters shoot out of the outflow tube.

How do you control that? I have cleaned my hoses before, but it is a pain taking them off, cleaning, and then reconnecting. Cleaning them was the toughest part, I used a coat hanger, and just ran water, and spun the coat hanger inside of the hose to knock loose the build up.