Filter cleaning!

[pdbrady]

I don't think it really matters whether you clean it with hot tap or cold tap. Either way your running unconditioned water over it. If you make sure to clean bio in tank water so you don't kill bacteria, why would your mechanical be any different? I have 3 canisters on my tank. I have a rotation, every week I clean out 1 of the canisters. I rinse with whatever water feels good on my hands while I'm doing it. Warm-hot in the winter, cooler-cold in the summer. I guarantee I have plenty of bb in my tank.

 

[Aqua Sanctuary]

trash the floss and use it for polishing

 

[Bderick67]

I use hot tap water to clean the mechanical. I ensure the bio media is cleaned with tank water. I sometimes even change out the mechanical.

You should clean your mechanical frequently and thoroughly. It removes solid waste before it has a chance to break down to liquid. After a while of doing it this way, you will keep BB growth at a minimum on the mechanical portions of the filter and you bio media will house all of the BB.

I agree with tunerX and use the same procedures. In the AC110s sponges get a weekly cleaning with hot tap water and the biomax is rinsed with tank water. The xp3s are cleaned one every 1-2 months.

 

[DasArab]

I don't want any BB on my mechanical media. I want BB on my bio media.

LoL. Sorry for laughing but you can never have enough BB, besides BB grows to suit the specific ammount of polution being produced, it matters not where it grows, if its growing in the mechanical media theres obviously a need for it. Ive said it time and time again, NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER WASH ANY FILTER MATERIAL IN UNTREATED TAP WATER, ALWAYS DO IT IN A BUCKET OF OLD TANK WATER.

 

[Pufferpunk]

The short amount of time it takes to rinse out in tap water will not kill off much of the bacteria. HOT water is a different story...

 

[Bderick67]

LoL. Sorry for laughing but you can never have enough BB, besides BB grows to suit the specific ammount of polution being produced, it matters not where it grows, if its growing in the mechanical media theres obviously a need for it. Ive said it time and time again, NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER WASH ANY FILTER MATERIAL IN UNTREATED TAP WATER, ALWAYS DO IT IN A BUCKET OF OLD TANK WATER.

You can't have enough of something that will only grow to the amount needed

The idea is to provide ample space to grown strong colonies of BB. By providing the large amount of bio media and frequent cleaning of mechanical media, you will end up will very little BB growth on the mechanical media.

My 180g tank for example has 2 xp3 and 2 AC110 filters with a total of 5 liters of bio media. I do a weekly 50% water change and thuroughly wash the sponges in HOT TAP water and rinse the biomax in tank water. When I put it all back together and refill the tank I have lost very little if any of my BB in the filters.

 

[tunerX]

LoL. Sorry for laughing but you can never have enough BB, besides BB grows to suit the specific ammount of polution being produced, it matters not where it grows, if its growing in the mechanical media theres obviously a need for it. Ive said it time and time again, NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER WASH ANY FILTER MATERIAL IN UNTREATED TAP WATER, ALWAYS DO IT IN A BUCKET OF OLD TANK WATER.

Bacteria will grow and thrive in areas that are ideal for them. This is the high flow highly aerated portions of your filter. Sure there will be some on different surfaces through out the whole tank but there will be a greater concentration in the areas that are ideal for them.

When you first start your tank and your filters start to develop you will get a fairly equal distribution of BB on both your mechanical and bio media. When you pull out the mech and clean it, killing all BB, where will the BB grow after that? It will grow and split on the areas that are already populated. Guess where the best area is for them to divide and grow... the bio media.

 

[DasArab]

You can't have enough of something that will only grow to the amount needed

BB will grow in mechanical media, if your tanks are over stocked or if you over feed(not you, im talking hypothetically) by washing the mechanical media under raw tap water you will kill off the BB, then you risk a mini cycle as the bb are not at sufficiant levels to cope with the waste being produced.

Bacteria will grow and thrive in areas that are ideal for them

Correct, mechanical medias are also ideal for this. I just dont understand why you would risk the health of your fish by cleaning it in raw untreated tap water when you can achieve the same results by doing it in old tank water.

 

[Bderick67]

BB will grow in mechanical media, if your tanks are over stocked or if you over feed(not you, im talking hypothetically) by washing the mechanical media under raw tap water you will kill off the BB, then you risk a mini cycle as the bb are not at sufficiant levels to cope with the waste being produced.

My mechanical media is washed weekly, there is no significant growth on the mechanical media in my 180g tank. Using this method, the BB colonies are much more stable. My tank is heavily stocked, never a trace of ammonia or ntrites, with a weekly rise of 20-30ppm nitrates. Sound like a mini cycle to you.

Greatest benefit of this is removing a large amount of particle waste before it can break down into ammonia then nitrites. Which in the end this reduces nitrates. Not saying that your method doesn't work, it just dosn't reduce you nitrate levels in the end.

 

[Pufferpunk]

My mechanical media is washed weekly, there is no significant growth on the mechanical media in my 180g tank. Using this method, the BB colonies are much more stable.

This makes sense to me.