How often do you clean your canister filters
- Thread starter crmarti
- Start date
JAFRIAS;2974057; said:
i think the reason i never have to clean mine is i use it to power half my under gravel filter so it's never sucking crap up. just water. my emp 400's i have to clean all the time though.
Hi...
here is a post I did last month that includes what I do with my Fluval 405s. Although, I must admit that I am rethinking it a little from reading all of the other comments...
http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=226154
One thing I am experimenting with is foam covers on the intake baskets.... my tank is next to my desk so I able to see it and when it clogs and the flow decreases I just pop off the sleeve and pop on another...
My thinking is perhaps if you can limit the "junk" going in it will not need cleaning so much... (Except for the carbon which I change out about 4 x a year.) It seems to be working and I have changed the sleeves 3 times now and they have caught a lot of junk....... Plus I am using the AC quick filters which do a great job of polishing the water...! Wow... a great alternatioive to a diatom... especially since they have gone out of business.... or so I heard. bummer!!!!!
Also, I am working on something for the 110G where all 4 intakes will be contained in a retro fitted rectangular, 2 chamber, black plexi box( still to be made) that will just hang on the inside of the tank. it will use AC110 foam blocks to pre-filter the water before it goes into the chamber with the 4 intake tubes... once a week just push out the old block with a new ne and clean it for next week... this box is also being comtemplated to conceal all the tubes and heater.
FYI - This is on a tank I set up for my 73 year old mom who, always over feeds the fish.....!!! I ony get over there once or twice a week so this is an attempt to try and keep things a little cleaner...
Sorry for the long post.... any thoughts...?
mm
here is a post I did last month that includes what I do with my Fluval 405s. Although, I must admit that I am rethinking it a little from reading all of the other comments...
http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=226154
One thing I am experimenting with is foam covers on the intake baskets.... my tank is next to my desk so I able to see it and when it clogs and the flow decreases I just pop off the sleeve and pop on another...
My thinking is perhaps if you can limit the "junk" going in it will not need cleaning so much... (Except for the carbon which I change out about 4 x a year.) It seems to be working and I have changed the sleeves 3 times now and they have caught a lot of junk....... Plus I am using the AC quick filters which do a great job of polishing the water...! Wow... a great alternatioive to a diatom... especially since they have gone out of business.... or so I heard. bummer!!!!!
Also, I am working on something for the 110G where all 4 intakes will be contained in a retro fitted rectangular, 2 chamber, black plexi box( still to be made) that will just hang on the inside of the tank. it will use AC110 foam blocks to pre-filter the water before it goes into the chamber with the 4 intake tubes... once a week just push out the old block with a new ne and clean it for next week... this box is also being comtemplated to conceal all the tubes and heater.
FYI - This is on a tank I set up for my 73 year old mom who, always over feeds the fish.....!!! I ony get over there once or twice a week so this is an attempt to try and keep things a little cleaner...
Sorry for the long post.... any thoughts...?
mm
wow... never thought to use a cannister to power an undergravel.....!
That is outta the box....!!!!! Very cool...!!!
mm
That is outta the box....!!!!! Very cool...!!!
mm
malawi mayhem;2974374; said:
yea i only bought the canister for water polishing to begin with because i needed to use diatom to get some euglena out of my tank. then i really didn't have much use for it after that cleaned up so i turned it into an expensive powerhead. lol.
I use foam covers on my canister inlets (pre-filters) to minimize the amount of gunk that gets sucked into it. I clean the covers (by rinsing them out) every week or so. I'm basically using the canister as a bio filter (and not mechanical).
If you're using your canister as both a mechanical and bio filter then it needs to be cleaned more frequently than a lot of people have indicated. Having that much rotting food, crud, etc. in the filter is like having a giant turd in your tank.
Matt
If you're using your canister as both a mechanical and bio filter then it needs to be cleaned more frequently than a lot of people have indicated. Having that much rotting food, crud, etc. in the filter is like having a giant turd in your tank.
Matt
malawi mayhem;2974369; said:
i clean my fx5 every 2 month or so but only to find that the filter is incredibly clean. i think it's because i have poly filter pads in my 30g sump, also i do 40% water change every week. so i'm cleanin the fx5 every 4-5 month now. and i fill up a crate w/tank water and just rinse all the trays of media in the crate. do not rinse ur media w/tap water...cuz da'll kill ur bacteria colonies.
glad to hear that someone else is doing the prefilter concept on the cannister in take....
How is it working...?
mm
How is it working...?
mm
