How often do you clean your canister filters?.

[Squirtle919]

I look at it the same way as you fishbum.

Depends, I have 2x 2217s I have not cleaned for close to a year or so they are still running prefect. I have some pro 2s I like to change every 4-5 months as they do get clogged up.

 

[viejafish]

If you clean your canister only 6 to 12 months and you have a typically over stocked tank, you are playing russian roulette. Your dirty canister will quickly turn anaerobic in a power outage and when the power returns, it will flush out annoxic gases to wipe out your fish. You are operating your canister as a nitrate factory when the power is on, and an ammonia/sulfide factory when the power is off. Many mysterious wipe out can be traced back to dirty canister.

The best way to maintain low nitrate level is to do frequent water change along with frequent (mechanical) filter change. Your objective is maximize removal of the nitrate source before nitrifying bacteria can turn it into nitrate. Not doing so can turn the canister into an efficient nitrate factory negating some of the benefit of water change. Worst off, since a canister is a closed system not open to the atmostphere, a short power outage can quickly turn the dirty media anaeroblic.

 

[Armand]

If you clean your canister only 6 to 12 months and you have a typically over stocked tank, you are playing russian roulette. Your dirty canister will quickly turn anaerobic in a power outage and when the power returns, it will flush out annoxic gases to wipe out your fish. You are operating your canister as a nitrate factory when the power is on, and an ammonia/sulfide factory when the power is off. Many mysterious wipe out can be traced back to dirty canister.

The best way to maintain low nitrate level is to do frequent water change along with frequent (mechanical) filter change. Your objective is maximize removal of the nitrate source before nitrifying bacteria can turn it into nitrate. Not doing so can turn the canister into an efficient nitrate factory negating some of the benefit of water change. Worst off, since a canister is a closed system not open to the atmostphere, a short power outage can quickly turn the dirty media anaeroblic.

I think exactly the same, canister should be cleaned periodically, at least every two months IMO depending whether you have some other filters running then you may do the maintenance every three months.

Leaving the canister without cleaning beyound that should not be a wise call IMHO.

 

[administrator]

I think most of us canister owners would clean them more often if they were easier to clean. IMO they tend to be a pain to clean.

 

[demetri1k]

It depends on your stock and decoration but 9 weeks is very short... I clean mine every 2 months.

9 weeks is about if not longer then 2 months :0


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[cichlidfish]

I clean my fluval fx5 once a week. I have a pretty overstocked 150g and do one water change w/ that. My water params stay good.


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[David R]

Here's a bit of a test for some of you who haven't cleaned their canisters for many months; switch the filter off for ~5 hours (or a little longer if you like) as could happen during a power outage, then open it up and smell the water. Would you really want that being pumped back into your tank?

I used to wait months to clean my canisters, if they're still flowing enough water it's all good right? One morning I forgot to switch it back on after a water change. I noticed later that afternoon and instinctively just flicked on the switch... The colour of the water that came out of the filter was nasty, and the smell was even worse! The anaerobic environment combined with a couple of months of crap had turned the water toxic in a few hours, and I immediately had to do another large water change (along with cleaning out the canister!) to get the water healthy again. If it had happened over night or while I was at work I have no doubts I would have come home to a tank full of dead fish (I was keeping Uaru and CLown Loaches in that tank, both of which are pretty sensitive to poor water).

So, now I clean my canisters out every 1-2 weeks on my heavily stocked 400L tank. I know it's unlikely that the power will go off for several hours while I'm not home, but not entirely impossible. Not only that, but as viejafish said, removing the physical waste before it has a chance to break down is far more efficient than letting it rot and be processed by the biological filtration.

 

[TakeNotes]

With my eheims ( :thumbup: ) I clean the hoses every 3 months or when they look nasty from build up. I go 6 months (sometimes more) without cleaning out my pads. As far as the media I just cycle the filters on and off a few times when the water level is low during water changes and that gets some crud out of the filters. Maybe I'm crazy or very lucky.... Either way, I rinse the media every 3rd time I clean the hoses so about every 9 months ina wildly populated ray and datnoid tank onwith w/c every 4-6 days
Test ur water regularly and that should give u some idea of what's going on and when your pushing it

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[Aquaticfan]

If you clean your canister only 6 to 12 months and you have a typically over stocked tank, you are playing russian roulette. Your dirty canister will quickly turn anaerobic in a power outage and when the power returns, it will flush out annoxic gases to wipe out your fish. You are operating your canister as a nitrate factory when the power is on, and an ammonia/sulfide factory when the power is off. Many mysterious wipe out can be traced back to dirty canister.

The best way to maintain low nitrate level is to do frequent water change along with frequent (mechanical) filter change. Your objective is maximize removal of the nitrate source before nitrifying bacteria can turn it into nitrate. Not doing so can turn the canister into an efficient nitrate factory negating some of the benefit of water change. Worst off, since a canister is a closed system not open to the atmostphere, a short power outage can quickly turn the dirty media anaeroblic.

Here's a bit of a test for some of you who haven't cleaned their canisters for many months; switch the filter off for ~5 hours (or a little longer if you like) as could happen during a power outage, then open it up and smell the water. Would you really want that being pumped back into your tank?

I used to wait months to clean my canisters, if they're still flowing enough water it's all good right? One morning I forgot to switch it back on after a water change. I noticed later that afternoon and instinctively just flicked on the switch... The colour of the water that came out of the filter was nasty, and the smell was even worse! The anaerobic environment combined with a couple of months of crap had turned the water toxic in a few hours, and I immediately had to do another large water change (along with cleaning out the canister!) to get the water healthy again. If it had happened over night or while I was at work I have no doubts I would have come home to a tank full of dead fish (I was keeping Uaru and CLown Loaches in that tank, both of which are pretty sensitive to poor water).

So, now I clean my canisters out every 1-2 weeks on my heavily stocked 400L tank. I know it's unlikely that the power will go off for several hours while I'm not home, but not entirely impossible. Not only that, but as viejafish said, removing the physical waste before it has a chance to break down is far more efficient than letting it rot and be processed by the biological filtration.

This is exactly what im talking about in my earlier posts and why I think its a good idea to clean more often. These 2 posts sum it up very well. Not doing so DOES add to the water because the solids caught in the mechanical do break down and do cause higher nitrate levels. As well as the issue with potential of Anerobic bacteria if left off or power failure.

 

[dogofwar]

Exactly.

Canister filters act as both mechanical and biological filtration (and chemical as well, if you use carbon or other chemical media in them). Just as with any other filter (or your substrate), uneaten food, poop, etc. gets sucked into a canister filter. And rots and produces ammonia..nitrite..nitrate, etc.

The problem with canisters is that it's a PITA to clean them. Would you let all of the crud in your canister filter sit in a blob on the floor of your tank for months and months? Then clean your canister... Out of sight doesn't mean that the crud is gone...

A partial solution is to use (and frequently clean) pre-filters. This (at least partially) segregates the mechanical and biological filtration and allows you to remove ammonia-producing crud before it is broken down into nitrates.

I use primarily (air-driven) box filters and sponge filters for filtration in my fishroom. I run lots of air through the boxes and less through my sponges so that the boxes serve as primary mechanical filtration (and the harder-to-clean sponges don't). I try to clean the fluff in my box filters weekly or more often in heavily stocked tanks. And I use minimal substrate for easy waste removal from tanks.

Matt

This is exactly what im talking about in my earlier posts and why I think its a good idea to clean more often. These 2 posts sum it up very well. Not doing so DOES add to the water because the solids caught in the mechanical do break down and do cause higher nitrate levels. As well as the issue with potential of Anerobic bacteria if left off or power failure.