How often do you guys wash filters?

[Armand]

Please tell me how I'm pushing my luck "buddy". Its been like this for 5 years.

Jags as many other cichlids are hardy fish so your fish can take a lot of abuse from the owner but everything has a limit, you simply cannot claim "my canister has been running per one year without service and looks like it doesnt need it", then I guess you dont take a bath too often cause after two or three day maybe you dont need it as well I guess...

 

[DDK]

Which is all great, but your filter sucks up waste 24/7 and proteins mostly skim from the waters surface. 30 years as a reefer has taught me that. It's often not what you can "see".......Uneaten food being the worst offender.

If you think that the 5minutes you spend sucking up what you can "see" equates to being healthy, then happy fishkeeping ......


I've been keeping cichlids 5 years. Been fishkeeping almost 40. I still consider myself a newbie with cichlids.....

Canisters sweep everything under the rug so to speak. Run a side by side with a sump and it will start making more sense.


Sent from my iPhone using MonsterAquariaNetwork app

Well if I could advise you to your own link

Suspended organic matter in water includes remains of organisms in various stages of decay and living phytoplankton, zooplankton, fungi and bacteria. Sometimes each of the concentrations of individual organic compounds is not measured. Instead it is more common to measure total particulate organic matter, biochemical oxygen demand, or chemical oxygen demand. These variables are indicative of the total quantity of organic matter in water.

The major way to get rid of dissolved organic carbon is water changes. This is a simple method but most people are a little lazy about this.

When you say its often what you cant "see" equates to being healthy, then happy fishkeeping ...... is very contradictory. From your own link you have posted what you cant "see" is in the water. The water contains all of the lets say "stuff" to keep it short. Regular and large enough water changes are the MAJOR key in reducing this according to your article. Of course it touches on the filter pads but it even states that if the filters are clean why bother with it?

The filter pad is where a majority of the particulate material will get trapped. If your system is heavily stocked you might have to clean this every couple of days but the reward will be worth it. Organic material trapped on the filter pad is of no benefit to the aquarium environment - remove it often. Some people use charcoal in their filters to help remove some of this material.

I'm not over stocked and my filter isn't getting caked with uneaten fish food.

There are many ways to control the amount of organic carbon in your system. Remember, there are two general types of organic material: particulate and dissolved. There are ways to remove both from your aquarium.

So if there are two types of organic carbon in a regular aquarium then one is the particulate which is solid poop and the other is dissolved as in uneaten food decade correct? My filter inlet is high up enough not to pick up any of this poop as it firmly sits on the bottom due to the size and density of it then I can remove it with a simple gravel vac during water changes. I also dont only suck up what I can "see" I start at one end and make sure to go all the way down till the bottom of the tank is achieved. So I dont need to worry about particulate matter correct? I only deal with dissolved particulate matter which is removed through water changes.

I go through a little more than two bags of hikari cichlid gold a year and its just not intelligent to say all of that is caked in the filter at the end of the year. From my knowledge only about 20% is truly in the filter and the rest is removed through water changes. I base this off my nitrate tests.

edit: quotes are hard to read color has been changed

 

[petspoiler]

I open my eheim canisters at least every other water change, 2x a month, change the fine floss out from top and check my purigen packs for how 'spent' they are.
I get a look-see inside the cans, & keep them pretty clean. This is much easier since employing ridx. Rinsing my cans does not decrease the BB capabilities at all. To the contrary, some nitrate reducing quality of biomedia may occur in the more porous insides of [something like] seachem matrix. keep water flowing through there, not rolling off a turdy clod.
IMO, people who claim their BB has been reduced after rinsing [with appropriate water] are experiencing the result of media which is CLOGGED inside... the BB was not living INside, but only on the external surfaces of the waste. wash away the waste and too much BB goes too. Your safety really lies in media porosity, & it should not be depending on the waste sludge. Not on so-called "converted" waste. that is a myth [IMO]

If your nitrates are 20ppm on a can cleaned rarely, it could be running no higher than 5 ppm if cleaned frequently [provided your tap water is not already high].
That aside, as previously stated, many more aquarium DOCs are not even measurable by us and they do effect the fish. Anyone who repeatedly sees spawning activity after water changes on "crisp" tanks with acceptably low nitrates can tell you this.
Same for comparative growth rates on juvies.

Whether we learn from watching the FISH or not is our choice.
It's never too late to learn something different. I'm a great grandma & have learned more in the last 3 years than the rest of my life. MOST of that being about the importance of water quality.
Still stupid, just less-so.
Try something different and you might be pleasantly surprised.

 

[DDK]

Jags as many other cichlids are hardy fish so your fish can take a lot of abuse from the owner but everything has a limit, you simply cannot claim "my canister has been running per one year without service and looks like it doesnt need it", then I guess you dont take a bath too often cause after two or three day maybe you dont need it as well I guess...

I'm sorry but when you see information do you not process it in your head or do you not read?


Here nitrate test done this evening. Do I need to clean my filter? Take a sample of your water and lets see who is really abusing their fish. So yea.. ugh guy 0 ammonia 0 nitrite and 20 nitrate is my jag taking abusing from me the owner.

you simply cannot claim "my canister has been running per one year without service and looks like it doesnt need it",

Claim lol?!?! I proved it? Lol i'll blame the reading comprehension or you being a tad bit slow. A tank with constant 20ppm of nirtates needs a filter cleaning i doubt it guy. If my nitrates above 30-35 then a water change is in order (which rarely happens unless I overfeed) and if it stays at that level then a filter cleaning is required. I actually test my water and know whats happening in my eco system unlike you who just does everything blind i suppose

 

[DDK]

I open my eheim canisters at least every other water change, 2x a month, change the fine floss out from top and check my purigen packs for how 'spent' they are.
I get a look-see inside the cans, & keep them pretty clean. This is much easier since employing ridx. Rinsing my cans does not decrease the BB capabilities at all. To the contrary, some nitrate reducing quality of biomedia may occur in the more porous insides of [something like] seachem matrix. keep water flowing through there, not rolling off a turdy clod.
IMO, people who claim their BB has been reduced after rinsing [with appropriate water] are experiencing the result of media which is CLOGGED inside... the BB was not living INside, but only on the external surfaces of the waste. wash away the waste and too much BB goes too. Your safety really lies in media porosity, & it should not be depending on the waste sludge. Not on so-called "converted" waste. that is a myth [IMO]

If your nitrates are 20ppm on a can cleaned rarely, it could be running no higher than 5 ppm if cleaned frequently [provided your tap water is not already high].
That aside, as previously stated, many more aquarium DOCs are not even measurable by us and they do effect the fish. Anyone who repeatedly sees spawning activity after water changes on "crisp" tanks with acceptably low nitrates can tell you this.
Same for comparative growth rates on juvies.

Whether we learn from watching the FISH or not is our choice.
It's never too late to learn something different. I'm a great grandma & have learned more in the last 3 years than the rest of my life. MOST of that being about the importance of water quality.
Still stupid, just less-so.
Try something different and you might be pleasantly surprised.

My tap currently has around 5- 10ppm of nitrate. My fluval 405 packed with bio-max and I regularly have 20ppm nitrates and when it starts to get toxic is past 40ppm if i am correct . I find the key to not get the bio media clogged is to have the regular sponges and then basically a very dense sponge to trap anything before it hits the bio media. This with a combination of religious water changes/gravel vacs keeps my water crisp as its a rare occasion it goes above 20ppm. This argument taken place is that Armand doesn't understand a properly set up canister and thinks its a ticking time bomb.

 

[petspoiler]

My tap currently has around 5- 10ppm of nitrate. My fluval 405 packed with bio-max and I regularly have 20ppm nitrates and when it starts to get toxic is past 40ppm if i am correct . I find the key to not get the bio media clogged is to have the regular sponges and then basically a very dense sponge to trap anything before it hits the bio media. This with a combination of religious water changes/gravel vacs keeps my water crisp as its a rare occasion it goes above 20ppm. This argument taken place is that Armand doesn't understand a properly set up canister and thinks its a ticking time bomb.

many times things escalate due to members being concerned that somewhat lenient practices may be read as "the gospel" by later people seeking guidelines, then be inappropriately applied and lead to disaster, especially with heavily stocked & fed tanks.
Then the respondent gets defensive :-o
If you want good info about Nitrate effects on fish read this:
http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?520847-Research-on-Nitrate-Poisoning-with-References-for-What-Levels-are-Best&highlight=nitrates

A thread with This type of title tends to become more & more precautionary in theme, as a rule here.

 

[DDK]

many times things escalate due to members being concerned that somewhat lenient practices may be read as "the gospel" by later people seeking guidelines, then be inappropriately applied and lead to disaster, especially with heavily stocked & fed tanks.
Then the respondent gets defensive :-o
If you want good info about Nitrate effects on fish read this:
http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/f...s-for-What-Levels-are-Best&highlight=nitrates

A thread with This type of title tends to become more & more precautionary in theme, as a rule here.

I am very familiar with the effects of nitrate and cycle it plays in the fish tank, 20ppm is a very acceptable level to my understanding. When I do a 60% water change/vac my nitrate level is around 10-15ppm if I had to put a number on it yet the colors of the test kit is pretty hard to make out. My inlet is 4 inches below the water level so its a rare occasion that any uneaten food or waste is ever sucked up into it. Everything is on the bottom of the tank and I regularly use rid-X once a week. Having no waste or gunk prolongs maintenance services. The tank water I have tested shows good parameters. His thick skull or utter lack of knowledge to read serves him the position of closed minded ignorant twat. I have a clue that his understanding of what rid-X even does is fogged and unclear.

Accepting guild lines is fine but if its not broke why bother to fix it? Nitrates are a good level and theres no sludge insight. A regular water change scheduled along with proper feeding is what takes to keep a filter clean. The added rid-X decomposes just about all the organic matter leading to a clean filter.

 

[Jc1119]

Well if I could advise you to your own link




When you say its often what you cant "see" equates to being healthy, then happy fishkeeping ...... is very contradictory. From your own link you have posted what you cant "see" is in the water. The water contains all of the lets say "stuff" to keep it short. Regular and large enough water changes are the MAJOR key in reducing this according to your article. Of course it touches on the filter pads but it even states that if the filters are clean why bother with it?


I'm not over stocked and my filter isn't getting caked with uneaten fish food.

So if there are two types of organic carbon in a regular aquarium then one is the particulate which is solid poop and the other is dissolved as in uneaten food decade correct? My filter inlet is high up enough not to pick up any of this poop as it firmly sits on the bottom due to the size and density of it then I can remove it with a simple gravel vac during water changes. I also dont only suck up what I can "see" I start at one end and make sure to go all the way down till the bottom of the tank is achieved. So I dont need to worry about particulate matter correct? I only deal with dissolved particulate matter which is removed through water changes.

I go through a little more than two bags of hikari cichlid gold a year and its just not intelligent to say all of that is caked in the filter at the end of the year. From my knowledge only about 20% is truly in the filter and the rest is removed through water changes. I base this off my nitrate tests.

edit: quotes are hard to read color has been changed

I used that link to describe DOC's. I also run a drip that changes 30% volume daily, so I agree the water changes will be the most effective way to reduce the waste in a system, but sweeping 20% under the rug it still what it is. Run a skimmer on a reef system and you'll "see" what you often don't. But if you don't "clean" your filters for a year, then how could you possibly know that it's clean or not? 20ppm shows that there is something still in there. If 20ppm is good for you, then so be it. I prefer to shoot for as close to zero as possible ....

and I keep a large female jag solo in a 90 and feel I'm at my stocking limit. Opinions will vary. I really mean no offense when I posted the original post but new keepers often get into trouble by thinking they can go months, or often years without doing maintenance and be fine, usually based on threads like this. I can go 3 months without doing water changes and never hitting 20ppm N03 on one of our systems, but would advise against it for a number of reasons.

Bottom line? clean your filters regularly and you'll have healthy fish. Im sure your jag is fine at 20ppm, but a new keeper may get the wrong message.

 

[dogofwar]

"Canisters sweep everything under the rug so to speak. Run a side by side with a sump and it will start making more sense."

Amen to this.

My large tanks aren't drilled so I have "dump" filters on all of them - kind of like a sump that sits on top of the tank.

Matt

 

[dogofwar]

What are folks' experiences with Poret filter?

I use it as media in my dump filters as well as in sponge filters...and even as backgrounds and dividers on a bunch of tanks.

I use the coarse kind but it still accumulates a lot of stuff. I clean it regularly but, especially in the case of Poret used as a divider, it's a PITA to take out, clean, replace.

Some would argue that they gunk is "inert"... I say otherwise.

Matt