Noob canister filter questions. HELP!!

[lix.ma14]

Hey guys. i bought a gentelly used 75 gallon tank including every fish accessorry for $300 bucks. The thing is, The filter the guy sold me was a awesome canister ehiem filter that worth like a hundred bucks (I think). I'v only power fillters my whole life so I barely know anything about. so I have a few questions.

1. Today i cleaned the piping of my canister filter cuz there was a crapload of algae and fish poop stuck on the pipes. When I took the bottom pipe out that was connected to the actual canister, dirty black water was spilling out so i went to my garage sink and pourd it out. i later "filled" the canister with hot water via the canister hole/openning to flush the rest of the filthy gunk out. it took me 10 minutes to do that. The question is what is that black dirty water. fish poop, good or bad bactera, algae etc?????? Was it a good idea to flush all the water out??

2. OK another question is that the previous owner of the filter said i can "instant cycle" the tank if he DIDN'T clean out the filter. The problem is, i've read that once the filter isn't running for a period of time, the good bacteria will die and this deadly bacteria will over take the place and kill the fish. I THINK I've experienced this once so i don't want to encounter this again. But I was wondering if this was true because my new canisterfilter is in my garage and it is not running with the bacteria, dead or alive still in it. is it ok? should I rince it?? I know these are long questions but can some nice people help a canister filter noob out???

thanks!

 

[JML1997]

The good bacteria will re-generate, but now you need to cycle for a week or two..

 

[lix.ma14]

thnks but can anyone please answer all of my questions? that wou.ld be awesome!

 

[JML1997]

thnks but can anyone please answer all of my questions? that wou.ld be awesome!

The black water was most likely fish waste, and your fine just put the canister on the tank, cycle for a week or two, and then add fish..

 

[deeda]

If you flushed out the canister and it was BLACK & not just dirty, you did the correct procedure. I would completely clean the filter/hoses/impeller until everything is clean.
I would personally never install a second hand filter without thoroughly cleaning it, UNLESS I knew the person I was buying from and was confident of his/her fish keeping practices.

BTW, what model Eheim filter do you have?

Did you get any fish with the tank? Hopefully not, so now you can do a fishless cycle. Here is an excellent article on the proper way to do it.

 

[smitty03281964]

Cleaning the filter was a good ideal. It probably needed it. I also second what Dee said. The good bacteria will return over time.

 

[Spiritofthesoul]

If you fill up the canister with hot water, the benificial bacteria (if any) would be most likely cooked so you would have to cycle again.
Anyway I don't recommand cleaning canisters with hot water, it would damage the pump.

 

[lix.ma14]

If you flushed out the canister and it was BLACK & not just dirty, you did the correct procedure. I would completely clean the filter/hoses/impeller until everything is clean.
I would personally never install a second hand filter without thoroughly cleaning it, UNLESS I knew the person I was buying from and was confident of his/her fish keeping practices.

BTW, what model Eheim filter do you have?

Did you get any fish with the tank? Hopefully not, so now you can do a fishless cycle. Here is an excellent article on the proper way to do it.

i don't know what the specific ehiem filter i have but i'll check.

 

[lix.ma14]

thanks for the replies.

 

[bbortko]

If you fill up the canister with hot water, the benificial bacteria (if any) would be most likely cooked so you would have to cycle again.
Anyway I don't recommand cleaning canisters with hot water, it would damage the pump.

How's does hot water damage a pump, its iron and a magnet?