dirty filter
- Thread starter snus29
- Start date
Brown is good. It's the stuff that keeps your cycle going. But you may notice a fast buildup if your water has a lot of particles in it, which can happen if you are overfeeding or frequently disturbing your substrate.
Don't ever wash your filter media in tap water to try and 'clean' it - just swish it out in old tank water to loosen the large particles so the water flows freely.
Don't ever wash your filter media in tap water to try and 'clean' it - just swish it out in old tank water to loosen the large particles so the water flows freely.
i have the same problem. but as i'm on well water i just clean mine in the tub. i have a removable shower head and i lay the filters on the bottom of the tub and spray them off really good with the shower head with water temp roughly the same as the tank. i also like to give them a couple good taps to get the stuff out of the inside of the filters. i do not recomend that if on city water. if on city water i recomend what lauraf said.
i have well water. so i can rinse the filter parts with well water the same temp as the tank? because ive been doing it in the sink. theres also a bunch of algae stuck to the sides and its gross. i know its beneficial but i dont think there needs to be THAT much of it. so rinse it out, then swish it in the tank water?
i just put mine in the tub with the shower head to rinse mine off and i just tap them and press on the media, not rub it or u will eventually wear a hole in the filter floss. be gentle with it but like i sad just tap it out till the water runs clear. mine have been cleaned so much there is no activated carbon in them anymore. i've been doing that for the past 10 years or so with no problems and change out filters about every 3 years or longer. and i have softened water and it seems as it don't effect it. also when i'm done cleaning the filters i just place them straight into the housing and let it go. i don't swish it in tank water or anything like that. also i'm running double filtration on all my tanks so i only clean the filters once every 3-4 months. makes my maintinance more trouble free for me. during the summer i tend to work out of town and i don't want to be coming home on the weekends and cleaning my tanks and such.