whats the best way of doing this i just rinse mine off alot and let it sit in a 5G bucket of water for a while is there something im doing wrong or something i could do better?
Well ive heard that rinsing it off in aquarium water is the best method, but i just take mine into my bathroom and blast all the crap off it and put it back in. Whatever method works, but mine doesnt preserve the "good" bacteria.
The best way in my opinion is to take it outside a and blast the dirty side like depthC does, but with a water hose. I don't think about the bacteria because there is enough on my bio wheel and in the filter resovoir itself.
Or you could just put in a new one... I use BioStars® in my filter to harbor additional nitrifying bacteria. I also have a BioFoam sponge that one of the outlets to my power filter runs through. So when I put in a new catridge I don't get any spikes of ammonia or nitrites.
When you do a water change just wash it in the bucket you've siphoned, i use to do mine under the tap until i learned you lose that good bacteria. fish will soon die mysteriously if you wash it out under the tap.
Originally posted by Luca When you do a water change just wash it in the bucket you've siphoned, i use to do mine under the tap until i learned you lose that good bacteria. fish will soon die mysteriously if you wash it out under the tap.
I give mine a quick swill in some of my siphoned off water at water change, and then give them a good wash/squeeze in a couple of buckets of fresh tap water WITH WATER CONDITIONER in it. I like to clean all the gunge out...but preserve the bacteria.
