Filter Maintenance

[Jawz]

Ok i got 2 Ac 150's runnin on my 35 gallon tank, and right now i clean them out 1 evry week, so AC1 one week, then AC2 the next week, alternating u could say. I was wondering if i should just clean both filters, or clean one and just rinse the sponge in the other? I got a 2 sponge plus carbon in one, biomax in the other. Sugguestions?

 

[Jawz]

bump

 

[aquatic-store]

I suggest not doing any other filter on the same tank withen 5 days. Also when cleaning make sure to use water from your tank to clean them to preserve beneficial bacteria

 

[dgodwin]

I agree. You don't want to be cleaning them with anything but tank water to preserve as much of the bacteria as possible. This goes for both fresh and salt water. as you need something to break down the ammonia and nitrites.

Why are you cleaning them out so frequently?

PS: a 600 foot deep sand bottom on your 35 gallon. Seems a bit excessive, isn't it?

 

[Jawz]

I dont believe i am cleaning them out too freq because im cleaning them every 2 weeks, alternatingly. So when i clean one out it has a week to filter before the other one is cleaned. And i do rinse them always in tank water. How i have it set up, theres 1 carbon or Biomax media bag, then 2 sponges, but only 1 sponge gets cleaned, the other is for added bio. so the first one is all mechanical filtering.

 

[Jawz]

oh congrats dgodwin ur like the only person to point that out, waiting for that one

 

[madhippoz]

Again its almost a matter of watching your tank. If the water is clean and the intakes are not clogged up with algae or plant debris, then don't worry about it. I rarely ever rinse my whole filter anymore. Once every other week I'll take the top off my AC-Mini on my 10gal, take out the bottom sponge which I use for mechanical filtration, squeeze it out in some removed tank water and put it back, that's it. The top sponge is my biological filtration and I never squeeze it out, maybe once a year swish it gently in some removed tank water, but that's all (I don't use any carbon on a normal basis). My eheims on my 34gal and 77gal I do even less often, once every 2/3 months, taking into account there's nothing wrong with the water.

 

[RedTurquoise]

Depends what else you have in your filters! I make sure that there is foam in the filter that never gets cleaned and then there is foam that gets cleaned daily. On my aqua's, I use a prefilter also. This way I always have my bio but Im still getting a good flow thru the filter.

 

[madhippoz]

Good point. A lot depends on your fishload and the level of filtration for your volume of tank. I try to keep most of my tanks moderately to lightly stocked with fish, so I'm not taxing my filters very much. Prefilters are always a good idea. I have a powerhead used for extra water current in my 77gal tank, I slapped a sponge on the intake to aid with just a little bit extra filtration. I rince it every week when I do my water change and the stick it back on the intake. In you're case Jawz are you noticing floating debris in your water with the way your doing it now? Are you getting any levels of Ammonia/Nitrite above 0, higher nitrates than normal? If not then I'd say just keep doing what you're doing.

 

[Vinh]

What are prefilers and how would they work with say a ac200?

 

[Jawz]

prefilters are media that fitlers big particles, Hagen has some for their canister models, u could buy some of that and place it in the bottom of ur Media basket