How often to clean canister filter?

[widebody2]

Hi guys,
I have an eheim 2217 canister filter that has been up and running for maybe 2 months now. The tank has been cycled and everything still looks great. Water is crystal clear and there has been no algae growth.

I still have not cleaned the filter yet. How often should I be cleaning this thing out. What and how often do I need to replace the filter pads etc?

thanks

 

[FroggyFox]

I only clean mine out when I notice water flow slowing down. As for changing pads...depending on the pad you wont need to replace it very often at all. I replace mine when I've rinsed them out recently and they get clogged within a week or two. You can replace them as often as you'd like...however you need to make sure there is enough "gunk" left in your filter so you don't have to re-cycle the tank after you clean the filter out. I usually set one tray aside and dont rinse it out at all.

 

[Dynamicfisher]

I like to check my canister filter every 3 to 4 weeks. And I do the same as Froggyfox. I leave one tray alone. I can usually use the pads twice. But I know that after the second cleaning that I will have to recheck the pads in 2 weeks.

I think that the cleaning of your filter will depend on the fish you have and if it's understocked or overstocked. Just keep checking your filter at different times. When it's finally dirty you will know how long your filter can go before you need to check it for your next filter change.

This worked for me

 

[TMony]

I look for a slow down in water flow as well. I check them often and clean them every quarter as preventative maintenance.
If you do rinse and reuse your pads, be sure to rinse them with tank water, so you don't kill any beneficial bacteria.

 

[djm761]

Thought I would revive this thread to see if the philosophy has changed over time, I have ten canisters in use at this time and was told when I set them up I could go years without cleaning them, my canisters are setup with very course sponges and Eheim Mechanical medium (no polishing pads or carbon) nitrates never go above 20 ppm. as I said, I was told I could go years but my son says no they should be cleaned monthly, I would like to hear your opinions.

 

[FroggyFox]

I stand by what I said originally. It is not a matter of TIME that they should be cleaned, but performance. I wouldn't say they can all go for YEARS without cleaning to at least take the gunk buildup from time to time, but I also wouldn't tell any one they need to be deep cleaned monthly. I've also found that the caliber of the filter also has a lot to do with it, some are just better than others!

There is no harm in breaking your canister down and rinsing it out to get what the mechanical filtration has taken out, as long as you take care to preserve the biological filtration, leaving a lot of good bacteria alone. With so many of yours up and running, I don't know if they are each on different tanks but it would make sense to me if you have any tanks with two, to rinse out one of the two canisters once a month, or split them up and maybe every water change rinse one canister out and then you'd be rinsing them every 10 weeks?

 

[djm761]

All my canisters are fluvals five FX5's three 405's and two 406's on five different tanks.

 

[FroggyFox]

Sounds like either super big tanks or a TON of filtration Either way, having multiple filters on tanks makes it just that much less necessary to do a ton of cleaning. Maybe rinse one a month per tank or something and then that would have you rinsing each one every 2-3 months. But unless you notice that the water flow has started being decreased, you really don't HAVE to do anything. The problem with only cleaning them when the water flow is decreased is that the motor is likely working harder and your filter isn't working at full capacity. Rinsing them out proactively will keep that from happening.

 

[djm761]

Thanks I do have a canister running at this time that hasn't been opened since it was new, about 14 months ago I am going to open it today and see whats in there.

 

[djm761]

OK I just finished cleaning the 405 that had been running for at least 14 months and I don't think it had a half teaspoon of gunk in it, but using the course sponges and medium should break down the Ammonia and Nitrite and put the debris back into the tank so it can be removed with the siphon and I do siphon twice a week, would this be right in theory.

 

[KcMopar]

Yes, I try not to use the fine filter material as its more often to clean for one and two I vac once a week to get the particles the course media misses. I rinse/clean my cans about every 3-4 months or sooner if I notice the flow is less then normal.

 

[djm761]

It seems I received some bad info, the LFS that sold me the over priced Medium are the ones that told me I could go years with out cleaning the canisters.

PS: by over priced I mean double what I would have paid on line, but then I wouldn't have gotten the great advice.