Maintaining a Fluval Aquaclear

[ThatCrazyFishLady]

I'm not sure how I'm supposed to wash the sponge of the Fluval Aquaclear, or if I even should. Do I take out the biospheres and charcoal and rinse them both? This is my first maintenance with it and I don't want anything to go wrong.

 

[FishDad]

The sponge you can rinse in old tank water. Don't touch the biospheres, they are harboring your BB. Your charcoal while isn't necessary, needs to be replaced every month to serve any purpose.

 

[ThatCrazyFishLady]

The biospheres are on top of the sponge and charcoal... Would it harm the BB if I took them out of the filter for a moment to get to the sponge?

 

[ThatCrazyFishLady]

Btw, while I'm here, its been four weeks since I got my new filter and it has been running with my old filter to build of healthy bacteria, should I take my old filter out of the tank during this water change?

 

[Newman]

you can or you can wait another month to remove the old filter. it's ok to take out filter components and to rinse them in old tank water only. make sure nothing dries out during maintenance.

 

[FreshyFresh]

If you have room to run both and it's not disruptive to your tank, keep both filters going. It's always nice to have a spare to startup another tank.

In regards to cleaning fluval/hagen aqua clear filters, yes, swishing, squeezing the sponge out in tank water is the preferred method. I sometimes rinse my AC sponges in flowing tap water too. I swish the bag of bio media in tank water to take off a excessive built-up if need be.

You're supposed to replace the carbon bag monthly. Every two months is probably fine depending on the bio load. On my planted 10g, I don't use the carbon and just double up on the sponges.

 

[Newman]

rinsing sponges in untreated tap water will kill off some of the BB in the sponges. if you have ceramic rings running in tandem with that you should be ok as long as those dont get washed in tap water.

 

[FreshyFresh]

I hear you Newman, but I've never had a cycle problem resulting from this. The only ones I've rinsed in the sink are in my planted 10g's aquaclear. This tank is right next to the sink.

 

[Newman]

maybe you have lower levels of chlorine and chloramine.

 

[ThatCrazyFishLady]

Thank you all for the suggestions! I decided to take my old filter out, but kept the filters in the tank water in case anything goes wrong with the new filter. I didn't do anything with the sponges yet, for I'm new with the sponge in the filter and didn't want to mess it up but I'll probably rinse it with tank water tomorrow. Whenever I clean my filters and maintenance them, I find they have a lot of this build up of almost a rust color, but it looks like a slimy plant. Is this a form of algae, and is there a way to get rid of it? My water has never been crystal clear because we have a well and the water comes out greenish-yellow and even treated there's only so much that and filtration can do.

 

[Newman]

thats probably just waste gunk. not algae unless your filter gets a source of light.

 

[ThatCrazyFishLady]

My tanks in the basement, so no algae then

 

[FishDad]

Yeah, like Newman said, that's waste build up and its totally normal. That build up is what will raise your nitrates. BTW if you're running carbon properly you can get crystal clear water.

 

[FreshyFresh]

I believe that brownish bio-film you see in filters is slimy gold when it comes to good bacteria. My dwarf flame and tiny honey gourami jump up and take bites of it off my HOB filter outlets. It's fun to watch. They'll leap up on their sides into the waterfall to get it.