I need a good process to follow for cleaning the filter and replacing media/carbon. My setup is as follows. 29g tank, whisper 30-60 HOB filter, sand on kitty litter substrate. I need to know how to go about changing filter media and carbon, as in how often, how to do it, etc. Basically i'm just wondering how to clean filters/change them without killing bacteria, my tap water obviously has chlorine in it, will rinsing media in the tap water instantly kill bacteria? Hoping someone can just give me a rundown on how to do these things.
filters/media
Started by
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, Aug 18 2010 11:59 PM
12 replies to this topic
#3
Guest_gerald_*
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Posted 19 August 2010 - 01:11 PM
I use only reusable media that never needs replacing, such as gravel, lava rock, or good quality open-cell foam (e.g. Poret foam) and just rinse it in tank water when I do water changes. But a quick rinse in tap water (promptly followed by return to tank water) probably wont damage your nitrifying bacteria too much. Chlorine at the strength used in tap water takes awhile to kill bacteria.
#4
Guest_Okiimiru_*
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Posted 19 August 2010 - 06:04 PM
I need a good process to follow for cleaning the filter and replacing media/carbon. My setup is as follows. 29g tank, whisper 30-60 HOB filter, sand on kitty litter substrate. I need to know how to go about changing filter media and carbon, as in how often, how to do it, etc. Basically i'm just wondering how to clean filters/change them without killing bacteria, my tap water obviously has chlorine in it, will rinsing media in the tap water instantly kill bacteria? Hoping someone can just give me a rundown on how to do these things.
You don't have to rinse your media in tap water and wonder if the chlorine is affecting the beneficial bacteria. You've got tank water.
What I do is, every week I take a one gallon container (it's an old plastic ice cream container, actually) and fill it with tank water. Then I lift out my filter media veeeeerry carefully (it's gross) and rinse it in the tank water. I have a three part hang on back waterfall filter that looks like this: http://www.marinedep...r_power-ap.html
It's got a filter floss sponge layer for mechanical filtration. That's the part I rinse in tank water. Then there's a biological high surface area layer, those white pumice-like rocks, and I never rinse those. Keep those wet while you're performing maintenance on your filter. The third layer is a bag of activated carbon. I replace that every three weeks or so. There are large containers of activated carbon for safe in pet stores for bulk price, so I bought those and a mesh drawstring bag, and just dump out the old carbon and replace it with new carbon. It's less expensive than buying replacement carbon pouches singly from the filter company, AquaClear.
Oh, and a side note: People with driftwood in their aquarium love activated carbon because it's effective at removing tannins (the large molecules that leech out of wood and turn aquarium water yellow). Putting in a fresh bag of activated carbon makes their water noticeably clearer.
Here's a handy maintenance schedule:
Daily: Remove dead plant detritus from the submerged end tip of the filter intake tube (if you have live plants).
Weekly: Squeeze out the mechanical filtration filter floss layer of the filter in a bucket of tank water.
Monthly: Replace activated carbon. Remove any gunk from your biological filtration spheres. Unplug the filter and clean the inner workings free of dead plant bits and gunk.
Edited by Okiimiru, 19 August 2010 - 06:08 PM.
#7
Michael Wolfe
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Posted 20 August 2010 - 04:46 PM
The third layer is a bag of activated carbon. I replace that every three weeks or so. There are large containers of activated carbon for safe in pet stores for bulk price, so I bought those and a mesh drawstring bag, and just dump out the old carbon and replace it with new carbon. It's less expensive than buying replacement carbon pouches singly from the filter company, AquaClear.
Oh, and a side note: People with driftwood in their aquarium love activated carbon because it's effective at removing tannins (the large molecules that leech out of wood and turn aquarium water yellow). Putting in a fresh bag of activated carbon makes their water noticeably clearer.
Hey Okiimiru, just to offer a countering perspective... some people like tannin stained waters... you should see what it looks like where bluespots, pygmy sunfish, redfin pickerels, and a lot of other fish from South Georgia come from... clear and brown... like iced tea! And then some companies will sell you "black water extract" or some such silliness...
I'm kind of a low tech guy... if the drift wood introduces tannins who am I to fight it?
Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing. - Benjamin Franklin
#8
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Posted 20 August 2010 - 09:35 PM
Yeah, I almost never use carbon. The only time I use it is if I need to remove medication from the water. I also cut my own refills for hang-on-the-back (HOB) filters from blue bonded filter media and change them out when the flow slows. You can rinse and reuse them, but they are cheap. You can use the plain white bonded media, too. I found that in bulk really cheap, but the store that carried it closed. 
I've also found that the Whisper filters are lousy at biological filtration. I like them, and I use them on my smaller tanks, but when I use one, I always use a sponge filter along with it. For your 29 gallon tank, I'd get a big one. This is the one I used on my 29 gallon tanks before I upgraded to canisters. I don't recall ever seeing the Azoos in stores, but there is a brand similar that is in most of the big chains.
I've also found that the Whisper filters are lousy at biological filtration. I like them, and I use them on my smaller tanks, but when I use one, I always use a sponge filter along with it. For your 29 gallon tank, I'd get a big one. This is the one I used on my 29 gallon tanks before I upgraded to canisters. I don't recall ever seeing the Azoos in stores, but there is a brand similar that is in most of the big chains.
#11
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Posted 20 August 2010 - 10:33 PM
I was thinking of ordering a liquid test kit from there, also been wanting a sponge filter of some sort...hmm
I like those Azoo sponge filters because I can swap the sponges around. If I take one and replace it with a new sponge on several existing filters, I can make up a fully cycled filter easily. Also, the tubular sponges fit right over the intake on the small older style Whisper filters. I wouldn't use those on a big filter, they would plug too fast, but they are great to make a Whisper filter safe for a fry tank.
#13
Guest_Okiimiru_*
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Posted 21 August 2010 - 09:28 AM
Hey Okiimiru, just to offer a countering perspective... some people like tannin stained waters... you should see what it looks like where bluespots, pygmy sunfish, redfin pickerels, and a lot of other fish from South Georgia come from... clear and brown... like iced tea! And then some companies will sell you "black water extract" or some such silliness...
Oh, I agree. I like the tannins, as well. Some fish species seem more comfortable, resistant to disease, and likely to breed when their water has tannins in it. For example, tetras, angelfish, discus, and other amazon river system fish are more likely to spawn in water with peat moss in it. And almond leaves are sold to people who want to spawn bettas. Also, shy nocturnal fish spend more time outside their caves if the water is murky and yellow.
But some fish don't care whether or not there are tannins in the water. The fish that come from clear little streams in the wild don't have a preference one way or another. Like my swordtails. And guppies, platies, mollies, etc. Here's a video of the habitat swordtails live in in the wild. It's so clear.
And I think that's a darter in the water with the swordtails, from 12 seconds to 17. Anyway.
I mentioned the activated carbon because it's the one way I know of (beside a ridiculous amount of water changes) to get crystal clear water even with submerged driftwood. Show tanks get a better reception if they have crystal clear water. There are a bunch of my fellow students here who come in to my dorm room and visit me to see my fish. Like my friend Ella, who stares at the fish tank to de-stress after homework. Those people really appreciate the clear water instead of the yellow tea water.
But yeah, I agree with you. The fish that come from tannin rich water in the wild really do appreciate tea water. It helps them breed and stay healthy. *nods*
Edited by Okiimiru, 21 August 2010 - 09:35 AM.
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