Cleaning your Filters

Hi Guys

General question - how regularly does everyone clean out there filters and sumps?

Out of interest I am trying to get a feel for best method of practice for the normal "non specialized" tanks

I personally never touch my sump unless its to rinse the first layer of my filter sponge or if something is clogged.
I have seen a couple of posts where people "wash" their filters rather regularly but my thinking is if its got "waste" in which will turn into Ammonia, surely with time this will become Nitrite and then Nitrate and theoretically increase your biological filtering capacity and the Nitrate will be removed via regular water changes and the bit of gravel vac that is possible in a planted tank - so thus your system will become more stable ?

otherwise you would get Ammonia spikes when ever something does go unseen and your biological filtration becomes more "sensitive"

maybe this is applicable to larger tanks only ? or am i just talking kak and my current maintenance isnt up to par?

would like more input on this cos i don't see the long term benefit from washing filters constantly

 

I rinse my filter floss once a week, and my sponges every other week.

In tank water obviously LOL!!!

 

we'll i wash my 300l/h canister filter's wool every week, otherwise it gets clogged

 

cannisters gets cleaned out once a month with tankwater and replace filterwool once a week

 

I can only comment on canister filtration:

Clean filters once every 4-6 months which means I replace the filter wool, wash the sponges, and all the other filter media is simply swished around very quickly in tank water to get rid of any excess mulm build up.

 

+1 for the method Zoom is using.

 

Hi;

Use the same method as Zoom every 6 weeks.

I have 2x Tetra EX1200 on a 270 liter, so I clean one filter every 3 weeks. The remaining filter can then supply adequate filtration while the cleaned one builds up a new bacteria colony.

The cleaning frequency depends on how much your bioload is, what you feed the fish (if I feed lobster eggs, the filter wool gets seriously dirty within two weeks).

 

Same as Zoom's method. I also check for worn seals etc. i have a Tetratec EX2400, one Dophin c1000 and two Dophin c700 canisters. Also have a 25L home made gravity canister pond filter that I've cleaned once in 5 years! The water is perfect, never had a death in the pond! Oldest fish in there is a ten year old Comet! The home made canister filters a 110l planted barrel pond. The pond pump is rated at 2000l/hr.


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I'm with @Zoom on the canister, my sump I don't touch except for the filter floss and filter mat when necessary.