Deep cleaning a filter

[Mr Gumby]

So.....I may have inadvertently left a canister filter full of water after I'd swapped it out for sponge filters.

Finally got round to cleaning it today and it smells really bad.

Cleaned and silicon greased the filter and that's all good but the sponge and media still smells really bad.

Other than bleach is there any other options for removing the smell as the idea of safely rinsing the bleach scares me a little

[Flumpweesel]

Are you putting it back into use or dry storage?

Just buying a new sheet of sponge isn't that expensive and less of a headache than deep cleaning.

If you're determined to keep them I would just keep rinsing and airing them. 

[Guppysnail]

If your wanting to keep them hydrogen peroxide is an affective alternative to using bleach to disinfect. 

[Griznatch]

Bad time of year for it, but direct sunlight does wonders for killing bacteria. That'll only help if it's a bacterial thing that's making it smell bad however.

[Mr Gumby]

Thanks for the responses @Flumpweesel@Guppysnail.

The sponges are for the prefilter and are specially shaped and a bit spendy which is why I'd rather clean and keep them if possible.

On 2/23/2022 at 11:02 PM, Griznatch said:

Bad time of year for it, but direct sunlight does wonders for killing bacteria. That'll only help if it's a bacterial thing that's making it smell bad however.

Haven't seen the sun for about 4 months lol

[Flumpweesel]

One thing I have used to help clean things (not just aquatic) is a salad spinner  to really force the water out of things like a putting them through a spin cycle in the washer might help ensure your getting to the very centre of the sponges.

[lefty o]

dont run bleach through it. besides being bas for anything fish related, bleach will do a number on o-rings, and seals. i would run warm water, and vinegar through it. put the vinegar/water in a 5 gallon bucket with the intake/output, turn it on and let it clean itself for a few hours.

[Mr Gumby]

On 2/24/2022 at 12:09 AM, lefty o said:

dont run bleach through it. besides being bas for anything fish related, bleach will do a number on o-rings, and seals. i would run warm water, and vinegar through it. put the vinegar/water in a 5 gallon bucket with the intake/output, turn it on and let it clean itself for a few hours.

Sounds like a plan

[Wrencher_Scott]

On 2/23/2022 at 4:29 PM, Mr Gumby said:

Sounds like a plan

Soak them in a like 10% bleach solution for an hour or so then just rinse.

If you are going to use them anytime soon just put them in dechlor first for a few minutes.

[StevesFishTanks]

I recently cleaned sponges for 6 fluval fx6 filters in my washing machine, I ran them with hot water and didnt use any detergent. It worked surprisingly well.