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How often should I clean my filter media?


Andrew_L
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Everywhere I look online I get conflicting answers to this question. My HOB filter has a combination of foam and bio rings, and for the longest time I was told that I shouldn't wash them, but more recently I've heard that I should. Based on my understanding the filter is not the only source of beneficial bacteria in the tank, but my confusion lies on whether washing the media will throw the water parameters off balance.

Any help would be appreciated! 

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You do have to wash the filter, but it's more of a rinse than a wash, and you use the water you took out of your water change and just swish and squeeze around the sponge and the bio rings to get rid of excess waste. When it gets too clogged the flow decreases, the motor has to work harder and it can also become a nitrate source (decaying stuff stuck on the media).

I swish mine around every 2-3 weeks, it really depends on your bio load. Some fish like my mollies clog the filter up much faster than my tetras.  I'd say start with every other water change and adjust accordingly.

If done in the water of your water change, you shouldn't throw off the cycle at all. The problems arise when people that are just beginning in the hobby believe you have to leave the filters sparkling clean, washing it with tap water (which sometimes has lots of chlorine). I've read cases where people even use dishwasher soap, and can't really blame them, it's just intuitive that you should leave the filter clean right? A half-cleaned filter that still has some fish poop and debri is counter-intuitive for newer people, after all, we don't half clean our dishes, house or clothing right? But with fish, you ahve to leave a little "dirt" on your filter!

Edited by HenryC
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as above, rinse em out good in a bucket of tank water.  stay away from soaps, or cleaners, and dont rinse them off in tap water. those type of things will kill off the good bacteria, where cleaning them in tank water will just get the majority of gunk out.

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I swish out my sponges/floss about bi-weekly as it starts to look pretty dirty, but my biorings get rinsed much less often--they don't really pick up the dirt; they just house the bacteria (at least so it appears in my HOBs).  Every now and then (6-9 months?) I rinse off the bag holding the bio rings in some water-change water or (gasp) under my tap since I'm on a well with no chlorine.  When I had a cartridge, I rinsed that about bi-weekly too but didn't replace it until it fell apart (about 2 years) and then replaced it with sponge and floss.

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