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This year I finally got a wonderful Fluval 305 for Chomp's 50 gallon tank.

I'm not proud to say this, but I have, I guess we could call it a 'phobia' about working on the filter and I just need you all to walk me through a couple of things:

I know that any RINSING (bio-rings) that I do of the stuff in the cannister must be done with aquarium water vs. tap water.

But what will I be REPLACING in there? (carbon? that white foam stuff? ) what do I need to buy?



LOL I'm really feeling brave today, so while I'm working on the cannister, I'm finally going to get around to trimming the hoses to their correct length! I was even too nervous to trim those hoses when I first set up the filter this summer, so they have been ridiculously long all this time.
I can deal with this !! Yay

You really only need to replace the carbon (and purigen if you are using it). There is some debate about whether you really need to rinse the bio-rings in tank water. They are pretty porous, so a quick rinse in tap water is likely not going to kill enough bacteria to cause your tank to recycle. Sponges can be rinsed in tap water, if by white foam stuff you are referring to that fiberfill stuff, you don't really need it, it clogs too fast. If you are referring to white foam pads, they can just be cleaned in tap water.

That doesn't sound so bad... I think I am going to find some physical blockage when I start looking around inside, because the water output has slowed to a trickle: possibly due to the over-long hoses or a clogged impeller. I'm going to try to get to this today after work.
Thank you so much for your kind words, they give me confidence!

ps: I also wanted to thank this site because I learned here about how turtles shed their scutes... my boy is doing that now and his shell looks fantastic underneath, but if I didn't know it was normal for the shell to do that I think I would have been alarmed when I saw it happening.

One piece of advice, read the directions on how to shut off and re-hook up the canister for maintenance. If you dont do he steps In the correct order, you'll have a difficult time getting the filter to reprise and restart.

Per pridgnc's post. I'm definitely in the camp that believes you don't need to rinse bio media in tank water. Tap water is fine. The bacteria will survive if they stay wet/damp. There isn't much bacteria free floating in your aquarium water. Bacteria growth colonizes on the bio media and all surfaces. Your tap water contains ammonia....which is a food source for the bacteria. When you started your tank, the tap water you used promoted the bacteria to grow, so why would tap water be any different now. I've been rinsing bio media with tap water for years and years....no issues.

A bathtub or laundry sink make your filter cleaning a bit easier.

Cheers!

Dear PridgNYC and VeipaCray,

Done! This really is a very user-friendly filter. The toughest part was having to go to the pet store to buy more bags of carbon... not very tough at all. There's that little hand-pump thing on top of filter, once I put it back together I just had to pump a bit to re-fill it with water; then it started right back up again. Thank you so much for your support.

Crabby

ps: yep, those scutes he's been shedding... bits of them stuck in the filter intake... it was good to get rid of them, along with all that other gunk.

For the fluval 05 series, you can buy any brand loose carbon and just put it in the basket. You don't need the fluval brand and you don't need to put it in a bag for that filter. (might save you a few dollars in future cleanings)

Bulkreefsupply.com has some of the best & cheapest prices for carbon.

Glad to hear your filter maintenance went well.

My pet shop guy sold me three little reusable nylon drawstring bags to put the carbon in, and a jar of carbon.
But it's good to know that for this filter the bags are optional.
I like to give this shop my business because they are a wonderful old "Mom and Pop" store, my family has been shopping there since I was a child. That is so rare nowadays, and I really like having access to such a place.