Equipment Review and Discussion :: Cleaning canister filters?

[adam85491]

Hey, I haven't posted in a while but my brother just cleaned his 46 gallon bowfront. He has African cichlids but after I cleaned the tank it turned green so we changed the water entirely. After filling it back up and priming the filter a lot of junk fell out-the question is how do you clean the hoses and the spray bar? We're clueless. Thanks for the help.

[TheComputerGremlin]

With a pipe cleaner and a bucket of vinegar and water, that'd be your best bet.

[adam85491]

A pipe cleaner? Those small arts and craft things? I don't think that's what you are referring to, but the hoses are quite long which is the problem cleaning them.

[marisa]

If you have hoses anything like those on the XP3, you can, after you take them off the intake pieces and canister, use something like a wooden dowel (craft section in Walmart) or other long slender stick to push either something like a brush or cloth through the hose to clear out the gunk. I only took off one end of my XP3 hoses and pushed a small brush that was tied to a thin cord through the hose to the far end, then used the cord to pull the brush back. After doing this a few times, I rinsed out the hoses.

[Bascomb]

mar-mod -- has the mechanics down pat. I use bleach with that but you have to be very careful as it will bleach out any dye colored things and has to be throughly cleaned out. I would suggest that you dilute it considerably. Good Luck.

[TAHNEE]

I run hot water through the hose and squeeze the hose all the way down while the water is going through it. The crap just comes on out.

[TheComputerGremlin]

So, I know they make them, but not sure where they would be, but it's a pipe cleaner, it looks a little like the crafty item, but it has a metal rod and has prickly thingies at one end. Here's an example: http://www.spiralbrushes.com/twisted-in-wire.html We use them to clean glassware and stuff in lab.

[octpusgirl8]

This is quite useful: http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/p ... catid=3896

[marisa]

That's the brush I've tied to a cord to clean the XP3 hoses. It eventually came off the flexible handle.

[GThiele93]

Fluval make a brush for their filters that you can use for any hoses. also the spray bar if it has build up on it just put it in a bucket with white vinegar and scrub away.