Equipment Review and Discussion :: Canister care - Poll

[drtweak]

For those who has two turtles and a 40-60 gallon tank. How often do you clean out your filter? every day, other day, week, other week?

and what is the main cause of you having to clean it? the mechinical, bio, or chemical part?

[Daniel3507]

once a month if not more. i always have to replace the mechanical filter pads and carbon

[Fuzzy Hamster]

The foam filters always get clogged up first, followed by the carbon. I typically prefer having two filters on each tank, where practical, and alternate cleaning every month. I usually just wash the foam filters and replace them every 6 months or so. The same for the carbon filters although I arbitrarily replace them more often.

[untsmurf]

In the beginning I cleaned it once a month it not more, then towards the end I had to clean it at least every two weeks. Then I upgraded.

[meltedspork]

My filter pads definitely get gunky first, followed by the Fluval "pre-filter" (both just get rinsed off and are good to go for a while). Carbon and ammonia remover are the next frequent to get changed. Bio media doesn't need to get changed very often, as the whole point is to grow bacteria in them.

[TheComputerGremlin]

I clean mine out every month or two, when I remember. I haven't had any clogs or anything, I just clean it out because a bunch of waste starts floating around the canister. So I just clean it because I think I should?

[Chrisbarnett]

I usually clean every month. Wash the foam pads and Fluval Prefilter.

[SpotsMama]

It depends. If the two turtles in the 40 gallon tank are small, then the normal once a month routine to clean it overall and change out micro pads (if they are being used) and carbon is fine. If the two turtles are more than a couple of inches long, then you'll need more frequent cleaning. When a once-a-month cleaning of a canister filter doesn't suffice, then it's time to look for a larger tank.

The tests of whether a tank (and filter) needs cleaning are water quality (need a test kit for ammonia, nitrites and nitrates), appearance (the water needs to look clean and there shouldn't be a buildup of "junk" in the filter) and smell.

[mat012]

I had been cleaning the filter pads out every - now I am moving to every couple of weeks or so.

[drtweak]

hmmm thanks for the input everyone...

I ask this because i'm building a custom filter. And the small filter for the 10 gallon i'm suck with for another few weeks get clogged every week and i have to clean it out because so much poo and old food gets stuck in there...

So for my cutom filter i'm going to make it a 2 stage. one stage for mechinical and the other for the chem/bio stage. this way when it comes cleaning time i dont have to open up the whole canister and what not. just the one part.

[mikee]

Since I have a high volume filter system: my cleaning is every other month. I do a major cleaning every 6 months. I don't wait until the water gets cloudy. I plan it and prepare for it. I have a hybred that consist of an under "gravel" filter and a canister hooked together. The poo is taken through the river rocks, through the grate and then on to the canister filter. By doing this I have increased my biological filtration greatly. I would like to claim it my design but I have seen a couple disigned like mine.

[meltedspork]

Since I have a high volume filter system: my cleaning is every other month. I do a major cleaning every 6 months. I don't wait until the water gets cloudy. I plan it and prepare for it. I have a hybred that consist of an under "gravel" filter and a canister hooked together. The poo is taken through the river rocks, through the grate and then on to the canister filter. By doing this I have increased my biological filtration greatly. I would like to claim it my design but I have seen a couple disigned like mine.

Mikee - How did you hook the 2 together, if you don't mind me asking? I'm curious, as I have 2 under gravel filters that I don't use.

[drtweak]

Yea i plan on doing something similar...By having the rock raised about an inch above the bottom by egg crates or something all the heavy stuff will fall down to the bottom and then the suction of my filter will be at the bottom there for cleaning the cage even better.

[mikee]

In short; I hook the suction to one of the end up tubes and plug up the rest. The issue is hooking the thin plastic up tubes to you tubing. The simplest is to put an oring between the two. What ever it takes to secure that seal. It cannot leak as it will empty the outer tube and start sucking air.