Filter changes

novahobbies

Well-Known Member
Just a curious question: When do most of you change your filter material?
I just got finished with a 25% water change in the seahorse tank. Whenever I do water changes, I usually let the filters sit for 6-12 hours.....usually the next day, in fact...... before I change out the filter floss. My thoughts behind this have to do with the particulates that usually get stirred up in a water change -- I figure the old filter can catch that excess material for a few hours before I change it out and replace it with fresh floss.
Filter material usually gets rinsed every couple days, and changed weekly. How about you?
 

indy2009

Member
IMO with seahorse tank, little more sensitive than a reef or fowlr tank so your probably doing the right thing, I have a mixed tank..125 gallon I rinse my filter media one week and replace all the 2nd week..
 

novahobbies

Well-Known Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by Indy2009 http:///forum/thread/383204/filter-changes#post_3349794
IMO with seahorse tank, little more sensitive than a reef or fowlr tank so your probably doing the right thing, I have a mixed tank..125 gallon I rinse my filter media one week and replace all the 2nd week..
Yes with seahorse tanks you have to be a little more proactive.... not only are they chronically messier than regular fish (poop factories), but you have to remember that seahorse keepers usually use aquariums that border on the "nano" nom de plume. Mine for instance is a 37g tank..... not a true nano IMO, but close enough to keep the hobbyist more alert to potential chemistry swings and whatnot. When my 110g tank was running, I found that it was much easier to let that large system slide a couple weeks compared to the small tank.
Disregarding all that, however, the question still stands: Does everyone change filter floss the same day as a water change, or do you wait a day or so?
I just woke up a couple hours ago (I LOVE Sundays!) so I'll be cutting the filter pads and changing them out right now. Seems I forgot to plug the skimmer back in last night too..... that's what I get for doing 2AM water changes, eh?
 

acrylic51

Active Member
I think you'd be better served changing the filter floss a bit after with your thoughts are right on with my thinking.....
 

flower

Well-Known Member

Well I never had seahorses YET. However when I had my canisters I rinsed my pads in saltwater and put them right back in. However I had two canisters and I did not clean them at the same time. I started doing that because when I had one canister, and would clean it, I would get an ammonia spike...almost .25
So after I started the second one and cleaned them alternately I never had that problem again.
So with a grain of salt...I wouldn't change all the floss at once
 

meowzer

Moderator
LOL...for the 29G..it has 2 filter bags....I try to do w/c every 2 weeks, and I change one bag..alternating..if they both look extra bad though....I will change both
225G...I use chemipur elite in my canister and change it every 3 months.....I keep a phosphate pad in the tray in my sump and I change it whenever I feel like

54G...I have a canister with chemi-pure elite.....I change it every 4 months
10G....has a tiny HOB filter...and I change it every other w/c....so monthly....Unless it looks like it needs it sooner
 

novahobbies

Well-Known Member
Well I have other forms of bacteriological filtration, so the filter floss isn't needed for that function. My top layer of floss gets NASTY fast, enough to slow up the filter! The bottom layer doesn't get as gross, but I swap 'em both out twice a week to try and keep biologics from decomposing. Especially since I'm fighting the hair algae menace...whatever I blow off the rocks winds up down there, so I like to try and keep them as clean as possible. I suspect I might be changing out more often then necessary, but what the hell -- it's only poly quilt batting.
From top to bottom, my filter contains:
Filter floss (2 pads)
Chemipure
Purigen (2 pillows)
75mL Phosguard
bioballs
sintered glass rings.
Bioballs are about 20% submerged, and the glass rings are fully under water. Yes, I know all the arguments pro and con for bioballs. I wash my balls monthly, tongue firmly in cheek. It's easy to do when you use leftover tank change water for the wash.
I keep a little foam insert in the HOB filter that houses my ice probe cooler. Whats cool about that is it acts as a natural amphipod breeding area. I take it out to clean it every few weeks, but I start by swishing it in some old saltwater to shake off some of the pods. I usually see 50+ in the bowl when I'm done...... then I kill the rest off under the faucet.
 
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