How do I clean my external canister filter?

i love fish

i love fish

Member
Can someone please advise me how often do i need 2 clean my external canister filter and filter media, and how to do it so i don't kill any of the bacteria.
My DT is about 90 or 95g FOWLR system.
1 juvinile emperor angel
1 foxface
1 (soon to be) black neon damzel
Mine's been running for the past 5 months and I haven't cleaned it once, but the pipes leading to and from it look quite dirty after i added sand to my DT.
I use bioballs in the filter with no sponges or carbon at all.
 
mr_x

mr_x

Active Member
if you have a FOWLR, your live rock is holding your necessary bacteria. you can remove the bio balls completely. i'd wash out the cannister weekly.
how much live rock is in the display?
 
nordy

nordy

Active Member
I would suggest cleaning the filter now and then in a month or so to establish a baseline on just how dirty it gets-you may be able to go longer or have to go shorter. On the media, to clean bioballs, remove them and place them in a bucket of saltwater (preferably water removed during a change) and swish them around to remove any accumulated algae, etc. Use a soft bristle paintbrush to gently remove anything stuck to the bioballs. I hope your filter has some type of prefilter before the bioballs, that's very important in keeping them clean.
I know a lot of people don't like the bioballs and recommend against using them. IMO they do work and once you figure out a proper cleaning interval it's not a lot of work to keep them clean, effective, and working for you. They also add extra capacity to your tank beyond what the LR is doing for you and that can be good. It sounds like you don't have a large bioload right now but if you add more fish, you will need extra filtering capacity.
As for the damsel, my personal opinion they are agressive, grow to a pretty big size, and can be difficult to deal with. They are hardy and inexpensive but can be a real PITA.
 
T

tizzo

Guest
AS far as your canister, and your "how" question...
Close the valves, unscrew and remove the filter. Take it over to your sink. Dump the water that's in it into a large bowl. Remove the filter floss and agitate it in that bowl so that you can get as much gook as possible off.
If you replace the floss, never replace more than one pad at a time. Clean the other two.
Put it all back together, rehook it up, and be prepared to add a couple of gallons of saltwater to the tank to compensate for what ended up in that, now nasty, bowl on your counter.
HTH
Oh and to add to what Nordy said about the damsel, they lose that pretty neon stripe as they get older. You may wanna reconsider adding an aggressive fish if you know that he will soon be all black.
 
spivey911

spivey911

Member
of canister do u have? You should unhook it & clean it bout once a month.. Just unhook it..replace carbon,rinse bio balls & ceramic rings w/ aquarium water & rinse prefilter & filter floss w/ warm tap water
 
bluebubbles

bluebubbles

New Member
bewear of the damsels !! They are devil fish
I had a few and they would attack my other fish
I had to remove all my rock to catch the little F&^#'s
Just my 2 cents
 
ibew41

ibew41

Active Member
Originally Posted by Spivey911
http:///forum/post/2547899
of canister do u have? You should unhook it & clean it bout once a month.. Just unhook it..replace carbon,rinse bio balls & ceramic rings w/ aquarium water & rinse prefilter & filter floss w/ warm tap water

 
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