Filter Maintenance And Cleaning Recommendations

http://tinyurl.com/Filter-Maintenance

PREFACE - This article is most important to new fish-keepers and for tanks that are less than six months old. It is during these early stages that proper filter maintenance is most critical since you are still growing a proper sized Nitrifying Bacteria (N-Bacteria) colony in your filter media and substrate. This article is also very important and applicable for tanks over six months old that have limited filtration or overstocking issues or if you are having water quality issues, algae problems, sick fish, etc.... (Edit added 11/14/2008 - ...and most importantly because of a recent funny post in the Ponds-Koi Yahoo Group by Bill Dowden, owner of http://www.coastalpond.com/ so the following few paragraphs are about a Pond Filter but it's still applicable to ALL filters):

FILTRATION:

HAVING TO CLEAN A FILTER CAN BE GOOD.

First of all, if a filter does not collect junk and clog, it isn't doing its job and working to get the junk out of the water.

Since IT'S ALL ABOUT WATER QUALITY, the filter is supposed to take organics out of the water to IMPROVE water quality. (Inorganics = rocks = really aren't a problem.)

If a filter catches organics and the filter is not clogged (yet) but also not cleaned - then the organics can dissolve and go back into the water in solution = LOWERING THE WATER QUALITY.

SO, the object of a good pond keeper is to IMPROVE water quality = clean the organics from ANY filter BEFORE they dissolve = every other day, every third day.......

Sorry for bringing reality into your lives....

I know everyone wants a filter that doesn't EVER need to be cleaned.

Imagine that the filter catches poop. So it is the fishes' toilet.

How often do you clean (flush) your toilet? Why? Why not the fishes' also.

:-)

Bill
----------------


Here is a good article about "The Nitrogen Cycle" to help you understand this entire "article" further if you do not know about the nitrogen cycle. http://fish.orbust.net/cycling.html

You should also have a Master Test Kit capable of testing ammonia, nitrites, nitrates and pH. Having GH and KH test kits are also encouraged in determining some basic water chemistry/quality issues. There are many other things going on in our tanks that we can not easily test for.
And now... onto the actual article...
WHY ARE MY FISH GASPING, ACTING LETHARGIC OR DYING???
If your new tank has a small HOB (hang on back filter system) and you were told to buy and replace your filter cartridge once a month... or every other week, then that may be what is causing you so many problems. You are potentially putting your tank into a new mini-cycle everytime you "clean" the filters or change them out for a new one. NEVER clean the filters in the normal sense of the word "clean". If you cleaned the filter media by running the filter under tap water, the chlorine/chloramine in the water could have killed your GOOD nitrifying bacteria in the filter and you will have to "cycle" your filter media again. This will probably put your tank into a new mini-cycle which means testing for ammonia and nitrites and doing PWC's to keep them at safe levels. This could take around two weeks but there is usually enough N-bacteria on other surface areas and in the gravel to keep major spikes in the ammonia or nitrites but most of the N-Bacteria live in the filter sponges, pads, etc. so cleaning/maintaining them should be done carefully.

All you should do is once a week or every other week, when you do your 25% PWC (partial water change), take some of the tank water in a bucket and then you can take your filter cartridge or media out of the holder and swoosh it around in the tank water and squeeze it out to remove the big stuff off of it. Then put it back in the holder and back in your filter system. If it's really clogged up with detritus, you could also squeez it several times in the removed tank water bucket. This will possibly squeeze out some of the good N-Bacteria but will usually leave enough to keep your tank safe. The N-Bacteria are capable of doubling their colony size every 24 hours so as long as you leave enough, the colony will grow back shortly. This "swooshing or squeezing in removed tank water" method keeps the GOOD bacteria alive on the filter so you do not cause your tank to "cycle" again.

I know the filter companies and some pet store employees tell you to replace it once a month but they are just trying to sell filters. That is one of the leading cause of problems... messing with the filters because the "instructions" say to do it.

It is important to clean your filters regularly so you do not have excess detritus building up in them. Detritus in your filter media, when it starts breaking down, becomes a nitrate factory which goes into your water column as the tank water is filtered through it. Nitrates and phosphates feed algae blooms. Just like vacuuming your gravel to remove excess detritus before it breaks down, cleaning the filters often will also keep the nitrates much lower. I guess if you do frequent PWC's, that would substitute for keeping the filters cleaner but if you cleaned your filters before they become completely clogged, it would make the water quality even better between PWC's. Further, the bacteria that is consuming and breaking down the detritus use up a lot of O2 and KH and put out a lot of CO2. The higher CO2 further feeds algae growth and lowers your pH. The loss of KH can cause your pH to crash putting your fish into pH shock.

Here are two of my "Filter Profile" articles so you can see exactly how I clean and maintain two of my six filter systems.

Filter Profile - Marineland Penguin 200 Bio-Wheel

Filter Profile - Rena Filstar xP1 Canister

Here are some articles that I contributed to or did photo-documentation on at TheGAB.org forums, which has some more information on various filter systems including some photos from me and others.

http://thegab.org/Articles/Filtration.html

http://thegab.org/Articles/FilterProfilePenguin200.html


HOB's (Hang On Back Filter Systems - Power Filters and Bio-Wheel Systems) -
If you have a HOB filter system, you should really only clean the filter cartridge if the flow rate slows down or it's backing up back into the tank via the overflow outlet. But do NOT go more than a month between doing maintenance on any of your filters as they will build up a lot of detritus which will start to decay and possibly cause your nitrates to start climbing quickly. I just do the swoosh and/or squeeze method once a week with my 25% PWC and never have the problem. Don't worry.. most of us learned the hard way in the beginning.

Another thing if you have an HOB... is after you swoosh/squeeze the filter media/cartridge and have it ready to put back in the holder, dump the water out of the HOB reservoir as it will have some "big stuff" in there as well. Then put your filter back in the HOB, dip a few cups of water out of your tank to fill the HOB reservoir and then plug it back in.

If your HOB also has a Bio-Wheel, then you could technically change out the cartridge instead of using the swoosh/squeeze method since the actual Bio-Wheel would house sufficient numbers of N-Bacteria so that you would not cause a mini-cycle. The inventors of this system created it for that reason... so they could sell you lots of filter cartridges and encourage you to change them without causing harm to your fish. I still don't think it's necessary but if you find it simpler to change the cartridge every few weeks and don't mind the expense, then that is a choice that is available to you.

One last tip... if your "biobag" filters or filter cartridges have carbon in them, you can dump the carbon out after a few weeks since it has lost its effectiveness by then. This will also improve the flow rate through the "empty" biobag/cartridge as well. Some companies try to prevent you from emptying the carbon by sealing it inside of the plastic housing of the cartridge frame. I have been successful with doing "surgery" on the section holding the old carbon to open it up and dump the carbon while keeping the frame and floss/poly pad for reuse. The floss/poly pad or sponge material in the biobag/cartridge should last over a year but in the event you do decide you want to change your biobag/cartridge, put the new one in the reservoir for 2 weeks so it builds up a good bacteria colony. Then on your next PWC, you can trash the old one, swoosh the new one and then put in in the holder. It's not really necessary to change them very often... at least not until they look like they are about to fall apart. I have the same filter cartridges on my HOB's and they are all over a year old. (More about carbon below)

CANISTER FILTER SYSTEMS -
As far as a canister filter, I have four different phases of mixed mechanical/biological filtration in my canister filter system. I have a large sponge block with large pores, then a smaller sponge block with smaller pores, then even a smaller pore sponge and then a filter floss pad. I do maintenance on my canister twice a month or if I notice the flow rate slowing down. At the beginning of the month, I leave the sponges alone and clean the floss pad real good.. even running it under hot faucet water until it's white again. In the middle of the month, I squeeze the sponges to clean them and get the big stuff out of them but I don't run them under hot faucet water. This keeps a big portion of the nitrifying bacteria alive with each filter "cleaning" so I never have a problem with a mini-cycle. I also have two filters running on each of my tanks so I alternate the maintenance on them from week to week so I have at least one fully cycled filter running at all times. If you have a large enough canister filter, you can also add a more permanent biological filtration media. With this type of product, you would have it as one of the last phases of filtration and you would not do anything to this media other than a simple rinse in removed tank water to get any buildup off of it. There are many products sold that are excellent biological filtration but if you are not overstocked, your regular sponges and polypads will be sufficient surface area for the N-bacteria colonies. I do not have the "extra" biological filter media in any of my filters.

SPONGE FILTERS -

Sponge filter cleaning should be treated similar to cleaning the sponges in canister filters but obviously on a much smaller scale. The safest thing to do would be to squeeze the sponge in some removed tank water to remove the detritus from the sponge but keeping the majority of the N-Bacteria alive on the cell walls of the sponge. Then replace it and you are good to go!

MULTIPLE FILTER SYSTEMS ON A TANK -
If you have more than one filter system on your tank, then you could do alternating filter cleaning or changing and more thoroughly cleaning the filters since the other one will still be fully cycled. I do this on my Goldfish/Pleco tank since they are such big waste producers. I alternate between the two filter systems and clean 1/2 the filter media every two weeks. This means that I am only doing a good cleaning on 1/4th of my overall filter media volume and one of the filter systems does not even get touched every other week.

UGF's (Under Gravel Filters) -
These systems are not as common any more but some forum polls show up to 40% of fish keepers still use UGF's on some of their tanks.

There is also a reverse flow UGF that is making a comeback in the industry. I am thinking about trying this system if I ever have to breakdown my Goldfish/Pleco tank. The purpose of the reverse flow UGF is to push water up through the gravel which raises the detritus into the water column to be sucked into the intake and filtered out of the water before the "clean" water is returned to the tank through the gravel. This could save time in gravel vacuuming since it would not have to be done very often with this type of system but it does not work for planted tanks where the plants with a normal substrate. It would work if the plants are containerized plants.

The main thing with a regular UGF, that sucks the water down through the gravel (so it's not as good for a planted tank either), is to properly maintain them by vacuuming the gravel really good with the vacuum tube pushed down through the gravel to the UGF plate and make sure you suck up all of the detritus/mulm that gets caught between the gravel/plate/bottom.

Many of the older UGF filters on smaller tanks were under-powered with only an airline bubbler to power the up-tube siphon and these did not create enough suction which allowed excess mulm to build up under the gravel and UGF plates. Modern UGF's are powered by power heads, canister filters or HOB power filters which help eliminate the danger of mulm buildup but the gravel should still be vacuumed well all the way down to the UGF plate to make sure the excess mulm and detritus are removed.

If I was to use a UGF, I would also modify it in a couple of ways. I would make the holes in the UGF plate larger at the furthest points from the uplift tube so they get more water circulating from those furthest points to help eliminate the likelihood of mulm buildup. I would also add a box trickle filter of some sort so the returning water would flow through that trickle filter before returning to the water column.

Here's a forum thread about what happened to someone when they tried to "clean" or replace their UGF... http://thegab.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=5895&highlight and some "scientific" info about what is in the mulm... http://thegab.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2349

Here are several sites on UGF maintenance & cleaning:

http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-an-under-gravel-filter-or-ugf.htm

http://www.bestfish.com/ug.html (page one of two)

http://www.bestfish.com/ug2.html (page two of two)

http://archimedes.galilei.com/raiar/lifttube.html (no longer working)

http://www.goldfishparadise.com/care/filter.php (no longer working)

CARBON -

As you may have noticed, I do not mention keeping carbon in my filter systems. Most experience freshwater fish keepers aren't keeping activated carbon in their filters anymore and rely on more frequent PWC's to keep the water quality in good condition. It's just another thing that the filter people are trying to sell you to keep revenue pouring in... pardon the pun. I haven't had any activated carbon in any of my four filter systems on two tanks for over two years and all of my fish are fine. I do keep some around in case of an emergency or if I need to filter some medicine out of one of my tanks but other than that, it sits in the closet. Of course, I am vigilant about doing weekly 25% PWC's so I am removing any organic buildup that some people may rely on carbon to remove. Also, most carbon products available to consumers will leach phosphates into your tank, which can cause algae problems... and some carbon products have been reported to actually leach the chemicals they had previously absorbed which can cause other health problems.

If your filter cartridges have the activated carbon sealed up inside of a plastic housing, it might take some minor "surgery" to open the plastic housing up so you can dump out the carbon. I have done this to several different manufacturers cartridges so I think it's possible with any of them. This way, you still have the plastic frame and floss/sponge material that can be re-used many, many times using the swooshing method above. It's better for your fish and your wallet.

If you have juvenile fish in your tank(s), then running carbon or Purigen is encourage to help remove the hormone buildup which can lead to stunting and health issues. Remember carbon should probably be changed every two weeks. I am now using Purigen in my tanks since it is better than carbon and is rechargeable so it costs less.

EDIT ADDED ABOUT "CARBON" ON 03/14/2007 -
I've been reading more and more about a product from Seachem, called Purigen, which is a rechargeable granular additive that can be used in filter systems and from what I've been reading on forum threads, it does work as advertised. It's not like zeolite which can starve your N-bacteria colonies. This product is more like activated carbon but is advertised to work 500% better than activated carbon. Since it is rechargeable and actually filters organic compounds better and LASTS LONGER than carbon, I'm not opposed to using a product like this and may actually try it soon.

Here is the manufacturer's webpage and information: http://www.seachem.com/products/product_pages/Purigen.html

Purigen™ is a premium synthetic adsorbent that is unlike any other filtration product. It is not a mixture of ion exchangers or adsorbents, but a unique macro-porous synthetic polymer that removes soluble and insoluble impurities from water at a rate and capacity that exceeds all others by over 500%. Purigen™ controls ammonia, nitrites and nitrates by removing nitrogenous organic waste that would otherwise release these harmful compounds. Purigen’s™ impact on trace elements is minimal. It significantly raises redox. It polishes water to unparalleled clarity. Purigen™ darkens progressively as it exhausts, and is easily renewed by treating with bleach. Purigen™ is designed for both marine and freshwater use. This product is sold by volume. Cited weight is minimal weight.

Directions: Rinse before use. Use in a fine mesh filter bag. Each 1 L treats up to 4,000 L (1,000 gallons*) for up to six months. Exhaustion is indicated by a pronounced discoloration of the beads to dark brown or black.

Regeneration: Soak in a 1:1 bleach:water solution for 24 hours in a non-metalic container in a well ventilated area and away from children. Rinse well, then soak for 8 hours with a solution containing 2 tablespoons of ChlorGuard™, Prime™, or equivalent dechlorinator per cup of water. Rinse well. For freshwater use, soak for 4 hours with a solution containing 1 tablespoon of buffer per cup of water (Discus Buffer™, Neutral Regulator™, or Acid Buffer™). Original color and full activity should now be restored and Purigen™ is ready for reuse. Caution: some slime coat products may permanently foul Purigen™ and render regeneration difficult. Do not reuse if odor of chlorine is detectable. In case of doubt, soak beads in small quantity of water and test for residual chlorine with a chlorine test kit.

Purigen FAQ's - http://www.seachem.com/support/FAQs/Purigen_faq.html
Purigen MSDS (Manufacturer's Safety Data Sheet)(pdf) - http://www.seachem.com/support/MSDS/Purigen.doc.pdf

GoldLenny replies:
I like how it changes color (darkens) as it gets dirty so you can tell when it's time to regenerate/recharge, or replace if you don't mind the extra expense. This is something carbon has lacked and what led to so many fish keepers not using it. The Purigen "regeneration" process isn't easy and since it uses Bleach, it must be done properly and carefully... including RINSING IT WELL, then the 8 hour soak in the dechlor solution and 4 hour soak in a "buffer" (for FW users) . From what I've been reading in forums, it's best to have two mesh bags working so that you can exchange them and then properly regenerate and rinse the "dirty" Purigen and then put the "cleaned" Purigen on the side for the next change. A 100ml package should be enough Purigen to make two mesh bags for a 50G aquarium.

Yahoo Shopping Search -prices for Purigen... lowest price (on this date) was DrsFosterSmith.com $5.89 for 100ml package (treats 100G for up to 6 months) - http://shopping.yahoo.com/search?p=purigen&cop=mss

PetsMart.com has Purigen for $6.29 for the 100ml package or $12.59 for the 250ml package and their retail stores will match the online price if you bring the printed page. The 100ml package comes in a media bag already where the 250ml package is in bulk form so you would have to purchase media bags also. Here is the PetsMart.com Purigen page as a TinyURL link... http://preview.tinyurl.com/3aakqj

ZEOLITE -
Zeolite is a white granular product that many consumers are often sold as a solution to ammonia issues in their tanks. While it does absorb ammonia, it gives you a false sense of security as it will "fill up" and then quit absorbing ammonia causing ammonia spikes in your tanks. If you did not use zeolite, you would have built up a proper sized N-Bacteria colony in your filter media which would have taken care of any potential ammonia issues. Further, when people get ammonia spikes, they are shortly followed by nitrite spikes. Then they are told to add salt to the tank to keep the fish from getting nitrite poisoning. The problem with this is that salt will cause zeolite to release ALL of the absorbed ammonia causing the ammonia level to spike even higher. Once again, it's a product that I keep on hand in case of emergencies... like when I went 15 days with no power after Hurricane Katrina, but it's not something I run in my filters on a normal basis.
HORMONES AND STUNTING, STRESS AND HEALTH ISSUES -
I've been learning a lot more about hormone issues that happen in overstocked or undersized tanks. In various fishery related studies, it has been reported that your fish release a hormone into the water column and when this hormone level reaches a certain point, the fish begin to get stressed and stunting issues start to develop. Stress leads to immune system issues and fish start to get sick. The best way to solve this problem is to NOT overstock your tank or have fish that are supposed to get BIG in a small tank. If you are stuck with this problem, then doing frequent PWC's (sometimes daily, depending on your situation), will reduce these hormone levels. It is also reported that products like carbon and more advanced chemical filtration products like Purigen, will remove some or all of these hormones but this needs further research. The best and simplest solution to removing these hormone levels is through frequent PWC's.
In conclusion:
There's a saying... "Dilution is the solution to pollution"... which certainly holds true in the fish keeping hobby. Fresh, clean and frequent PWC's (partial water changes) will do more to keeping your fish healthy than anything else out there.

I hope this helps save a few fish!

GoldLenny

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SELECT COMMENTS -

Mahstah posted:

"If your filter cartridges have the activated carbon sealed up inside of a plastic housing, it might take some minor "surgery" to open the plastic housing up so you can dump out the carbon. I have done this to several different manufacturers cartridges so I think it's possible with any of them. This way, you still have the plastic frame and floss/sponge material that can be re-used many, many times using the swooshing method above. It's better for your fish and your wallet."

Hi goldlenny-

Do you suggest NOT using carbon filters unless one wants to remove chemicals (malachite green or algae killer)? Is the carbon filter not needed because the good bacteria can fully take care of the ammonia?

-Mahstah

Hailey's Reply:

Carbon does not remove ammonia at all (or at least if it does, it is an immeasurable amount). I don't believe there is any reason to run carbon on an aquarium unless trying to remove a chemical like medication. It takes trace elements out of the water that fish need, it stops working fast, and worse yet, after it stops working it may leech the chemicals back into the water.

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BadSaturn3 posted:

I am a little new to Aquariums. I was wondering about filter care on a Bio-Wheel. Thank You very much.

GoldLenny's reply:

I need to update that article to include Bio-Wheels since they are gaining favor.

Basically, you would NEVER do anything to the Bio-Wheel, itself. If you are going to have the power off for very long, take it off and float it in your tank or in some removed tank water, to keep it wet so the N-bacteria in the actual wheel do not die off.

Marineland, also the inventors of Bio-Spira, came up with the Bio-Wheel idea... mainly as a way of selling filter cartridges since "now" you can change out their skimpy filter cartridges every two to four weeks without killing off your N-bacteria colony.... since they live mostly in the Bio-Wheel.

I have a Bio-Wheel 200, as the secondary filter system on my 65G Goldfish and Pleco tank and all I did after the first two weeks, is I used a razor knife to cut three sides of the black plastic slotted section and dumped the charcoal out. I added a piece of poly pad filter material into that square and put the cartridge back in the holder. Then I just do the filter maintenance as described in the article as needed. It's the same filter cartridge that came with the system many months ago. I also rolled up a 2" piece of poly pad, like a cigar, and put it in the little semi-circle overflow cut-out next to the intake tube. This forces the water through the filter, or over the top of the filter cartridge, when it starts to get clogged... but at least it keeps the Bio-Wheel spinning. I've found that if the water starts to back-up out of the overflow cut-out, then not much water goes through the filter and the bio-wheel does not spin properly, which could cause it to dry out and you would lose much of your N-Bacteria colony.

Thanks for asking about the Bio-Wheel systems.

GoldLenny

By rbishop on 05-05-2007, 06:40 PM ( This comment was added to my published article on AquariaCentral.com )
Well, it is probably semantics, but..UGFs...I think they are more popular than most folks think. Most any site I go to that has a poll, 40% of the respondents are still using them.
I still see folks claiming (repeating) that they clog up. I have never seen this to be the case in my experience, but feel those who fail to properly maintain them, could have an issue.
I believe RUGF are a great step forward in filtration, pushing the debri into the water column for removal by other power filters. This is extremely useful in high bioload tanks.In either case, there is no beating utilizing the entire surface area of the substrate as a bio filter. A lot of people and filter manufacturers talk about all the surface area their external filters create, but never acknowledge that your bacteria is only equal to your bio-load. I can run my UGF/RUGfs, and completely bust out any other filter to ground zero without any spikes or many cycles. That tells me the substrate alone holds enough surface area to maintain my tank.
Canisters..Kind of like above, the ability to put in multiple forms of media is vastly over rated. So many of us push letting your fish adjust to your normal parameters and then recommend filters that have the ability for 15 dozen medias. If you have a solid water problem and need to buffer, fine; or to create some conditions for spawning with peat or other products, they are nice. But to spend big bucks on some of the canisters out there is a waste, when a simple Mag 350 will suffice, by 10 fold. Or put the bucks into a small wet/dry. When run in parallel with a RUFG, there is no need for the fancy, high dollar canisters.
Carbon...This is a tricky one. To start, let me say, I run carbon in all my filters. Shock! $$$$ But I have clarity that is unachievable any other way.
The general theory is that a water change will do you just as well. I tend to disagree. If your water has impurities and discoloration, adding more of the same water doesn't make things better.
Also, carbon removes impurities we can not see and we can not test for. The nitrate test are an easy and conveinient method, but don't reflect other TDS DOCs we need to remove. Much as we have carbon filters on our drinking water systems. We can't see the difference, we don't test for it, but lab results show different. It is true that most cartridges have a poor quality and lack ample volume to be effective, but that shouldn't dissuade use of it.
Fish produce the growth inhibiting hormone for their full life span. Carbon should be used the full time for ultimate growth. The removal of impurities is a chemical/ionic bond. You can not release back into the water unless you heat to about 2400 degrees F.
Just my thoughts and experiences. I think we need to look at pros and cons, but not rule out a filtration method directly. Individual applications create the need for flexibility.
GoldLenny replies:
Thanks for your comments.
GoldLenny

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Last edited on November 14, 2008