Cleaning a cannister filter

[Cathsem]

Hello,

I have a Tetratec cannister filter (105g/ hour) for a 14g tank and I would like to know how to clean it properly.

I usually rince the sponges or Perlon cotton (never both at the same time, and not at the same time as a water change) with tank water every 10-15 days, but when I switch the filter back on, the tank water becomes brownish.

Moreover, the cannisters and hoses are getting brown algae in them. I was told it was a normal process so I've hold in check my cleaning frenzy habit (I'm a cleaning maniac), knowing that cleaning too much could be harmful to the tank biological filtering system.

My question is how often should I clean them? Do you have good advice as to how I should proceed without spilling water everywhere and/or accidentally emptying my tank?

As a beginner, I find it hard to strike a balance between what dirt is needed for the tank equilibrium and what would be harmful to the fish and hence must be removed. I don't fancy finding the hard way - with my fish getting sick - that my tank maintenance is not appropriate.

Warm regards from France,

Cath

[small_ranchu]

Hi Catherine,
Welcome to GFK. For me, I clean my canister filter once every two month or more. I agree that cleaning too much is not a good idea for your bio system.
I don't have Tetratec canister filter. By looking at the pic of them online, I believe you can
1. trun off the power
2. shut down the host at the top of the filter
3. rainse the media inside the filter with tank water
4. reconnect the host
5. fill the filter w/ tank water and then turn the power on.

:)

[Cathsem]

Thank you for your quick answer, Fred. :)

Apparently, I'm cleaning my filter far too often.

How often do you clean the hoses?

Cath

[small_ranchu]

I don't clean it until getting clog. lol

[suphi]

I clean mine every 2 weeks, especially the hose...lots of nasty debris in there.

I find that my fish rarely get sick if I keep it clean. Keep in mind that I do WC every few days also, just my way of keeping fish.

[Cathsem]

Thank you for your answers.

Does it make a difference if your tank is big or small?

[WakinAZ]

Small tanks get dirty faster: less volume of water to dilute the pollution.

I clean the filter pads on my Rena canister filter every two weeks. I rinse the media with dechlorinated water once a month or so. Removing the hoses and cleaning them only happens about once a year. The impeller is cleaned every few months. I have large tanks with relatively few fish, and I do 50-75% water change once per week.

Cheers,
Eric

[Cathsem]

Thank you, Eric. :)

You all gave me very different answers. LOL
Anyway it is interesting and it enables me to see a bit better what I should do.

So I'll keep on changing 30% of the tank water twice a week. I'll rinse my filter pads every 15 days; clean my filter's hoses once a month and the impeller every two months. I'll also make a big water change (80%) once a year. I hope that is enough.

[suphi]

Well, I think the variables are fish load, amount of feed and the size of the filter. The bottom line is do whatever you need to keep the fish healthy.

I have a heavy load in my 80G with 8 fish so I clean often. If I had, say, 4 fish in there or if I had a large sump with a few hundred gals capacity then I might not clean that often. If you feed a lot of live/frozen food you should also clean often because water quality deteriorates quickly.

[Cathsem]

This is interesting. I'll keep it in mind. In the same line of reasoning, would you say a planted aquarium require less frequent water changes than a bare tank? That is, if the plants are healthy (they use nitrates for food).