# Changing filter media?



## etgregoire (Aug 23, 2009)

What does everyone consider to be good practice surrounding cleaning filter media and changing out filter floss? 

I opened the canister a few weeks ago to rinse the ceramic pieces and plastic balls in removed aquarium water - but they all looked fine. The filter floss wasn't very dark, just looked like it wasn't as fluffy as before (because it's wet?). 

Just not sure how often is good to check - I wonder because it was really difficult (AND MESSY) to get inside of the canister. Totally forgot about the siphoning effect of the intake tube and the canister (woops! luckily I have concrete floors). The only way around this would be pulling all of the tubing out of the tank and so on - so if there is any insight that would help prevent me from just opening randomly and needlessly I would appreciate. 

Thanks all!
Eric


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## aquaman (Feb 16, 2009)

I clean my filters about once a month 4-6 weeks. It really deppends on the tank load and type of filter. I can usually tell when it needs to get done because the flow of water is less.


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## susankat (Nov 15, 2008)

You really don't need to clean a canister filter till the water flow from it starts slowing down then just rinse everything.

What kind of canister do you have? There should be a cut off valve on it to turn before unhooking the hoses.


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## obscbyclouds (Apr 6, 2009)

Just to be add, please don't wash your biological media (balls, rings, sponges, etc.) in tap water, as the chlorine will kill your bacteria colonies. 

If your canister doesn't have a shutoff valve you can put the canister in a large bucket. Then when your ready (after unplugging the filter) take the input and output hoses and place them in the same bucket. Make sure you keep the hoses above the canister until they are in the bucket. Then you can remove the top and hoses as one piece in the sink, etc. to avoid the mess.

Good luck! I remember the first time I made a giant mess of the living room floor with my old canister filter. Fun times!


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## etgregoire (Aug 23, 2009)

Thanks for the tips... the problem is that the filter BARELY clears a 5 gallon bucket. So to clean it I just have to pull everything apart and take it to the tub. I would totally wouldn't have thought about keeping the hoses higher - so thanks. It probably does have a shut off valve, but I kind of blew over the directions! hah. Thanks.


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## shocktrp (May 24, 2009)

etgregoire said:


> Thanks for the tips... the problem is that the filter BARELY clears a 5 gallon bucket. So to clean it I just have to pull everything apart and take it to the tub. I would totally wouldn't have thought about keeping the hoses higher - so thanks. It probably does have a shut off valve, but I kind of blew over the directions! hah. Thanks.


You can get a larger tupperware container in virtually any size from Target or Wal-Mart. You can even go to Staples or Office Max and get a plastic file holding box if you needed something larger than a 5 gallon bucket.


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## RodneyL001 (Oct 12, 2009)

If your canister filter doesn't have shut-off valves, you can buy them on-line from some place like Search Results for "petsoultions.com". You almost have to have have those with canister filters, it makes the job so much easier, it is a worth while investment. I don't clean my filter but once every 3 months, but I have several other filters on my tank, so mine don't have to take all of the load to keep the tank clean.


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