# Unplug canister filter before water change?



## AFishNamedCP (Oct 7, 2012)

Should I Unplug the canister filter before water change? Do I need to do anything else, if not servicing the filter? Will it need to be primed again, or just plugged back in? I have the eheim classic canister. Just want to confirm before I do a water change.


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

As long as your water level is still above the intake you can leave on if you like. Normally you don't need to re-prime either way. I have the same filter and leave mine on all the time. May want to un-plug heater, however. It can stir stuff up, but mine is turned down a little.


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## hotwingz (Mar 3, 2013)

I have mine on a power strip with my heater and lights. So I just flip the switch and turn them off at once. For me its just easier. Its not necessary however.


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## majerah1 (Oct 29, 2010)

If you do, close the valves so you dont have to reprime. But yeah its no necessary.


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## MriGuy85 (Aug 29, 2013)

I don't shut mine off. In fact I leave my heater on as well because my outlet is literally spraying directly on the heater. I do this to help distribute heat through the tank, but during a WC, the heater is never "out of the water" because the outlet is spraying right on it. Haven't had a problem yet  do be careful cleaning you canister though. I over cleaned mine and am now in a mini cycle. I heard they can run for months without being cleaned. Coralbandit or jrman, is this true?


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## coralbandit (Jul 29, 2012)

Many run their canisters until they see a decline in flow,could be months for some.If the flow has not slowed down and all levels are good ,then I would wait on cleaning filter.A good waterchange schedule can definately prolong time between filter cleanings.
The powerstrip with heater attached is a good idea though.


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

If they use some type of filter pad, usually not true. Especially in heavy bio-load tanks. I run an Eheim classic that I let go 3-4 months before I have to worry about the filter pad due to only having a few shrimp in a 29g tank. The whole thing hasn't been cleaned in almost a year. My others I try to do every month as manufacturer recommends. This keeps the need from having to do anything else down pretty low.

I have had all of my canisters for a little over 3yrs and have 7 of them, most pretty large. I have only cleaned them 3 times. Cleaning them is usually not necessary unless you have not kept up keeping the filter pad changed. And when I say cleaned I only mean taking the canister to the sink and rinsing out the trays. I am on well water and don't have to worry about killing the bacteria with chlorine treated water. You have to clean with either treated fresh water (my preference) or pulled tank water. If you do this you will never get a mini-cycle. Untreated water will kill your good bacteria. I have redundancy in my filtration though (except my shrimp tanks). I could bleach it all and I would never have a problem as long as it was not both at the same time.


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## MriGuy85 (Aug 29, 2013)

Yeah, I was a little too thorough when cleaning mine recently. I have 4 trays: 1 with the ceramic cylinders at the bottom topped with coarse "foam", the second has the bioballs, the third has bioballs and pads from my hob, the fourth has coarse "foam" and a layer of floss on top. Does a pretty good job, and when I cleaned I used tank water. My problem is I squished and swished the pads and foam a little too much. Squeezed out most of my bacteria, which tells me the bioballs aren't yet fully seeded. Anyways, the water was pretty nasty that I dumped, the floss was brown, and there was some sludge buildup on the "pipe" that goes to the bottom of the canister, but other than that it probably didn't need to be cleaned. Only other thing I've noticed is some sludge building up on the in and out hoses. Gonna let it go until the flow slows before considering cleaning again. I'm pretty routine on water changes and I use the eheim substrate cleaner where the water is returned to the tank so cleaning the filter shouldn't need to happen very often for me.


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## majerah1 (Oct 29, 2010)

I fill a bucket with tank water and dunk my trays every six months. Then the filter pad gets swished. I have yet to replace it, though I might should, its falling apart LOL. But now I have only a few fish in each tank, a pr of angels to a 40 and a pr of macs to a 40.


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## Hooperman42 (Oct 23, 2011)

i have a 120 Gallon and dunk the trays so to speak each month but thats probobly over kill. I rinse the media in tank water in buckets. And put it back in turn it on and go. Its fine. I have only replaced the charcoal bag once in the last 6 months but that probobly was not needed. I use an API made for a 180 gallon tank. with my own media, the bio thingies from API and its crystal clear.


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## Hooperman42 (Oct 23, 2011)

also I have a mix of loaches and happy community guys


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## AFishNamedCP (Oct 7, 2012)

I've been doing both unplugging and leaving it. I prefer unplugging it. While it is running it still is splashing water in and with it unplug I can clean the tubes, filter as needed, etc. As long as I have the water filled back up and water doesn't go below intake level, I plug back in and it spits out the air for awhile (on output) but it running fine again.

Yeah I plan on cleaning media in bucket with siphoned water. Maybe use a sieve or something to keep the media but drain the water out of the bucket.
Thanks for the advice. Certainly more than I was expecting. keep it coming


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## Botiadancer (Dec 30, 2013)

As many others have said, if my water level drops below the intake tube, I unplug the filter. I also throw both ball valves switches.

I never unplug the heater because I have it resting an inch off the bottom, so safe with my 90% water changes.

Note: I do 90% water changes. DO NOT TRY THAT AT HOME! When you understand the potential problems with doing such a large water change, feel free to do one. In the mean time, stick to 50% or less. Please trust me on this. *old dude


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