Frequent Filter Cleaning

[Steven]

Hi,

Is cleaning the filter with all the medias together but using tank water at the same time every week not good for a planted tank? Will this cause the bacteria to be washed away or die? How often should one clean his filter? Thanks.

 

[shoggoth43]

Depends on the filter. What kind do you have? I toss the filter floss every couple of days on my wet/dry. For the cannisters I clean every 3-6 months ( probably not often enough based on what comes out of them ) or when I find algae that just doesn't belong there and just rinse them out very well with tank water and squeeze out or replace the filter pad as needed. The prefilters get cleaned on the water change days.

-
S

 

[Steven]

I have a canister type and am too afraid if it gets too dirty that will slow down the pump to my reactor and hence my CO2 dissolve rate. Usually I clean it every week with all the medias and hoses but now I clean it fortnightly as someone said it will be bad to wash away all the bacteria. However, my medias consist of 5 foams of 20ppi, 1 foam of 10ppi, 2 small pre-filter foams of 30ppi and bio ceramic rings/balls and I wash them all together at 50-70% WC day.

 

[Tug]

Prefilters

Shoggoth knows of several pre-filters on the market that should solve your problem. Clean the pre-filter once a week and your main filter less often. I use the Filter Max III he found, even if it is the size of a soda can.

The prefilters get cleaned on the water change days.

You still might try to run your CO2 through a dedicated pump other the your filter. It might be less stressful for the bacteria in the filter. In the diagram you have of your CO2 set up just replace the filter with a pump and run your filter separately without any CO2. Keeping O2 levels up is as important as any CO2 levels. They are independent from one another and with your high water temperature dissolved oxygen could be a real issue.

I'm using a JBL CristalProfi e1500 canister filter (1500L/H)...
Maybe this picture diagram will help

 

[Steven]

Can you suggest what kind of commercial pump that I can use with my external reactor? I think it's too complicated even I can find and buy the new pump, still I have to DIY the hoses with their input and output. How can I mount them? With a PVC? Do I need to place the filter foam in the intake pipe? Is there any pump that can operate directly without pre-suction method? Thank you.

 

[Tom Barr]

I just add a sponge prefilter on the intake and clean 1x a week depending.
Keeps shrimp out and prevents clogging, then I clean the filter once I notice any decline in the flow rate.
Typically 2 months. I have a fair amount of good mechanical in the filters though, if you use larger pore sizes, then you can go longer.

Regards,
Tom Barr

 

[Tug]

First Things First.

First get a sponge prefilter. That should provide you with an immediate solution to your problem and some time for suggestions from others with more experience, maybe in the CO2 and Aquatic Plant Fertilization forum. I did find this post that mentions a pump for the AM 1000.

I purchased a seperate external pump (an Aqua Medic Ocean Runner OR-2500). As this is an external pump I simply mounted it underneath my cabinet right next to the AM1000 and have a good constant flow through the AM1000 at all times. Works great!

You would have a pre-filter on the intake and the pump might be better off down stream from the reactor under the cabinet with the return running back to the tank. Split it into two lines and you can run your CO2 to two areas of the tank.

 

[Steven]

Thank you Tug and Tom, but I'm afraid that I can't find the brand of Aqua Medic at my LFS, instead do you think this pump will done the job?

The most important is if the pump doesn't need pre-suction method.