Cleaning Filter and Replacing Carbon??

[Tracey73]

Can someone please tell me how often the filters should be cleaned and the carbon replaced for a 100 litre aqua one tank..thanks :)

[boost.puppy]

I rinse my filter every two weeks & replace my Carbon roughly every 4 weeks, however I monitor the water quality weekly & if I see any spike in my ammonia levels, that is the first thing I will do... just make sure you give the Carbon a good rinse with the old tank water when your doing a water change & everything should be fine. Also it's depending on how many fish you have in your tank because the more wastage the more you need to clean & replace & the more often you need to do water changes. I hope that was helpful!

[Matt15]

Tracey it really depends on your stock levels/plants/filter #'s\type and often you change your water.
I have an over stocked 3" tank so i do 2-3 50-25% water changes each week. My canister filter is cleaned once every 2-3 months and i replace my carbon once every six months.

[boost.puppy]

maybe I'm over doing it?

Perhaps tropical is different to marine? because the Carbon needs to be changed once a month - 2 months min with marine..

[Tracey73]

Thanks for the replies :) ...
I have two discus, 2 suckers and 5 neons. The tank has a little gravel in the bottom and 4 plants.
I have had the fish two weeks now, yes I was misinformed about cycling where we bought the fish, the dealer did not say anything about it and I have already been reemed over it on here :oops:
So as someone going through a cycle, should I be cleaning filters and replacing carbon yet, or am I best to leave it until the tank is fully cycled?
On another point my fish are doing excellent :)

[Matt15]

Tracey I certainly wouldn't be cleaning your filter yet. Leave it to cycle for a few months when maybe give it a change. Again this will depent on the type of filter u are using.
I would strongly suggest reading the following thread about biological filtration:
http://www.discusforums.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=6598


boost.puppy i'm no expert and I know little about keeping marines sorry mate. The information i posted is what works for me.
[/url]

[Mr Discus]

In regards to marine systems - there is really no need to run carbon at all if you have adequate bio filtration and protien skimming.

I had 3 different marine setups over a 3 year period and not once did I use carbon, or ever have the need to.

As for Tracey - Matt is right. Don't clean out your filter for at least a month. I would be getting the relevant test kits and testing the water parameters every day for the next few weeks as well, just so you know that everything that should be happening is happening.

[boost.puppy]

In regards to marine systems - there is really no need to run carbon at all if you have adequate bio filtration and protien skimming.

I had 3 different marine setups over a 3 year period and not once did I use carbon, or ever have the need to.

As for Tracey - Matt is right. Don't clean out your filter for at least a month. I would be getting the relevant test kits and testing the water parameters every day for the next few weeks as well, just so you know that everything that should be happening is happening.we don't have an issue with the marine.. they can never have too much filtration. we use refugiums instead of Biofilters because that is more beneficial for bacterial growth, however many people use Bio filters with no hassles. Also an external canister filter is highly reccomended.

In Sydney we have problems with our water currently, that is why I change my carbon & clean my filter so often.

I guess it comes down to this.. depending on the amount of fish you have & your water test results should determine how often you change, it is different for every tank.

Initially it helps to leave the filter to grow bacteria for a min 6 weeks & go from there.