Cleaning changing filter media

[maverick786us]

I've been watching a lot of videos in which people take extreme precautions while rinsing or changing filter media so that they don't end up loosing beneficial bacterias. A practice that I never used to follow in the past (I always rinsed it to make sure that the filter media is super clean)



I can understand the beneficial bacterias reside in the filter media and the substrate and in a new tank using old filter media will cycle the tank faster. Fair enough. But in a planted tank the majority of the beneficial bacteria reside inside the substrate, the lava rocks, the gravel or any other hard scape material. So what she is saying in this video, that we will loose a whole bunch of beneficial bacteria which can cause death to the fishes. So while cleaning the filter if I mistakenly rinsed it too much and lost the beneficial bacterias, the ones that reside in the substrate will continue the nitrogen cycle and form colony in the filter again?

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,

So what she is saying in this video, that we will loose a whole bunch of beneficial bacteria which can cause death to the fishes. So while cleaning the filter if I mistakenly rinsed it too much and lost the beneficial bacterias, the ones that reside in the substrate will continue the nitrogen cycle and form colony in the filter again?

They should do, but a lot depends on stocking density, gas exchange surface area etc. - <"The Great Mechanical Filtration Experiment">

I usually give the prefilter a good regular clean, but just briefly rinse any media inside the filter, and I don't open the filters very often. I don't think what she does is wrong, but her tank is distinctly sub-optimal and I can't imagine why any-one <"would continually replace"> their filter media etc.

The companies that sell these "products" aren't interested in the welfare of your fish, they are interested in <"retaining their revenue stream">. (Mentioned about 10 minutes in in the <"Aquarium Co-Op"> video).

Have a look at:



It is also slightly different for <"the UK"> (and Europe), because our tap water is much <"less highly chlorinated than in the USA">.

cheers Darrel

 

[maverick786us]

Hi all,

They should do, but a lot depends on stocking density, gas exchange surface area etc. - <"The Great Mechanical Filtration Experiment">

I usually give the prefilter a good regular clean, but just briefly rinse any media inside the filter, and I don't open the filters very often. I don't think what she does is wrong, but her tank is distinctly sub-optimal and I can't imagine why any-one <"would continually replace"> their filter media etc.

The companies that sell these "products" aren't interested in the welfare of your fish, they are interested in <"retaining their revenue stream">. (Mentioned about 10 minutes in in the <"Aquarium Co-Op"> video).

Have a look at:



It is also slightly different for <"the UK"> (and Europe), because our tap water is much <"less highly chlorinated than in the USA">.

cheers Darrel

Thanks man you made my day. It will not only save my $$, but the real problem is availability of those cartridges that can actually fit into these filters. I think I can somehow optimize my canister filters too using course sponge