new member needing advice

[les6660_5]

hi i have a rena 5ft aquarium 465 litres fish only marine set up, running now for 5months with everythink ok, running the tank is a fluval fx5 and a rena xp3 internal filters, vecton uv sterilizer and a fluval 4 internal and a powerhead, i need to know when should i be cleaning my external filters, thanks les.

[leebca]

WELCOME TO REEFLAND LES!

You don't want the external mechanical filters to become biological filters. That is, you don't want them to sit there so long that bacteria start living on and in the media and compete with the bacteria life on the live rock.

If you are using live rock and substrate to perform the functions of the biological filter, then you want to thoroughly and totally clean your external mechanical filter at the time of cleaning. Depending upon how you feed and the wastes produced in the system, it may need cleaning every other day or once every two weeks. I would check on it 2 days after a thorough cleaning, four days after a cleaning, 6 days after a cleaning, etc. until you see the filters are beige-to-brown with accumulated detritus and organic matter. Two days short of that finding should be the routine cleaning schedule.

You don't mention having a skimmer. Your filter will need extra attention and more frequently cleaned if this is true.

If this filter IS your biological filter, then the above doesn't apply. I won't go into that type and frequency of cleaning unless you indicate you have no live rock or any other biological filter.

[les6660_5]

hi lee, thanks for your response, to answer your question i dont have any live rock in my tank and dont have a protein skimmer, i was told by my local shop i didnt have to have 1, and get mixed answers about when best to clean my filters, les

[leebca]

So then your mechanical filter is pretty much your biological filter? In that case you never clean it thoroughly, or in such a way as to adversely affect the bacteria in and on the filter media.

Within this filter there is a media of sorts and filter floss or sponge-like material? The floss and/or sponge-like material is what catches the dirt. and is thoroughly cleaned at each frequent cleaning. The other media you want to clean 'gently.' The other media provides support for the biological filter's bacteria.

If the mechanical filter bacteria are shocked or in anyway disrupted, it may cause problems for the marine life. As mentioned above, the filter floss or coarse part of the filter should be cleaned out every time it looks dirty or every couple of days. You need to figure out how often it should be cleaned based upon how fast it gets dirty. Keep track and don't let it get too dirty.

The other media in the filter (that holding the bacteria) needs to be cleaned by rinsing in saltwater (use the saltwater you take out during water changes) and only rinsed.

If you need to replace this bacteria-laden media, you never do that all at once. Never replace more than a third of it at a time and then leaving at least three weeks between replacing the next third.

To accurately answer your question, you clean the mechanical part of the filter -- the part that is removing dirt -- whenever it needs it. Get into the pattern of cleaning it before it gets really dirty.