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how to clean filter media
- Thread starter Andy Dunning
- Start date
Hi all,
I've always washed my sponges etc. in tank water, and I'd always wondered whether it made a difference. A couple of years ago I asked a colleague (who is a microbiologist) what he thought, and he was pretty sure that it wouldn't make any difference what water you washed them in. Since then I've just washed them under the tap without any adverse effect.
Personally I keep fairly mulmy tanks, but I'm very keen on retaining high water quality and most importantly high levels of oxygenation. They may seem to be totally conflicting aims, but they aren't necessarily. If you have a look through Colin Dunlop's article <http://www.seriouslyfish.com/all-the-leaves-are-brown/> it gives a bit more back-ground. Basically I'm interested in both reducing BOD and producing a complex plant and micro-organism rich environment
This is one of my favourite tanks, not mine, but an Apistogramma tank kept by "Ruki" a very successful Polish cichlid breeder.
cheers Darrel
I've always washed my sponges etc. in tank water, and I'd always wondered whether it made a difference. A couple of years ago I asked a colleague (who is a microbiologist) what he thought, and he was pretty sure that it wouldn't make any difference what water you washed them in. Since then I've just washed them under the tap without any adverse effect.
Personally I keep fairly mulmy tanks, but I'm very keen on retaining high water quality and most importantly high levels of oxygenation. They may seem to be totally conflicting aims, but they aren't necessarily. If you have a look through Colin Dunlop's article <http://www.seriouslyfish.com/all-the-leaves-are-brown/> it gives a bit more back-ground. Basically I'm interested in both reducing BOD and producing a complex plant and micro-organism rich environment
This is one of my favourite tanks, not mine, but an Apistogramma tank kept by "Ruki" a very successful Polish cichlid breeder.
cheers Darrel
Hi all,
If you are worried about sterilising your filter media with tap water, my suggestion would be just to reserve a small amount of filter mulm, and after a final rinse the media in tank water etc just pour the mulm back into the filter, or onto the sponges etc.
cheers Darrel
No, honestly it doesn't. I think a lot of these ideas started in the USA where the supply is more heavily chlorinated. In a planted tank a lot of the nitrifying bacteria are in the substrate in the zone around plant roots ("rhizosphere") etc.
If you are worried about sterilising your filter media with tap water, my suggestion would be just to reserve a small amount of filter mulm, and after a final rinse the media in tank water etc just pour the mulm back into the filter, or onto the sponges etc.
cheers Darrel
biffster
Member
i dont touch my externals for 6 months to a year and then they only get washed out in tank water
roadmaster
Member
In a mature tank,(as opposed to newly established) bacteria as Clive mention's,,, cling's to all hard surfaces in the tank (ie) glass,plant leaves,rock's,wood,substrate, inside wall's of canister filter,hoses,etc. and is hard to dislodge.
Giving the mechanical media a good rinse under tapwater in mature tank is not likely to harm anything. Addition of healthy plant mass makes it even less likely.
Thing's get a little more dicey in newly established tank's ,or tank's with no plant's. IME
Giving the mechanical media a good rinse under tapwater in mature tank is not likely to harm anything. Addition of healthy plant mass makes it even less likely.
Thing's get a little more dicey in newly established tank's ,or tank's with no plant's. IME
