Just wondering, how often do you clean and change your filter cartriges? I didn't touch mine until the cycle was complete, and since then I've cleaned it once in tank water. It's been cycled for about 3 weeks now, I also do weekly water changes of about 2 1/2 gallons( it's a 10 gal). I have 2 small (1 1/2-2inches) goldies in there and a black mystery snail.

there is no fix rule.. jus clean whenever it looks dirty or when performance of filter starting to dropped.. most importantly, do not cleanout the filter media entirely or over clean it lest you destroy all good bacterias.. also do not rinse/clean the filter with running tap water as the chlorine will kill all the bacteria..

it will be a good idea if you keep at least 2 filter system in the tank, so you may clean one while leaving the other running.. this way, you dun have to worry whether you will crash your cycle from cleaning out..

cheers

as fi5hkiller stated above, cleaning should only be out of necessity.

i never actually clean the filter box or intake tube. i only clean the impellar assembly and the intake tubes screen. doing this will keep your filter running optimally while preserving the bio-bugs.

paul

Thanks guys. So, I shouldn't feel guilty for not doing it weekly then?!

I know a lot of people here will disagree but for many fancy goldfish breeds it is best to do as many water changes as you can. This is why the Chinese are so good at breeding goldfish. There are some breeders that actually change 90-100% of their water every 2-3days. I think you could also use these bio-bugs as well with a good sponge filter and gravel, I think that they could finally settle in them fine.

The water is then always clean with no weird bugs accumulating over time as well as other chemicals that I can't pretend to know about.

I have not switched to this methodology but am experimenting due to a my Veiltail having a viral infection. This breed tends to have problems and the females are quite worth saving who tend to be weaker. 100% water changes in my 10 gallon sick tank the most effective medicine I could find and is incredible how many cysts I've healed this way.

I just wanted to throw this out there. I think the destruction of the bio-bugs is a nightmare for many of us, but there actually is an alternative. I am trying to come to a point where I can change out as much water as possible with bio-bugs intact. But also with sanity intact! It is a lot of work, but the more clean water, the greater my success will be!

A rule of thumb. Never clean your filter at the same day as you do a water change! Bacteria will grow in your filter cartiges. They are the brown goo that forms in them. They're good for your water. The sort of eat out all the dirt in them. Just clean one layer at a time so you won't lose all your good bacteria.

I disagree with the whole "don't clean the filter when you change water" "don't gravel vac when you change water" "don't gravel vac when you clean the filter" stuff. If you have a solidly cycled tank, and seperate biomedia, I encourage you to do all three all at once!

I clean my sponges from my Aquaclears on the same day I do water changes, and I gravel vac every time I do a water change. I have yet to have so much as a tiny spike from this. I've even BLEACHED the entire betta tank, except for the ten ceramic noodles that make up my biomedia, and not gotten a spike (yes, my betta tank is cycled, has been for months). I run the big Aquaclear sponge under tap water rather than in tank water b/c I can get it cleaner that way. Still no spikes.

In general, once established, the cycle is much more solid than some people think. Don't slack on tank maintnance in the name of not hurting the biobugs.

*note, I am not encouraging you to randomly go out and bleach your fish tank, that is not normal maintnance, I had to take down the betta tank to silicone the divider in place and bleached it to get rid of some algae while I was at it. But if your filter needs to be cleaned at the same time you are supposed to do the gravel vac, just do them both!

I like what Ceridwen said. Actually, those sponge filters really help and can hold LOADS of biobugs.

It is good to let at least one sponge or filter cartridge to accumulate biomass... this will create anoxic conditions deep in the media and allow denitrification (removal of nitrate) to take place. Water will be cleaner (less organic matter) if the media is left untouched until it restricts flow... If flow is restricted then you must clean the filter. You can setup a schedule by knowing how long the filters run smoothly and program cleanups a few days before flow is compromised.

Thanks for all the advise, guys! Cleared some things up for me.