# How often do you do maintance on your canister filter?



## dsun

I have a Fluval 406, was wondering how often do you guys do maintance on it, such as rinsing the sponge and replacing carbon/etc?


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## ChuckinMA

I have a Cascade 1000 on a 75 gallon tank, and it seems to need a cleaning almost monthly. This is my first canister filter and I was expecting it to go longer between maintenance so I'll be curious to read how others respond.


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## sumthinfishy

i clean filter and rinse pads about once every 6 weeks or so. be sure that when u rinse your media u use water from the aquarium, not from faucet. this will clean media without killing bio. how often u clean your filter really depends on type of filter, size of tank, number of fish, size of fish, etc...


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## SupeDM

I clean my canister filters monthly using straight tapwater to clean them. I also run a different configuration than most. I use xp3 filters and I run only coarse pads in top basket. I have medium and carbon in bottom then rings and 2 fine pads in center leaving the coarse pads for bio filtration in the top. I have found that I only need to rinse the coarse pads in tank water once every 6 months or so using this configuration.


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## Wilson33

I clean my Eheim 2217 canisters once every 3 months. I have 2 of them on a 125 gallon. I change the course and fine filter pads and rinse the ceramic rings and gravel-like substrate in a bucket of tank water to save the good bacteria. It takes about 15 minutes.


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## atreis

I clean my Eheim 2217 once every two months. I tried going three months, but the flow decreased quite a lot during that last month - I've found that for me two months works out best.

I rinse everything in tap water, but I have un-chlorinated well water, so no worries about killing off the bio.


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## skurj

I have 2 405's I clean 3-4x a year, I have never replaced media in them in the 2 years they have been running, but I will be replacing 25% of the biomax and some of the foam this time around. (I'll be taking the foam and biomax out to seed another tank)


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## farmer

sumthinfishy said:


> i clean filter and rinse pads about once every 6 weeks or so. be sure that when u rinse your media u use water from the aquarium, not from faucet. this will clean media without killing bio.


Is this the case only if your water is chlorinated? I am on a well, so no chemicals in my water.


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## sumthinfishy

i am guessing that the chlorine is the only thing that kills the bio, but can say 100%. i believe u will be fine if on well water. i wouldjust hate to steer u wrong, so maybe someone else has def answer


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## spotmonster

Ok, I'll blow everyone's mind here. I will undoubtedly take a lot of criticism on this one, I hope I don't hijack your thread here.

These findings will undoubtedly not apply to all situations or all canisters. I would never try this with any smaller, slower flowing canister that I have seen. But this is my experience. A very well known, very well respected LFS/ breeder in my area does the same exact thing on a few FX5's they run in their store.

I clean my FX5 canisters only once per year.  Yes, I said it, once per year. I will add the following. I do not over feed, EVER. I feed once per day, 6 days a week, I don't have plants, or wood in my tanks yet. I have not owned any larger 10" + size fish up until recently. And I vacuum every other water change. I also do not run polishing pads or any fine media. I see no decrease in flow. My water stays crystal clear all year round.


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## sumthinfishy

i've heard of this before. i believe u and dont se a problem. i mean look at some tanks that have a sump set up. i only do sump maintenance every six months. the fx5 is a big filter almost a mini sump. there is a lot a variables when it come to overall tank maintenance and filter cleaning. as long as tank is clean and fish are healthy then i think its great


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## cumbrianewbie

So the answer seems to be:

Everyone does it differently - just set up your own routine and if it works for you, carry on as you were 

In my case, I have an Eheim Ecco Pro 300.

I find that the waste collects inside the main canister, so I empty it out when I do my weekly Vacuum/Water change. While it's open, I rinse out the coarse filter. The fine filter gets changed when it looks worn out and full, which tends to be every 4-6 weeks.

Good luck !


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## areuben

I'm with spotmonster for canister cleaning regimes and lengthening in-between clean times depending on circumstances/set-up. I have a couple of larger tanks that run exclusively on cannisters - 180 and 250 gallon tanks, not heavily stocked but some larger fish - I run a 2262, 2080 and 2217 on each tank - and each intake has a #2 ATI Pro sponge on it. Water changes are 33% weekly. The intake sponges I clean probably every 2-3 weeks and they do capture a fair amount of dirt which gladly doesn't end up in my cans. I clean the filters every 6 months or so and they aren't real dirty, but admittedly there is some gunk in there usually captured in the mechanical layers, some in the fine if I am using it (not on 2262) and some mulm on the media bag in the 2262 if I am using ceramic ball media and not using BioBale. I also test my water fairly regularly and parameters are always in check with nitrates usually around 10 - 20 at the most.Overall, the filters aren't real dirty - I've seen neglected canisters that have been left too long. When I kept petrochromis under the same filter set-ups, my stocking was a lot heavier and so were feedings but with weekly vacuuming, everything was pretty much the same. I have a buddy that does annual cleanings and in the 30+ years he has been keeping fish he has never had an issue.


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## atreis

I do think one COULD go a year between cleanings with the right fish and feeding regime in the tank. The Mbuna in my tank with the 2217 seem to be much messier fish than the (mainly) tetras in another tank. That tank gets cleaned less frequently but isn't currently using a canister filter. I plan to switch it over in January (to a single Eheim 2080 - it's a 135g tank). It'll be interesting to see how often it needs cleaned.


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## GTZ

Every 3-4 weeks on my heavily stocked 75g with FX5, 4-6 weeks on the more lightly stocked 55g with XP2.
The FX5 uses a DIY spray bar, so nearly all detritus is caught by the filter resulting in it needing cleaned more frequently, whereas in the 55g with the less powerful XP2 spray bar, most of it is siphoned during water changes, therefore there isn't as much detritus picked up by the filter.
Canister cleaning schedules rely mainly on the type and amount of filtration media, number and type of species in the tank and water change method and schedule. 
Keep in mind that canisters, more so than HOB filters, are an extension of your tank. Overly dirty filters can and will contribute to your tanks nitrate readings, erroneously indicating a need for more frequent water changes.


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## mudbug79

I run 2 406's on my tank. I clean them both monthly.


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## chopsteeks

Have canister filters on 125 gallon tanks ---- I do cleaning every 3 weeks.


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## jcahow

If you want to reduce the cleaning of your canister filters then I would highly recommend you use a pre-filter of some sort on the intake side. If you limit the gunk being sucked into the canister it take a considerably longer time before it needs cleaning. I use pre-filters on all my canisters and just wash them off and reattach them when doing my regular weekly water changes. When I start to see the canister flow rate decrease without the pre-filter on I know its time to do a canister cleaning. I have my filter outputs agitating the water surface so every time I feed my fish I double check for that agitation. Sometimes I have to wash off the pre-filters twice a week depending on the size tank and what it contains but this process only takes a few minutes.

I have eight tanks with 16 canisters (multiple canisters on each tank) so I can't be cleaning them all the time. I probably go well over 6 months between canister cleanings without problems.

These Eheim pre-filters slide right over the end of the intake tube and can be rinsed out dozens of times..................

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/p ... catid=4182


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## Austinite

jcahow, can you post a pic of your tank with the prefilter? I've never used one & like your comments, I want to see what it looks like in the tank. My intakes are hidden behind rocks to some degree so I think I could "hide" the look of the prefilter, which I'm imagining could look kind of well, ugly? But the idea of it makes sense. I have Eheim's also.


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## &lt;=U=L=T=R=A=&gt;

spotmonster said:


> Ok, I'll blow everyone's mind here. I will undoubtedly take a lot of criticism on this one, I hope I don't hijack your thread here.
> 
> These findings will undoubtedly not apply to all situations or all canisters. I would never try this with any smaller, slower flowing canister that I have seen. But this is my experience. A very well known, very well respected LFS/ breeder in my area does the same exact thing on a few FX5's they run in their store.
> 
> I clean my FX5 canisters only once per year.  Yes, I said it, once per year. I will add the following. I do not over feed, EVER. I feed once per day, 6 days a week, I don't have plants, or wood in my tanks yet. I have not owned any larger 10" + size fish up until recently. And I vacuum every other water change. I also do not run polishing pads or any fine media. I see no decrease in flow. My water stays crystal clear all year round.


(( EHEIM 2262 ))1 year and 3 months before i cleaned mine  I was amazed not to find it dirty at all.
I was gonna close it and leave it another year but i thought to my self might as well clean it since its out from under the tank :wink: 
I drain the tank for the weekly water changes from the eheim drain.
I assume that's why the canister is clean.
I use it as a mechanical filter and it has 70% Eheim mech +25% MAtrix pro and on top I have about 5L Eheim Ehfifix and i get some strong flow with that set up.
the 2228 and 2229 I will clean them every 2 years maybe I opened both up and were clean and still have strong flow I have them both filled with only eheim substarte pro.
I do have prefilters on the inlets to both those canisters not the 2262.


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## &lt;=U=L=T=R=A=&gt;

Forgot to mention another reason my canisters are clean after a year is the aquaclear 110 powerhead the biggest one they offer with hydrosponge #5 the finest one.
I always overfeed my fish and they eat LFS those who know about this type of feed know about the mess it makes the fish seem to chew it and red powder comes out there gills.
That is the reason I only feed on the side the powerhead is at. Let me tell you that hydrosponge picks up all those crumbs and have to rinse the filter biweekly or depnding how much you feed otherwise it will collapse on itself and stop suction and it will be harder to rinse in the sink.
Also my substrate stays clean and only vacuum every 3 months or so.Before I added the powerhead the floor would be red cause of the lfs food


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