# How often do you clean your canister filter?



## fancy diver

I have an eheim 2217 and a newly added 2215, along w/ an ac110 for extra in my pretty stocked 90 g. I usually clean the canister every 2-3 months. 
How often do you people do it?
Now w/ 2 canisters how often should i/or could i clean them.

Thank you


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## Voodoo Chilli

I pull mine down about once a month; it only takes a few minutes and I get a_ lot_ of crud out of there.


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## boredatwork

I try to clean mine every 3-4 weeks. I know some people go longer, but to me it doesn't make any sense. Cleaning often is pretty important.


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## Norse76

Once a month, complete cleaning, check gaskets, etc.


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## Vincent

I clean mine once a year.


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## LowCel

I clean each of mine ever two or three months, I never clean them both at the same time though. This is on my 55 gallon. I do the same thing with my three canisters on my 210. I can generally tell when it is time to clean them by the amount of flow coming out of the spray bar.


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## 748johnd

On my 90 I have an Eheim 2028, an AC110 and a HOT Magnum 250 hooked up to a surface skimmer. I clean the Eheim once every 6 months. The other 2 I clean about once a month. My water parameters are fine.


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## KaiserSousay

I used to do weekly cleanings, then went to every other week, now..once a month with no change to water condition or clarity.


> Cleaning often is pretty important


Agreeded..I wouldn`t feel right going longer, plus I start to see my flow start to degrade.


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## prov356

KaiserSousay said:


> I used to do weekly cleanings, then went to every other week, now..once a month with no change to water condition or clarity.
> 
> plus I start to see my flow start to degrade.


That's what I go by. Let your water parameters and flow determine the need. A canister in serious need 
of cleaning can be a source of high nitrates. If your nitrates are low and you keep up with the water 
changes and the flow from the filter is still good, then you're on a good schedule. A lot depends on the 
fish load, etc. There's no one right schedule for all setups. Adding a prefilter on the intake that you 
clean regularly can greatly reduce the need to open up the canister to clean it.


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## dogofwar

"Adding a prefilter on the intake that you clean regularly can greatly reduce the need to open up the canister to clean it."

Couldn't agree more. Using a canister for mechanical filtration will necessitate opening it up and cleaning it frequently. A pre-filter could theoretically keep you from having to open and clean a canister more than say once per year or so...


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## superfish

I have an eheim 2215 and an HOT 250 Mag on a 70g. I clean the 250 about every 2 weeks, the 250 Mag every couple months.

What would y'all recommend for a prefilter on a 2215? I find that canister full of poop every time I clean it....even in the biomedia. The fine white filter pads are always shot too, just disintegrated.


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## srook23

I normally just check the flow on mine to see if it needs to be cleaned. If the flow is down I clean it. As long as it has a good strong flow I don't bother with it.


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## moneygetter1

8) I guess it would have to vary for everyone since no two tanks are exactly alike. Tank parameters & flow are probably your best guides as stated. For me, it's usually about 6wks. alternately for the cans & 2 wks. for the hob. "T"


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## edouthirt

I have two c-360s but I only use a micro-fiber filter pad in one. That one get's opened once a month to replace the pad, but the other just keeps going until the flow get;s reduced or water parameters get funky.


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## mambee

I recently went a full year between cleanings on one of my Eheim 2028s. I filter my 150 gallon with 2 canisters and 1 Biowheel. I clean the Biowheel every 2 weeks.

The canister that ran for 1 year between cleanings really wasn't that dirty. I occasionally feed my fish live blackworms, and some of them inevitably get sucked up into the filter where they feed on the muck and multiply. However, my hoses were seriously gunked up and reduced the water flow somewhat. Cleaning the hoses made the biggest difference.

Mike


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## boredatwork

I wouldn't take some of this information as good advice. I don't want to say that anyone is doing anything wrong, just that every situation is different, so what one person does may not be a good idea for another person.

If you are cleaning your canister filter once a year and it is not dirty, that tells me that there is something else going on. Probably another filter, or very good cleaning of the substrate, or not fish, etc. If I were to not clean my filter for a year, I am sure it would probably have broken down after about 6 months.

My point is, be careful about taking advice without considering all of the circumstances that the advice came from.


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## Riceburner

I clean mine about once a month or month and a half.


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## kodyboy

I go about six months or so, but I use pre-filters, they help a lot.


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## boredatwork

kodyboy said:


> I go about six months or so, but I use pre-filters, they help a lot.


This is what I was talking about before. Again, I am not saying this is a bad strategy, but I want to use this in a hypothetical scenario.

Lets say that I was someone who didn't vacuum my gravel. If I install pre-filters so that I don't have to clean my canister, the assumption is that the canister is staying clean because the waste is staying in the tank. Well, if I am not cleaning my substrate the waste is never being removed.

And, even if you use a pre-[/img]filter, any waste that gets into the canister, while it may not be a lot, is still sitting in there for six months.

At the end of the day I guess the ammonia/nitrite/nitrate levels are all that matter in terms of toxicity, but to me the concept of filtration is to remove the waste from the water system - and by water system I mean tank water PLUS filter water. So, whether the waste is in the tank or in the canister, it should be removed. While that philosophy is definitely subjective and debatable, I really want to make the point of being careful in taking advice on this topic.


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## kodyboy

As long as the water parameters (ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and pH) are within reasonable levels cleaning the filters more really does nothing beneficial, and is a PITA. Good husbandry is the key to successful fish keeping, but when the fish are thriving and the parameters are fine then all is well. Six months for my canister filters is fine, but I do rinse my pre-filters on a weekly basis to keep good flow going from the canisters. The biggest husbandry mistake I see people make is not doing regular water changes, not how often they clean their filters.


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## RyanR

Really depends on the canister and what it's attached too.

The Magnum 350's hate me if I stretch things out too long. I cleaned out the hoses for one that I kinda neglected. Holy cow was that gross. :lol:

-Ryan


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## boredatwork

In response to the last two posts, that is exactly the point I want to make. There is not rule or specific pattern anyone needs to follow in terms of how often they clean their canister. I don't think its right to say that 6 months it too long, or that once a week is necessary. It all depends on the total picture.

If 6 months results in good water levels then obviously that's fine. But that doesn't mean just because it works for one person it works for everyone. If your nitrates skyrocket and you are cleaning once a month, then you might need to do more. Every situation is different.


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## moneygetter1

boredatwork said:


> In response to the last two posts, that is exactly the point I want to make. There is not rule or specific pattern anyone needs to follow in terms of how often they clean their canister. I don't think its right to say that 6 months it too long, or that once a week is necessary. It all depends on the total picture.
> 
> If 6 months results in good water levels then obviously that's fine. But that doesn't mean just because it works for one person it works for everyone. If your nitrates skyrocket and you are cleaning once a month, then you might need to do more. Every situation is different.


Posted: Mon May 04, 2009 9:39 pm Post subject:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I guess it would have to vary for everyone since no two tanks are exactly alike. Tank parameters & flow are probably your best guides as stated. For me, it's usually about 6wks. alternately for the cans & 2 wks. for the hob. "T"
_________________

8) *boredatwork *your point is well taken but quite often folks (especially newbies) tend to overclean rather than underclean. That's why the suggestion of tank paramerters & flow as a guide was given as to frequency of cleaning. "T"


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## boredatwork

moneygetter1 said:


> *boredatwork *your point is well taken but quite often folks (especially newbies) tend to overclean rather than underclean. That's why the suggestion of tank paramerters & flow as a guide was given as to frequency of cleaning. "T"


I don't disagree with that - but I also think 6 months is extreme (but again, not necessarily wrong). But if you are catering advice to newbies, then consider that they don't always have all the information/experience to correctly asses advice. For some tanks I would say that more often than not waiting 6 months to clean a filter would have more serious side effects than overcleaning. So my only point is to take advice about cleaning frequency with some consideration.


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## RyanR

There's also the "how much fun is it to clean after 6 months" factor.... the "how big a mess does it make at the sink" factor.... and the "how grumpy is the wife when you clean it in the kitchen sink" factor. :lol:

-Ryan


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## boredatwork

If the canister is overly disgusting after 6 months, then 6 months is not the right frequency for cleaning it - it needs to be done more often.

I think the above posts where referring to a tank such that the filter does not get super dirty after 6 months - and that is why they wait 6 months to clean it. So it is out of necessity, not pure boredom.


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