# can you rinse the cartridge pad & reuse for HOB filter?



## amazonfriend (Aug 15, 2006)

Can you rinse the cartridge pad in water just pulled from the tank & reuse the cartridge pad for a HOB filter??

I think I remember if you rinse it with tap water it makes it toxic. 
sorry if it is a dumb question.


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## Storiwyr (Apr 24, 2012)

Is it one of those cartridge pads that has carbon in it? You can rinse and reuse with a lot of stuff, but you're remembering right that you don't want to use tap water. Always use tank water. Just let us know what type of HOB it is (model/maker would be nice). I've recently decided I'm dissatisfied with the HOBs that came with my kit for my 10 and 20 gallon tanks. They have carbon stuck to the spongey section, which is really stupid because that means I can't remove the carbon easily to medicate the tank. Wish I'd realized that earlier. They're getting replaced with ACs in short order.


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## amazonfriend (Aug 15, 2006)

we removed the old carbon from the cartridge. 
I buy the pads in a bulk roll and cut it to size.
don't remember the model, it is on older HOB in my daughters room, works like a champ. the filter is much larger then needed for the 20long tank.


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## skwerl (Mar 2, 2011)

Yes, you can rinse them. As Storiwyr said, not in tap water, but in tank water. When I do a water change, I will gently rinse the pad or sponge in the bucket of old tank water before I dump the water in my garden.

ACs rock! :thumb: They are very flexible in how/what media you load in them. I have a couple old Whisper HOBs that still work well also, but a little tougher to modify how/what you put in them. Hopefully I am not going to be chastised for promoting ACs in a forum thread instead of the reviews section... :wink:


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## Storiwyr (Apr 24, 2012)

I think the general rule is that you can rinse in tank water and reuse until they fall apart.


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## Narwhal72 (Sep 26, 2006)

I am not sure how this myth of needing to rinse them in tank water ever got started but it's totally false.

There is no reason to rinse a mechanical filter cartridge in tank water and not tap water. The cartridges will actually rinse better under the higher pressure of a faucet and any bacteria that are killed off will quickly recolonize back onto the cartridge from habitats within the tank. A mechanical filter cartridge may accumulate bacteria when in use but it was NEVER intended for that purpose. It was intended to trap debris (and for those that contain carbon) to adsorb pollutants out of the water. When the cartridge becomes clogged and chemical media is used up it can either be cleaned or discarded and replaced.

Not only have I done this regularly for years without any issue, I help design and test power filters and have tested this over and over again without any negative results.

I guess this is just another hobby myth that won't die.

Andy


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## amazonfriend (Aug 15, 2006)

Andy that is great to know! I thought somewhere years ago I read rinsing it it water made the bacteria toxic to put back in the tank! Glad to know that is wrong!! 
You are right, it is much easier to use the high pressure from the faucet.
Glad to know you have done it for years w/ no issues.


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## Narwhal72 (Sep 26, 2006)

No problem.

It doesn't make the bacteria toxic. Chlorinated water will kill off the bacteria on the cartridge. But the habitat is still viable and within seconds after you put it back, it will be colonized with new bacteria colonies. Even fully colonized, the filter cartridge is just a small percentage of the bacteria that are growing in the substrate, walls, decor, other parts of the filter, and every other hard surface in the aquarium.

Andy


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## Shahlvah (Dec 28, 2011)

I rinse mine with tap water. When in doubt, I soak them in water with prime....the thing is to get them clean so they can do their work.


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## prov356 (Sep 20, 2006)

I clean my sponge filters under the tap pretty aggressively with no problems. Just keep in mind that all systems are a bit different and go easy when testing this on your own. I also have chlorine in my tap, not chloramine FWIW. No way for me to know if that would make any difference. You can get away with more when dealing with well established media than you can with a newly cycled tank. Pull a filter pad from a 'just cycled' tank's filter and rinse it in any kind of water and I'll almost guarantee you'll see either ammonia or nitrite spikes or both. On older, established media, the bacteria would have had time to build up more of a protective biofilm and I believe this to be the reason that tap water doesn't wipe it out.


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## skwerl (Mar 2, 2011)

I would also imagine your bio load/tank stocking should be taken account...


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## clhinds78 (Jul 27, 2012)

Narwhal72 said:


> I am not sure how this myth of needing to rinse them in tank water ever got started but it's totally false.
> 
> There is no reason to rinse a mechanical filter cartridge in tank water and not tap water. The cartridges will actually rinse better under the higher pressure of a faucet and any bacteria that are killed off will quickly recolonize back onto the cartridge from habitats within the tank. A mechanical filter cartridge may accumulate bacteria when in use but it was NEVER intended for that purpose. It was intended to trap debris (and for those that contain carbon) to adsorb pollutants out of the water. When the cartridge becomes clogged and chemical media is used up it can either be cleaned or discarded and replaced.
> 
> ...


This is what I thought and have always practiced. I've rinsed my cartridges in tap water for over a year now and I've lost very few fish. Only reason I did lose any was due to over aggression and an undersized tank.


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## Storiwyr (Apr 24, 2012)

Learn something new every day ... and what you say about newly cycled tanks makes perfect sense to me, given I've also heard it suggested to leave the substrate alone while cleaning for the first month or so. It makes sense to me as a microbiologist that the bacteria would recolonize and establish quickly. Any word from Narwhal on the chloramine issue? Would Primed tap water be better? I know my local water is chloramine treated.


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## Narwhal72 (Sep 26, 2006)

Chlorine vs. chloramine is irrelevant in this case. The amount of chloramine that would be on a wet cartridge rinsed in tapwater and then diluted into the aquarium would be of such a minute quantity as to be totally harmless.

The amount of chloramine in tap water in North America is about 1.5-2.5 mg/l. The ENEV (Estimated No Effects Value) based on testing with various freshwater organisms is 0.0056 mg/l. If you had 10 ml of water clinging to your cartridge before you put it in the tank you would have at most about 0.025 mg of chloramine. Dilute that into 4.4 liters (1.16 gallons) of water and you would be at the ENEV level.

If you were really paranoid you could just dry the cartridge out too.

Andy


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