# When to clean your canister filter?



## Corey (Jan 4, 2008)

Hello

I have had my eheim for about 4 months now, the flow rate has not decreased and it is still filtering the water, so when do i clean it? my old canister i had to clean monthly.. so this is weird. Im just going to assume its the quality difference.

Thank u!


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## fishEH (Sep 15, 2008)

What was your old canister? 
I clean my XP3 about once every 6 months. And then all I do is rinse out or replace the foam.


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## prov356 (Sep 20, 2006)

You'll get a lot of different answers, so I'll just give you mine. Keep in mind these aren't isolation 
chambers. Moving the detritus to a filter doesn't remove it from the system. Other than for appearance's 
sake, you might as well have left it in the tank. It's only when you remove the crud from the filter that 
mechanical filtration is complete. While it sits in the filter, it's broken down into dissolved organics 
which are converted to nitrate. These dissolved organics and ntirates are dumped back into the tank. 
Removing organics (whether dissolved or not) from the 'system' is what I believe to be the best strategy. 
It's not just about flow rate although that may tell you when the filter's getting really gunked up and needs 
attention. My Eheim filter instructions say to only open it up when the flow has reduced to a trickle. Great 
filters, but bad advice IMHO.

So, to answer your question, I'd recommend at least once per month. More is better, but not to the 
extent that it becomes a chore and you start to hate maintaining the tank.. Have a schedule or routine of 
removing organics from the system on a regular basis wherever they lie. And that schedule should 
include water changes to remove the dissolved stuff like nitrates, etc. Much of this is dependent on the 
stocking level of the tank. Lightly stocked tanks can go longer, while others may need more 
attention. Let your nitrate levels be your guide, since that's all that we can really measure.

My .02


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## hollyfish2000 (Aug 23, 2007)

I have three tanks, using Marineland C220-, C-360 and a Fluval 240. I open the filters every other month or so and rinse the media in old tank water and replace the fine particle pad. It takes less than 5 minutes apiece.


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## Heyguy74 (Aug 11, 2005)

I would say once a month to two months max. If I wait longer, the amount of **** that comes out is huge. Just make sure not to do all your filters on the same tank at once.


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## jboogerfinger (Apr 16, 2005)

Every 3-4 months, but i have 3 canisters on a 110 gallon. I do a 50 percent water change every couple of weeks, and use 2 capfuls of prime, along with making sure the water temp is 78-79 degrees when i refill. Fish don't seem to have a problem. If they do, they don't ever say anything. :lol:


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## fishEH (Sep 15, 2008)

I should mention I have a foam prefilter on my filter intake. I also have a powerhead aimed at the filter intake to help keep debris from collecting on it. My tank is a 75G and houses a 6" Oscar anda 4" painted turtle. The bottom is bare aside from about 2 dozen river stones. I prefer the debris to collect on the bottom of my tank where I can vac it out when I do a water change. This is why I have gone through the effort of the pre-filter and powerhead, to prevent debris from entering my canister.


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## prov356 (Sep 20, 2006)

> This is why I have gone through the effort of the pre-filter and powerhead, to prevent debris from entering my canister.


If nothing gets into your canister, then there's little reason to open it except to check the biomedia once 
in a while. I'd probably do that about every six months as well. Very different setup.


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## lonnyzone (Nov 17, 2003)

Clean it every three months, any more is a waste of time. Leave out the white pad, use two blues instead.


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## lestatak (Feb 3, 2007)

I think you might want to consider if you have an heavy or light bio load. I have to clean my canister every 4-6 weeks as my tanks are over stocked with big eaters. If you have a light bio load you could wait longer. Another piece of advice is if your nitrates are rising than a good cleaning is in order. If they are staying relatively low and you have good flow out of your outlet there is no need to clean your canister.

Having said that the most important thing is doing regular water changes.


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## jboogerfinger (Apr 16, 2005)

lestatak said:


> I think you might want to consider if you have an heavy or light bio load. I have to clean my canister every 4-6 weeks as my tanks are over stocked with big eaters. If you have a light bio load you could wait longer. Another piece of advice is if your nitrates are rising than a good cleaning is in order. If they are staying relatively low and you have good flow out of your outlet there is no need to clean your canister.
> 
> Having said that the most important thing is doing regular water changes.


Those are very good points. All setups are different, fish load, how many filters, etc. Don't forget those water changes!!


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## F8LBITEva (Nov 9, 2007)

I service mine about every 3 months. The only thing that stops me from doing mine more often is the dreaded canister o-ring leak.


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