# Cleaning/preparing used canister filter



## Comic Sans (Apr 21, 2009)

So I'm getting a used XP1 to replace the AC70 on my 29g. The Aquaclear did ok for a while, but it has some quirks that are just driving me nuts. The XP1 used to be on a turtle tank, but it's only 20 bucks all in so how can you go wrong! Thanks craigslist!

Anyone have any tips on how to clean/prepare this? My plan is to scrub the **** out of everything with a vinegar solution and then run the hottest water I can through it empty for about an hour. Then add new media and off we go!


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## PfunMo (Jul 30, 2009)

Personal thoughts on this. Others may diss. I would use the vinegar to remove hard water marks to make it look better if needed. For sanitary cleaning, I favor bleach soaking. If you have a container that all the parts can be soaked in overnite it is quick and easy. Cup of bleach to a gallon of water makes it for me. The vinegar is a mild acid but there may be encapsulated forms that are slow to be killed this way. Twenty four hours contact time is the norm for water treatment purposes with chlorine or chloramine. This gives the chemicals time to soak through any hard shell items or dirt that might harbor them. No special worry with the residual chlorine that might be left as it will quickly become a gas and be gone once it air dries for a bit. I do flush after the soaking just to make sure. As with any new equipment, I also add some Prime, etc. to the water at the time I start using it. Better to do a bit extra than to have some hard to track malfunction come up.


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## SupeDM (Jan 26, 2009)

Dont run hot water through the filter. just grab a five gallon bucket set up the filter like you were trying to filter water in the bucket add a cup of bleach to the bucket of water and let it run. Hot water might soften the O-rings in the XP filter too much. I have kept fish alive for weeks in 5 gallon buckets with a XP1 filter running on the bucket. Works great as a hospital tank.


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## SHAMENMBC (Dec 20, 2009)

Guys i am very new to fish keeping one question though did you say bleach ,,,is this domestic bleach or some form of aquarium bleach


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## kmuda (Nov 27, 2009)

I, personally, try and avoid the "bleach treatment" unless it is absolutely needed when sterlizing after a known bacterial or viral infection.

For the most part, cleaning can occur with nothing more than water, a rag, a toothbrush, and a filter brush (to clean the tubings).

A very strong salt water soak followed by a complete drying should eliminate most bacterial infections and any parasite concerns, and does not have any of the same concerns use of bleach would.

That said, bleach will absolutely work. Standard bleach (straight bleach without fragrance) mixed down with water. Just be sure to rinse, rinse again, rinse again, rinse again, and when you think you've rinsed enough, rinse it twice as much as you just did.


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## PfunMo (Jul 30, 2009)

Question for those who are worried about using bleach? Since you are not dealing with chloramine why do you worry about bleach? Bleach is just chlorine watered down to make it safer to use around cloth. When you work with chlorine much, you find it turns to gas as quickly as it can. Since there are no granules in the watered down bleach there is none to stick in cracks, etc. Given time to air dry, the chlorine can't harm fish as it will have turned to gas and dissipated in the air. Let it dry off and the chlorine is gone. I'm thinking there is massive confusion about chlorine being bad for fish and using chlorine to disinfect. Before it became standard for water treatment to use chloramine instead of chlorine it was quite common practice to just let tank water set with a bubbler to remove the chlorine. Chlorine is a handy chemical and given time will penetrate the hard shell protecting some items you want to get rid of, which water alone will not.


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## kmuda (Nov 27, 2009)

I'll disagree, in part. I once used bleach to clean especially dirty biomedia. After soaking it and rinsing it, I allowed it to dry out. Even after a week of drying out, the distinct odor of bleach could still be detected. More rinsing, more rinsing, and more rinsing, followed by another dry out, followed by a final series of rinsing, finally got rid of the bleach odor. So the chlorine contained in bleach does not dissipate as readily as the chlorine in my tap water.

With bleach, you not only have to worry about the chlorine (in the form of sodium hypochlorite or calcium hypochlorite), you also have to be concerned about the lye used to crank up the pH.

Finally, there is no chlorine gas involved, other than what is used to form the hyopchlorite. In other words, bleach does not break down and release chlorine gas. After oxidizing, the chlorine is left behind in the form of sodium chloride (table salt) or calcium chloride. Only if the pH of the bleach is dropped dramatically will chlorine gas be released (and this would be dangerous). So you certainly do not want to make the mistake of using bleach in combination with an acid, such as vinegar.

What does this have to do with anything? Not a lot. :lol:

Can bleach be used safely? Absolutey. Can bleach kill fish if used incorrectly? Absolutely.


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## SHAMENMBC (Dec 20, 2009)

Thanks for the detailed answer ,,, i think my normal regime of every three months a tear down of the set and a good scrub with a tooth brush as i really think that bleach if air dried can crustalize thanks again guys


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## PfunMo (Jul 30, 2009)

There seems to be a basic flaw in your discussion of chlorine. You say it does not break down into gas yet you smell the chlorine. I'm pretty sure you do not inhale the chlorine as a liquid or solid, so it must be a gas? When you take the lid off a bottle of bleach, you smell it very strong. Does that not indicate that the chlorine in the bleach is gassing into the air? Regular store bought household bleach is what many community water supplies use for water treatment. That is because it is chlorine in a very handy usable form. When the state samples are taken, they have to be capped and tested quickly before the chlorine residual dissipates into the air. If it is good enough for water treatment to say it dissipates into the air, it's good enough for my simple fish keeping. opcorn: 
To my simple thinking, if it is gone by state water standards, it is gone.


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## KaiserSousay (Nov 2, 2008)

Whenever I had doubts as to parts being contaminated, out came the tub.
Into the tub went a bleach mix. Usually 10 parts water to one part bleach.
The questionable piece/pieces would soak for awhile. 
If you look at my garage clock there is a spot that says awhile, just past a bit, but before long.
Then scrubbed by dollar store brushes.
Final swishing in the bleach water before going into rinse mode.
Warm to hot tap rinse of piece/pieces along with the tub.
Fill the tub with fresh tap water, add my dechlorinator, and soak for awhile.


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## SHAMENMBC (Dec 20, 2009)

I have done a simple test since the question was raised i bought 2 house hold bleaches and one contains sodium hydroxide which is very corrosive the second which was simply a cheap brand i mixed 10 to 1 in a small cup over two days the solution evaporated leaving a crystaline residue and after a good warm water rinse there was no smell or residue so i think the question maybe modified to "what brand of bleach" is safe as some have the foremention chemicle which among other things will break down rubber seals and gaskets also with destroy the bonding properties og silicone ,,,i know i am UK based and some bleaches in the US may not have this as is mainly for hard water but still the question is still "should i risk it"


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## KaiserSousay (Nov 2, 2008)

Primary ingredient, on this side of the pond, is water.
On store brands 6% , or lower sodium hypochlorite is the norm.
If you buy Pool Chlorine, it goes to 10%. 
At almost double the price of the 6%.
The word Pool seems to add something which costs above the 4 or so %.
If in doubt, read the label.


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## SHAMENMBC (Dec 20, 2009)

Agreed but very interseting topic oh and in the uk not many back yard pools lol


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## PfunMo (Jul 30, 2009)

My thoughts on chlorine come from working with a community water supply. We had been using chlorine tablets with a mechanical system to drop the tablets down the well at precribed intervals. The state told us the raw water tested good but due to the increasing ground water pollution the requirements were stiffened if providing water to more than one hundred houses. When we found how corrosive the tablets were to the well casing we looked for a better method. With the state advising, we changed to a system injecting liquid chlorine instead of the tablet chlorine. With this we put one gallon of 5 percent chlorine bleach which we bought off the shelf into a thirty gallon container. From this container the watered down bleach was injected into the water as it was drawn from the ground. The hysterical complaints we got were so insane it was a hoot. :lol: 
My experience with water treatment has left me with the feeling people just like to be hysterical. Chlorine had been a very usefull item for years and with just a bit of common sense it is a very handy item. Some way the fact that they heard chlorine gas killed great grampa makes them think it isn't safe to use. Sometimes you wonder if they even know they drank it for years. Chemicals call for respect but that should not include hysteria. :thumb:


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