Cleaning Canister Filters

[adam_ottawa]

It's about time to clean out my Eheim 2213 again.  This will be the second time cleaning it.  The first time I did this, I made a royal mess all over the bathroom.  I used a kitchen-type strainer with conditioned water and it didn't go so well.

Does anyone have any tips for aiding this cleaning process?  What's an easy way to rinse out the media?    I live in an apartment and am pretty well limited to using the kitchen sink and bathtub.  I'm almost dreading doing this but I'm sure it's like anything else - practice makes perfect.

How often do you normally clean canisters with a fully stocked tank?  I'm running it on a 40g.

The [fishless] cycling is almost done and there are no fish yet so there can still be a little room for error at this point.

[PaleoFishGirl]

I have a large Rubbermaid tub that I use for my water changes (yep, still no Python ).  As it's filling up with water that I drain from the tank, I rinse my filter media in there (and dump it out often as it gets dirty really quick).  I use the water coming out of the gravel vac hose to do most of the rinsing.

I clean the empty canister, sans media, under the tap, then put everything back in, fill it back up with draining tank water and hook it back up. 

I clean my filter about once a month, but it could probably use a more frequent cleaning because it's usually really dirty.  It's tough to open, though, so I leave it longer

You don't have any fish and yet this is the second time you're cleaning your filter? How dirty is it?

[Julie]

Sometimes I rinse the foam in tank water but generally I rinse in tap.  I rinse the bio balls in tank and I use the canister water itself to do so, that is if it's not too filthy.

[artw]

I was going to ask that too.   your filter can't be too dirty if you are fish less cycling it.  Also, even if you use aquarium water, you are disturbing the very bacteria you are working so hard to grow.   My advice for anyone fishless cycling is DO NOT CLEAN ANYTHING not even the tank until you have fish in, and they have been in for about a month.  it may look like hell but deal.

[Julie]

It only looks like hell if you open it...maybe he's got some stinkin rotting shrimp in the tank...might need a cleaning?
Adam, could you post some test results?

If you need some stink, I've got a dirty oscar canister with lots of goodies in it.

[artw]

I actually still have the slimy dirty scuzzy scummy filter media Roxydog gave me in April

[darkdep]

As others have said, not sure why your canister is so dirty...

Canisters are very good biological filters; IMHO most people clean them too OFTEN.

I use either the Bathtub (used to, with upstairs tanks) or my utility sink.  Top gets popped, trays pulled out.  Biomedia gets put aside and never touched; sponges are all squeezed out under tap water, floss is tossed and replaced.  Canister is dumped, rinsed a few times, and refilled with tap water.  Everything is put back and reconnected.

[Julie]

Dear Dark, if you saw my oscar canister,you would rewrite cleaning too often. 
There are great biological filters, but remember they are holding fish poo poo and lots of nitrates.

[darkdep]

Agreed Julie, as with anything else it depends on what's in the tank.  I'm a big opponent of the "This filter can handle this size tank" logic, as it doesn't tank into account what kind of bioload that tank has.

[fishycanuck]

Hope this isn't considered thread jacking... but I have been wondering about my cannister filter as well.  Eheim suggests cleaning it every three months. I take it apart, rinse out the filter sponge in tap water, and the cannister as well. I have not touched the ceramic "noodles" since I got the unit in April. The nitrates have never gone above 5.
Do the ceramic noodles ever need cleaning or replacing?

[adam_ottawa]

I cleaned it the first time after I attempted to cycle the tank with some Rasboras.  There weren't nearly enough fish so I got rid of them and started cycling with ammonia.  That cleaning was about a month ago.

Perhaps you're all correct in that I shouldn't clean the filter until it is properly established.

I don't have the water params here (at work).  I'll post them later this afternoon when I get home.

I will, however, be forced to drain about half the water this week when I add in some rocks, so that may disturb the cycling somewhat.

[darkdep]

There is (almost) never any reason to clean the biomedia.  It should be grungy. 

[artw]

I rinse the biomedia lightly in a bucket of aquarium water.  Biological media can collect mulm just as easy as sponges, and its a good idea to wash this mulm off so it doesnt block the good stuff on the noodles.  Key word lightly here,  I dip the compartment in the bucket and lift it up and down slowly 2 or 3 times and then put it back in the canister. you will be suprised how much gunk supposedly pre-filtered pre-sponged bionoodles can collect.

Rinse sponges to your hearts content, I used to soak them in a light bleach solution overnight but that became too much effort.

[darkdep]

I have found if you use a good bunch of filter floss immediately before the biomedia, it gets almost no heavy mulm.

[Muad'Dib]

There is (almost) never any reason to clean the biomedia.  It should be grungy. 

I'm with DarkDep on this... I have an XP3 as the only filter on my 40G tank. I've had it running for nearly 5 months. I've cleaned the filter only once in that time. (3 weeks ago) and all I did was rince the foam inserts at the bottom that catch the solids so they don't get clogged. I have actually modified the intake since to use an AquaClear Quick filter attachment (http://www.bigalsonline.ca/BigAlsCA/ctl3664/cp17901/si1315097/cl0/aquaclearquickfilterattachmentlg ) as a pre-filter to reduce the amount solid waste from being sucked into the canister.
I should note that while cleaning the foam inserts I made sure the bio-media chamber was immersed in water from the aquarium for the 3 or 4 minutes it took to rinse the foam. This was just a precaution so I would not kill off the bacteria in the bio-media by letting it dry out.
Now that the pre-filter is in place, I'm hoping I can go a year without tearing down the filter just to clean the foam inserts.

[artw]

thats not a bad idea but for those of us who use canisters as their only method of filtration (Fluval 304 and 404)  and STILL have particles in the water means they (I) need to clean the filters almost twice a month.     When I move into my bigger apartment I'll have more space, which means I'll be able to move the tank out from the wall and put some Aquaclears on (Real mechanical filters)

[darkdep]

Unrelated, but I've noticed my new Magnum 350's are doing a much better job of mechanical filtration compared to the Fluvals I've used in the past.

[artw]

Unrelated #2 my Ehem 2226 and my Filstar XP1 I used to own blew my Fluvals out of the water. if I didnt get them for free/next to nothing I wouldn't be using them.

[Muad'Dib]

I'm using a pretty fine filter medium in the aquaclear to try to reduce the size of the particle that do get to the canister. I clean the prefilter ever time I do a water change (every 7 to 10 days). I also use a gravel vac to get the free floating debris.

I may still have to clean the canister more frequently... but we'll see.

[Seanc]

i have cleaned my canister once. i think i have had it for a little over 6 months. although i do change the filter floss more often, but i have never had any problems with it, thats the great thing about eheims.