New to Canister filter!

Hi, So I recently (on sunday) upgraded to 56 tall and will be using a canister - fluval 404 for the very first time.

I have been told that i basically have to clean/change/replace (basically mess with the filter) every 6 months How true is this?

Do i need to do any more frequent less tedious activities to keep things the way they should be. I am really tempted to rinse/wash the vertical mechanical filters and the white sponge that sits on the top every week when i plan to do 25-30% WC.. pros n con?

The current setup has PFS, plants(not heavily planted).

Bioload - 4 Discus (5 inches), 2 corys, 4 BN plecos (2 small 2 adults).

Also, i read that it is better to switch off the canister for 30 mins or so during feeding, any issues with this?

your help and comments are greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Dhaval

I suspect that you may set off yet another tedious debate on this forum about the efficacy of canister filters, but let's hope not! Some folks here love them, and others despise them. I think they are the best form of filtration.

I tend to clean my canister filters (mostly Eheim and Cobalt) about every four months, but I think I could easily let them go longer. I believe that you do not need to clean your canister unless the filter flow has slowed down significantly. You may find that your experience differs, of course. (I do not own a Fluval filter.)

I would not wash out any of the components weekly, if that means you have to open up the canister.

I use prefilter sponges on my canister filter intakes, which reduces the amount of buildup inside the canisters. I find that I have to clean those sponges every week, or the flow does slow down a great deal, at least on some of the canisters.

I agree with Matt it's up for debate. I think it depends on your stock, tank location, tank size and many other things. I use both but will lean towards the canisters. I clean them less often than hob filters. 6 months is pushing imo (overstocked Africans) maybe every two months I've got two canisters one is just bio and the other has polishing filter pad etc. I rotate cleanings...so in reality I'm cleaning a filter every month, though not the same filter.


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I probably go about 4 months to basically dump out the particle heavy water and change the bag of purigen. I squish the sponges out in the water I pour out and put them back in. Maybe 10 minutes mostly cause I'm too lazy to label the power cord. I could probably go longer but I need to change the purigen, especially in the tank with all the driftwood

Then 10-20 fiddling with the **** thing and pumping the primer to get it to restart. From a personal oh crap experience I would make sure to have an air stone.

Jt731 said:

I probably go about 4 months to basically dump out the particle heavy water and change the bag of purigen. I squish the sponges out in the water I pour out and put them back in. Maybe 10 minutes mostly cause I'm too lazy to label the power cord. I could probably go longer but I need to change the purigen, especially in the tank with all the driftwood

Then 10-20 fiddling with the **** thing and pumping the primer to get it to restart. From a personal oh crap experience I would make sure to have an air stone.

Click to expand...

Def agree with air stone but will say more air the better I lost a tank full when the flow lessened and the small air stone wasn't providing enough oxygen.


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To answer your question about turning the filter off when feeding, I don't bother to do this. I mostly feed sinking pellets, however, so I don't think there's much risk of the food getting into the filter before being eaten.

(As an aside, I don't see why one would do this differently when switching from HOB filters to canister filters.)

Thank you for your responses.

I saw my tank go from bit hazy (which i use to think is crystal clear) to shiny sparkly clear in about 2 hours of running the canister. I am on canister side of this debate!

I think i will clean the canister after 2 months and will determine at that point if i was too late or too early. Seems like this baby can handle 2 months easily unless i drop 4 cups od corn flour in the tank!

Regarding pre-filters, can someone post pictures, i have tried using prefilter on HOB's but the flow would almost die!

Also, by purigen, you are talking about charcoal bags, i suppose (please excuse my ignorance)

i have two airstones setup in the tank. So i think i got that part covered. And i will keep an eye on the flow just to be safe.

Thanks again,

dhaval

dhavalsp said:

Thank you for your responses.

I saw my tank go from bit hazy (which i use to think is crystal clear) to shiny sparkly clear in about 2 hours of running the canister. I am on canister side of this debate!

I think i will clean the canister after 2 months and will determine at that point if i was too late or too early. Seems like this baby can handle 2 months easily unless i drop 4 cups od corn flour in the tank!

Regarding pre-filters, can someone post pictures, i have tried using prefilter on HOB's but the flow would almost die!

Also, by purigen, you are talking about charcoal bags, i suppose (please excuse my ignorance)

i have two airstones setup in the tank. So i think i got that part covered. And i will keep an eye on the flow just to be safe.

Thanks again,

dhaval

Click to expand...

Yea the flow problem was my fault for not checking parts when I cleaned it...the little plastic ring around the impeller was cracked.... Just do a visual check on all filters is my new motto


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mchambers said:

To answer your question about turning the filter off when feeding, I don't bother to do this. I mostly feed sinking pellets, however, so I don't think there's much risk of the food getting into the filter before being eaten.

(As an aside, I don't see why one would do this differently when switching from HOB filters to canister filters.)

Click to expand...

In all liklihood, i have been doing this wrond, but i would just let the food go in the HOB and rinse the filter pad every 3-4th day...I realized i will not have this liberty with canister.

BTW, i graduated from 29G with 30G capacity tetra filter...So i was not dealing with fancy stuff before..

Purigen is a synthetic compound that you use instead of charcoal.

http://www.seachem.com/Products/product_pages/Purigen.html

I thin some folks on here swear by chemi blue as well.

Charcoal has limited life, effectiveness, and will eventually leech what it has absorbed back into the water column

I'm definitely in the "don't like canister filters" camp, but to each their own.

My main issue with them is that they don't allow easy cleaning of mechanical media. Mechanical media traps uneaten food and other wastes, which is easily cleaned in a HOB, sump, dump or box filter (or siphoned out of the tank if it's on the floor of the tank or in the gravel).

The same requires taking the canister offline, opening it, etc. - a relative PITA, which is why a lot of people don't do it for months at a time.

So does an accumulation of mechanical waste in the filter, gravel or elsewhere in the aquarium system matter? As someone who keeps a lot of nitrate-sensitive fish that eat plants (not that I have enough lighting or a green enough thumb to grow plants, except Pothos ) - it absolutely matters to me. I change / clean mechanical media frequently (I can because changing it in a box or dump filter takes about 20 seconds). I also change a lot of water.

For heavily planted tanks it probably matters less: plants consume the nitrogenous waste that accumulates without cleaning.

That waste accumulates in a place where one can't see it (inside the canister) doesn't make the waste any more or less nasty.

How often would I clean a canister on a tank of discus? A lot. But, again, I wouldn't use a canister!

Who's going to do the experiment: dump the water out of a canister that hasn't been cleaned for 6 months. I bet that the results aren't pretty...

Matt

Thanks Matt... Good to know the view on the other side...you have highlighted some of my concerns... So far I think I am going to try canister with a good size predicted and see the results...

One way to keep waste out of the filter is a pre-filter. Some people use AquaClear foam (or poret) and fit over the filter intake.

Matt

Not to divert things

dhavalsp said:

Thanks Matt... Good to know the view on the other side...you have highlighted some of my concerns... So far I think I am going to try canister with a good size predicted and see the results...

Click to expand...

Matt Q explained his concerns a few years back and got responses from others here. You might want to read this thread:

http://www.capitalcichlids.org/foru...=canister+filter+nitrates+mattenfilter&page=2

Yes - it's resolved that filter cleaning and gravel vacuuming is purely aesthetic. The stuff that accumulates in gravel and mechanical filters is "inert" and doesn't add to the nitrate load of the tank.

So OP:
Don't clean your canister until the flow decreases significantly (a few months) or clean the gravel. Just do water changes. Let's see how those discus are doing...

Matt

PS Not what I'd recommend...

mchambers said:

Matt Q explained his concerns a few years back and got responses from others here. You might want to read this thread:

http://www.capitalcichlids.org/foru...=canister+filter+nitrates+mattenfilter&page=2

Click to expand...

I have both filters. I run both on some tanks. I don't highly stock my tanks and I don't overfeed. I clean my canister filters every 6 months and they really are not that dirty. I do also have HOB or wet dry filters in addition to any canister I have. I only use them for mechanical and biological filter. I have one with some brightwell chemical filtration. I think they are great but I don't think I would ever rely on any filtration as a solo.