[AquaTX01]

sup guys... I change my water bout 20% every week. and @ the same time, I clean out my canister filter Rena XP3. I was wondering what happens to the the beneficial bacteria when I clean out the system?? steps I take are:

1) take the trays out
2) put the bio tray away (tray containing the bio balls, ceramic rings)
3) rinse bottom tray padding, well w/ hot water
4) rinse top tray containing carbon + micro filter
5) put everything back in and fill w/ untreated tap water, then add Dechlorinator

now when the tray (containing bio stuffs) sits out for 5-10 minutes does it kill the beneficial bacteria? and what about when filling it up w/ untreated tap water??

any advise, or better process you guys use??? thnx.

 

[nismo tetra]

You don't need to fill the rena's with fresh water. You should just push the handle back down on the quick disconnect and it will self fill.

Here is a Rena how to use video.
http://resources.petsmart.com/products/2752400/video/2752400.shtml

 

[AquaTX01]

You don't need to fill the rena's with fresh water. You should just push the handle back down on the quick disconnect and it will self fill.

Here is a Rena how to use video.
http://resources.petsmart.com/products/2752400/video/2752400.shtml

wow, never thought of that (water siphon back in the filter)!! thnx a bunch for the vid as well... noticed they rinse the bio tray w/ aquarium water, rather then tag water. cool! appreciate the info nismo :biggrin:

 

[mott]

Question is why do you clean every week? I go up to 6 months at a clip!

 

[AquaTX01]

Question is why do you clean every week? I go up to 6 months at a clip!

well since I change water, might as well do it right.... beside, I find poop and mud in there every week, so rather keep it clean. lately I've been feeding them frozen bloodworm, and see few gets sucked in there. dont want it rot in there... is that too excessive to ya'll?? :biggrin:

 

[fibertech]

I clean mine about once a month. I do it the same way you do but I put 1ml of prime in before adding water. I found by filling the device with water makes priming easy.

 

[nismo tetra]

Well why fill it when you paid for the self-priming. That's how I see it. It's just the snap of a handle. Easier then manually filling. Let gravity do the work. Your basically "locking" the syphon when you block off the line. Same with eheims using the double tap connections to.

Your welcome aquatx! Go ahead and clean it once a week if that is how you like to do it. Nothing wrong with that at all. It only takes a few minutes anyways. Although I would definitely stop with the untreated tap water once a week on the bio balls lol. Just use tank water.

 

[AquaTX01]

Well why fill it when you paid for the self-priming. That's how I see it. It's just the snap of a handle. Easier then manually filling. Let gravity do the work. Your basically "locking" the syphon when you block off the line. Same with eheims using the double tap connections to.

Your welcome aquatx! Go ahead and clean it once a week if that is how you like to do it. Nothing wrong with that at all. It only takes a few minutes anyways. Although I would definitely stop with the untreated tap water once a week on the bio balls lol. Just use tank water.

ya, well I dont even rinse it. but filling up w/ untreated water defeats the whole purpose. I'll start let it refill by it self... one less PITA! :biggrin: thnx.

 

[NJAquaBarren]

You don't need to clean a filter weekly. In fact, some think excessive cleaning is detrimental. Also, you don;t want to rinse media with tap water. That will kill the bacteria that is the workhorse of the filter.

Here's a simple routine that I do with my XP3:

1) disconnect filter and put it in the utility sink (its about 18 inches deep which helps)
2) open filter and remove baskets.
3) DO NOT empty the canister of water
4) Rinse the foam pads inside the canister in the old water. You're not trying to get them clean, just get the loose debris out
5) Shake the media baskets in the old water inside the canister, one at a time. to rinse off loose debris
6) Empty the canister
7) Return media
8) reconnect filter
9) let it refill
10) start it up

takes 15 minutes on a slow day, preserves filter effectiveness.

Renas are very easy to maintain.

 

[GTR]

I use a five gallon bucket full of tank water to clean the media since I always clean it as part of a water change anyway. Those sponges get pretty nasty.

The only thing that gets tap water is the top layer of filter Marineland filter pad and the canister itself.

 

[AquaTX01]

ya, thnx ya'll. just hate the gunk in the basked everytime I take it apart. will try to stick to the video, it explains simple steps for cleaning. check it out if you guys havent... thnx for all the response again.

 

[F22]

to clean my eheim i use a pretty basic method...

fill 2 5g buckets with clear tank water
unplug filter, close valves and remove canister...
pour half the water in the filter into a third bucket...
take out pads, chemi, ceramic and rinse all the funk out in the first bucket (water will turn black) then toss them into the second bucket to get the last traces of funk out... reassemble the filter and start her up... I usually let it filter run into a bucket for a minute of so to get anything i loosened up out so it doesn't end up in the tank...

 

[lauraleellbp]

I've found that filling canisters myself before closing them back up reduces the amount of time it takes the air to discharge out of them, so I always do it myself before hooking them back up. Then I never have to prime them, either.

I clean my filters on average every 2-3 mos. I may replace filter floss more often than that if I notice the flow slowing down, though. I just had to clean my XP4 again after only 2 weeks- I assume b/c I'd done a major rescape in the tank and stirred up quite a bit of debris.

I rinse off biomedia in tank or dechlorinated water (actually I'm on a well, so my tap water is safe). I'm sure that leaving it out in the air for a few minutes does somewhat disturb the N-bacteria colony, but I've never worried about it.

 

[WhiskeyD]

You don't need to clean a filter weekly. In fact, some think excessive cleaning is detrimental. Also, you don;t want to rinse media with tap water. That will kill the bacteria that is the workhorse of the filter.

Here's a simple routine that I do with my XP3:

1) disconnect filter and put it in the utility sink (its about 18 inches deep which helps)
2) open filter and remove baskets.
3) DO NOT empty the canister of water
4) Rinse the foam pads inside the canister in the old water. You're not trying to get them clean, just get the loose debris out
5) Shake the media baskets in the old water inside the canister, one at a time. to rinse off loose debris
6) Empty the canister
7) Return media
8) reconnect filter
9) let it refill
10) start it up

takes 15 minutes on a slow day, preserves filter effectiveness.

Renas are very easy to maintain.

Thats pretty much what I do with my XP3 except for one thing. I only clean my canister about once every two months so its normally filthy. I rinse the two coarse foam pads in the canister then dump all the water out of the canister and refill it with water from the aquarium and then rinse the rest of the filter media in the cleaner water. It seems to really help get all the junk out of the finer foam filters.

 

[AquaTX01]

lol.... same/similar units, but so many ways to clean. nice to see all this diff steps. appreciate all ya'll opinions. thnx.