Regular Member number20121 Posted October 10, 2010 Regular Member Share Posted October 10, 2010 I know you gotta rinse those with tank water because the clorine in the tap water will kill the bacteria, right? So then, what is with all of you who do big water changes and use pythons or whatever to hook up to the tap and fill the tank up with water that's not been declorinated yet? Also, can I rinse the filter pads with water that comes from a tap-filter jug? You know, those things you fill with tap water, put in your fridge, water runs through the filter and comes out without clorine taste/smell etc? The filter I have has this thing here, I guess it is meant to be the bio part for the BB. Is this sufficient enough or should I eventually replace it? As you see, that thing is inserted in front of the filter pad (considering the water coming in from behind and going through the filter pad first and then around that funny looking thing). If that is what it is, should I replace the filter pad that collects waste every so often, or still only rinse and put back in? After all it will accumulate a boatload of waste after a while, because you can rinse out only so much. The fibers hold on to that stuff well. Yumm. Or should I toss the funny brushy part and replace it with a fiber pad to give BB more surface, and have another pad behind it that filters the yucky stuff out and that I can toss every so many weeks? Also: I bought a big thing of undergravel filter padding, thinking about cutting it in pieces and using it as filter pads. The whole thing is only 6 bucks but is 312 square inches. It is Marineland Rite-Size Bonded Filter Pad. "Cuts to Fit any Filter... and lasts twice as long!" So what is the best way? Using two pieces of this stuff and replacing one every once in a while, while I keep the other one as BB Central? Or using one to toss and keeping the brushy plastic part? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Cynders Posted October 10, 2010 Regular Member Share Posted October 10, 2010 I put prime in the tank water right before the water comes in and that works just fine I would throw out the brush part and just add tons of padding. Don't throw out the old pads but rinse them. You rarely ever need to throw out the old pads. That's where all the BBs are. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member theaquaticlibrary Posted October 10, 2010 Regular Member Share Posted October 10, 2010 As above prime in the tank and then top up with the fresh water, expensive stuff but reliable and you hardly need to use any at all. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Cynders Posted October 10, 2010 Regular Member Share Posted October 10, 2010 As above prime in the tank and then top up with the fresh water, expensive stuff but reliable and you hardly need to use any at all. It is so concentrated a 4 dollar mini bottle of it has lasted me about a month and I've still got half of it left. 1 capful treats about 50 gallons of water. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member number20121 Posted October 10, 2010 Author Regular Member Share Posted October 10, 2010 (edited) Yeah, I use that stuff too. I just didn't know it works that fast. I am doomed to use 4 gallon containers to bring the water back in. Fun when you got a 55 gallon tank But I add 8 drops to each load of water and then let it sit for 30 minutes because I don't want to get chlorine in the tank. So if prime works more or less instantly, then there is no risk. So I never toss filter pads, even though I get only like half the mess out of it? Doesn't that bring bad stuff back into the tank? And so when I toss those weird things now, can I just toss them right now and replace them by more padding, or could that cause a cycle bump? I'm sure those things have some of the BB on them, and especially with my fluky fishies I don't want to risk something like that. And that padding I bought will work fine? I mean, I guess so, since it is meant to be filter padding, although for undergravel filters. But I'm weird like that, I rather ask and make sure Edit: And I guess I throw the blue filter pad holders out too? Edited October 10, 2010 by Oerba Yun Fang 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member theaquaticlibrary Posted October 10, 2010 Regular Member Share Posted October 10, 2010 (edited) filter pads should never be thoroughly cleaned, a quick squeeze in old tank water to release any detritus so they are not blocked up is sufficient Edited October 10, 2010 by theaquaticlibrary 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member number20121 Posted October 10, 2010 Author Regular Member Share Posted October 10, 2010 Alright, then that is what I am going to do! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admin koko Posted October 10, 2010 Admin Share Posted October 10, 2010 The only time I chuck mine is when they are so brown looking and falling apart, when mine start to shrink i put more floss in there. You can get rid of floss when you have more in the filter, this way the older ones can do the back up for BB's but remember dont do a gravel change when you do this 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member number20121 Posted October 10, 2010 Author Regular Member Share Posted October 10, 2010 I always thought you'd have to change them when they look nasty, full of brown stuff. Well, thanks everyone for your input! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admin koko Posted October 10, 2010 Admin Share Posted October 10, 2010 If there filter floss I will toss if there so brown you can see the original color, but if its the carbon filter I will use till they fall apart, and take out the carbon 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member number20121 Posted October 10, 2010 Author Regular Member Share Posted October 10, 2010 If there filter floss I will toss if there so brown you can see the original color, but if its the carbon filter I will use till they fall apart, and take out the carbon Gotcha! Thanks, koko! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Kendall Posted October 19, 2010 Regular Member Share Posted October 19, 2010 If there filter floss I will toss if there so brown you can see the original color, but if its the carbon filter I will use till they fall apart, and take out the carbon Gotcha! Thanks, koko! I recently bought a new filter pump with a bio wheel because my old pump (without bio wheel) went out. Fortunately my old filter pad fits into the new pump so I kept it so as not to lose all of the BB. I noticed though in the instructions with the new pump it says to replace the filter pad every two weeks. I thought this strange but I am assuming that since it has a bio wheel which does not need to be changed it is ok to change out the filter pad. Still I don't feel comfortable replacing it every two weeks. in fact I have yet to replace the old filter (which I have had for over a year) which is looking very nasty and seems to do a good job of keeping the water clear but the water flow does seem to be backing up a bit. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member number20121 Posted October 19, 2010 Author Regular Member Share Posted October 19, 2010 That was the same for me, I didn't quite get why I should toss it. But as I found out here, just rinse the old pad and re use it. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member mikroll Posted October 19, 2010 Regular Member Share Posted October 19, 2010 So then, what is with all of you who do big water changes and use pythons or whatever to hook up to the tap and fill the tank up with water that's not been declorinated yet? there are many ways to remove chlorine from the water. I do not use chemicals but pass the water through a big active carbon filter before it continues into the tanks. Active carbon is an inexpensive easy way to remove undesired gases 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member number20121 Posted October 19, 2010 Author Regular Member Share Posted October 19, 2010 Thanks! I just filled the tank with a new garden hose and just added prime to it. I love that stuff! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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