Regular Member Captain Findus Goldfish Posted October 25, 2010 Regular Member Share Posted October 25, 2010 Just to check that I am doing stuff right - DONT want to mess up my dear baby cycle! So, I unplugged the canister, took it out and opened the top so oxygen got in. In the mean time I took apart its 2 tubes and brushed them clean from brown algae with one of those long brushy things. (took about 5 mins 'racing to save the BBs') While bf reset the pipes I filled a new bucket (rinsed with vinegar) with fresh water and added de-chlorinator. I took each compartment of the canister and 'dipped' it in a couple of times. The sponges I took out of the compartment and swished + squeezed them. TRYIED hard to to try and clean out all the gunk in them. Then I re put the compartments in the canister, added a bit of 'CYCLE' (about 10mins total). I DID NOT empty the water in the canister and fill it with fresh water - is this correct?????? I am asking because I always replace the water in my turtle's canister - but hers are another level of gross. Will replacing the water bump my cycle? Also, how 'clean' can the stuff get? I tried not to disturb the brown stuff on my ceramic rings too much, is this good? I now replugged the filter and will let it run while I do a 50% water change. I only did 1. Will do one every week (I have 4 running) Suggestions and punishment welcome! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Wendy Posted October 25, 2010 Regular Member Share Posted October 25, 2010 (edited) where do you get a long brushy thing for cleaning tubes? is there one for hoses? Sponge and stone/ceramic media can be rinsed gently in dechlorinated water but I don't do it. I just drain out debris that is in the bottom of the canister. Edited October 25, 2010 by Texana 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Captain Findus Goldfish Posted October 25, 2010 Author Regular Member Share Posted October 25, 2010 oh so you empty the water? I did the opposite - rinse the media extra gently and not touch the water in canister. I got the tube cleaner at my LFS/Home Depot. They are awesome! The brush is just tiny but the metal handle is LONG and it also goes through corners etc 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member spillie Posted October 25, 2010 Regular Member Share Posted October 25, 2010 I am not sure about the best way to preserve a baby cycle. What I do with my established cycle with my eheims is: -fill a bucket with water from the tank (from BB point of view, water is the same, temp is the same) --close off the quick release valves to keep water in the tubes from/to the tank (so cannister will self siphon to start) and quick like a bunny unplug the cannister so as not to damage the motor. If you are super fast/have your handy BF as a helper, you can unplug first while he flips the valves. That's better, I think! -drain cannister -remove media/filter pads and swish in the bucket with the tank water (replace the really dirty pads if need be after swishing the new ones, too), leave there in the water while cleaning tubes, cannister. -put media/filter pad back in cannister and close --do not add water --hook up to tank --open the valves, both output and intake. The cannister will fill up with water from the tank --plug back in. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Captain Findus Goldfish Posted October 25, 2010 Author Regular Member Share Posted October 25, 2010 yea so you take out the gunky water from the canister... that makes sense. will do it next week. I just realized it might be better to use the tank water to swish because my tap water pH is 7.5 and tank is 8.4.... so DEF will do that. It is just much easier to fill from tap and dechlorinate then to syphon it out of the tank as I use a python... hmmmmm.... 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admin koko Posted October 25, 2010 Admin Share Posted October 25, 2010 When i had my canister, i would do everything so far you did, but I would gently rinse the balls in tank water, and dump the water out of the canister and put alittle water back in and dump out again 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Captain Findus Goldfish Posted October 25, 2010 Author Regular Member Share Posted October 25, 2010 Thanx guys! I was afraid of dumping out the BBs! They are my little babies! But next time I will then empty out the water. Maybe I rotate for now - once I dump the water and once I will swish the ceramic media. At least now in the beginning 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member amynmitchell Posted October 25, 2010 Regular Member Share Posted October 25, 2010 I always empty, swish a bit, and refill with primed water. But my cycle is a bit less new. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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