Canister-filter.com

Cleaning a canister filter should be quite an easy task and if everything is set up properly shouldn't have to happen too frequently. A substantial decrease in water flow is often a good sign that it's about time to clean your canister filter.

So how do we go about cleaning our filter? First we have to remove it from where it sits so be sure to place the canister filter in an easy accessible spot. Most canister filters have valves to which the tubing is connected. If your filter doesn't have these valves, it's a good idea to install them yourself. They make things less complicated and messy. To remove the canister filter we unplug it, close the valves and detach the canister filter from the tubing. If you already have a canister filter in a working situation and find that there are no valves present, remove any tubing that is inside the aquarium and below the water surface before you unplug the canister filter. Be prepared for a bit of water when detaching the tubes from your filter.

I use my bathroom for cleaning the canister filter but you could use the kitchen sink just as well for the job. As long as you are aware that things might get messy and wet.

Once you've decided where to clean your filter, open it up. Different brands or types have their own way of opening and their own way of containing the filter media. Take it all out, inspect the contents and decide if you need to renew any material. Most filter material can be reused several times. Fine filtration wads will, for obvious reasons, have to be replaced for new ones more frequently than medium filtration wads. So far I haven't replaced the ball shaped substrate and ceramic pipes of my current canister filter. They last for ages anyway but if you feel you've to replace them, replace them in two or three stages. This is to keep the bio filtration properties alive.

The only thing we want to do to the filter material is to rinse them. Most ideally this is done with water from your aquarium so we don't wipe out the bacterial colonies that are necessary for biological filtration. For me personally this is too much of a fuss and I use cold tap water instead. I however do make sure to leave a part of my bio filtration media untouched. In my case that is half of the ball shaped substrate and sometimes I don't clean any of the substrate and the ceramic pipes at all. So far this has worked out fine for me.

I always pay extra attention to the pump's impeller and it's blades. Some types of canister filters allow for easy access to these parts of the system, others don't. Either way be careful because this part of the canister filter (the pump actually) is quite fragile. I use cotton buds and fine toddler's tooth brush for this job.

After you are satisfied with the results of cleaning the canister filter, put all the filter material back in the right order and close the filter. Replace the canister filter to where it belongs, connect the tubing, open the valves and plug it in. Most likely you'll see that there is no flow of water yet. This is because the filter has some air in it and the pump isn't able to build up any pressure. Some brands of canister filters, like my own, have a mechanism to start up the flow of water but others don't. It's always a good idea however to fill up the canister filter with water from the aquarium before reinstalling it.