How i clean and cycle my aquarium filters... sorta! the king of DIY 

Joey, to answer your question; yes I enjoy your videos where youre showcasing the fish and the various aquariums (aquaria?), but I prefer the more "instructional" videos that help us keep things running more smoothly. Even something as basic as showing us how to clean filters is valuable.

I clean my FX6 about every 6 to 8 months and to me it sure needs it by then. I really enjoy watching all your maintenance videos and how you take care of such a large fish room. I have been in this hobby now for 18 years but the beauty of it is you never stop learning.

I've been keeping fish for 20 years and have been watching your videos for a solid portion of that, I personally appreciate these behind the scenes takes. All these years in and I still learn new or different ways of doing things.

That’s how I clean our filters too. This is nice seeing you do the maintenance side of the hobby. It’s the dirty work that most channels leave out. But it’s interesting and relatable. Thanks for sharing.

If you have to choose - go full fish nerd mode! Met you 6-7 years ago and Dallas and what I I like is you don’t change. You are who you are and who you are is the balance in this hobby it needs. Anyone can fish keep and it doesn’t matter where you come from or what your background is, enjoy this hobby

I’m new to the hobby. These vids are super helpful. I know I can find the info on other channels, but I trust your opinions and methods more than anyone else.

Yes I want more videos like this!!!!

I love this type of video. I had the same impeller problem with an FX4 I got with a tank on offerup. I cleaned the whole thing multiple times and couldn't get the water flow going strong. I asked a guy at my LFS, and he told me to clean the impeller. It works great now.

These are my favourite videos 👍😎

Yes I like to see your maintenance videos. I plan on building my own separate fish room or area in the future. I like seeing things need to look out for.

A couple of months on the media in the canister filters. The sponge on the intakes gets rinsed out weekly. -ish.

I love FX6's, keep them on all my tanks. Great video Joey! see ya on stream soon! I clean probably every 2 months

Hey Crumble here lol I clean my fx 6 on my discus tank every 2 months it's like you said it is great water for the plants lol. By cleaning it you remove the dead bacteria and therefore you create space for new bacteria to adhere too. It is essential for a good established tank! That's why I love moving bed filters alot with k2 media the air bubbles create the spinning of the k2 and shakes off any dead bacteria that's why you barely have to clean moving bed filters because it is basically self cleaning

I clean my fx6 filters in a bucket filled with water from the tank. As I have Malawi cichlids I do it once a month. Love your videos 😊

On my 135g with peacocks, clown loaches and plecos (about 50 total fish), i have 2 fx6's. On a staggered 5-6 month rotation I will clean a filter. I will put 2 new sponges on the bottom and clean and rotate the others up. I have bio-media in the bottom and middle trays - a good rinse off for the media. top tray has some media and another round sponge. I also replace and add within the bottom tray Chemi-pure, chemi pure elite and purigen packets to help keep the water crystal clear.. I also use Seachem Prime conditioner fill up the fx6 before i connect it back to the tank. Love your vids btw!!

I like having clear canister filters since you can get a good general idea of how clean they are. The Fluval FX6 is a great choice since it can hold so much media and has such a high flow rate, I'm guessing you can go longer in between water changes just due to its size. When I used canisters I had a couple Penn-Plax Cascades going in parallel on a 100G cichlid tank, could usually go a couple months between filter cleaning. Almost got the FX6 as well but ended up downsizing to a 33 long, ever since I've been running a 33 long planted beta tank and sponge filters, love it! But gosh, I planted crypt parva in there about 6 years ago and just now finally starting to get results. The extra natural sunlight at my new home definitely helps.

The plants in the piranha tank look amazing dude 😮

amazing video, love the short videos of things you do around the aqarium

I clean the filters when theres a reduced circulation. It’s usually somewhere between every 2 or 3 years in the most dirty aquariums up to 4-5 years in the less populated aquariums. I dont have any canister filters, but mostly HMF, sump and background filters. I have a few hang on back filters in my two Endler aquariums. They need a bit more periodic maintenance - usually twice a year.

Great video man!!! Loved it.

Its well worth getting yourself a bottle of silicone oil to put on the seals when you do a clean - its prevents the seals from drying out and cracking, therefore preventing leaks and keeping the seals super tight. Its only a few ££s for a bottle off eBay on this side of the pond so id imagine its similarly cheap in Canada. Also can be used on noisey impellors too 👍

As much as I love your tanks, I would love to see your filtration systems and how they all work!! Video idea maybe

I use a pre-filter on the FX filter and sure helps. Just gotta clean the pre-filter weekly. But once a year on the big FX

I found baby albino bristle nose plecos in my FX one time while cleaning it. It had been 6 months since I had last cleaned it.

Great info here ,, I have adopted the same method for my filters , I clean about every 6 months or longer , I longer i leave it the better the water quality . i run two filter set up and alternate the clean with a few weeks between each one , .. LRB would love what your demonstrating here .. Thanks Joey . All the best from the UK . R .

Little tip, if you drain some water out of the bottom before you take the hoses off, you won’t get that water explosion. Might not be worth it but where my tank is in a spot that I really don’t want water on the floor, helpful to know!

My sponges get like that after 6 weeks. I go by flow rates

My thank filter i clean and 6 months sometimes later❤

Maintenance videos are a good thing. Keep up the good work.

Yes once or twice a year seems good enough for my setup of Africans. Good on ya Joey, let us in on all the juicy stuff. Legend.

The time between cleaning depends on the bioload. I have 1 marine and 3 FW tanks. The FW canisters get cleaned when the flow is noticeably reduced. One is heavily stocked and needs the sponges rinsed monthly. The other 2 maybe every 4/5 months. I don’t even bother testing the water anymore. I do maybe 30% water change twice a year on all 3. Marine tank has a sump so not comparable, but I actually run a canister filer on the sump. I use it as a vac to keep detritus off the bottom, I also use it to run carbon etc and finally, it is my emergency cycled filter encase I need to setup a hospital/ QTN tank quickly. I think you should maybe distinguish if using a canister on a marine tank, you would want to be cleaning it out a lot more often as flow is absolute essential to maintain a healthy reef. I love canisters for their convenience, but they make you a lazy aquarist and can very easily become phosphate factories if not kept in check.

Hey man could you post an update on your planted saltwater macro algae tank?

I enjoy seeing this stuff

I clean my canister filters on a six month rotation, but alternate cleaning so it’s more like a three month rotation. But now that I moved away from Oscars and Green Terrors I’m gonna see how my FX6’s look after eight months or even a year between cleaning them👍

My FX4 is getting cleaned twice a year 😅. I only have a 65-gallon tank.

@kingofdiy my process exactly however , you did not mention how often you lube the o rings? I do mine once or twice a year with food grade lube, to keep them supple

i have a tidal 55 on my 20 long, hardly ever touch it. maybe a few times a year to clean the sponges. bout it. the only issue ive had with it is the impeller sometimes gets clogged with mulm or plant debris. but thats a quick fix. really love this filter. less trouble then the old aquaclears.

I never thought I could teach the KING something but I’ll explain how you can unhook your fx6 filter without getting water everywhere. While it’s still plugged in, shut off your inlet going to your filter. Then shut off your outlet going to your tank. Now unplug your filter. When you remove the hoses, no water will come out.

Yes everything and tips I always down to watch videos on everything

I have 2 Sicce Whale 500 cannisters. I don't keep a schedule, but look for reduced flow. Works out to be about every 3 months. Obviously, I don't clean both at the same time.

I only clean mine when the flow rate goes down. You can put vasceline on the orings so that they last longer

Question? Which glue would you recommend when doing aquascape’s

What about cleaning the impeller?

There is a way to disconnect the fx6 without spilling. There is a drain at the bottom so open that before you disconnect it. I'm pretty sure the instructions tell you to do that.

looks at the rain outside... can i have off that rain too? 😅

I am in Toronto and alway wonder if you ever come this side of the world.

His piranha tank is badass

Good advice

X3 fx6 on 6x2x2. Clean x2 filters every 6 months (give or take) and leave one till the next time. No issues with wayer or fish health

Great video 😊 Detroit

I only clean canisters when flow diminishes, and never clean them til water tuns clear. Gotta leave some muck in the sponges.

Well I’m cleaning my canister filters while watching this video. Try to clean mine every 2-3 months. Fired Up!!!

Honestly man I only clean my fx6s once the flow rate slows down no different than you! And I tell you what my water quality is amazing running fx6s and the 406s on my fahaka tank. They do such a good job don’t think I’d ever want to run a sump. Fluval makes some amazing canisters! All my fish are super happy and healthy!

Hi Joey, I have a 240gallon, 12 Discus (5” to 6”) and 8 Angel (body size 4” to 5”) aquarium, filtered with 2 FX6 and 1 Emperor 450 HOB for water polishing, I do at least 50% weekly water change and basically rinse the sponges and change the filter floss every 2 to 3 weeks. The FX6’s I clean every 6 months separating the cleaning alternate week rinsing the sponges in tap and media in tank water, a question for you the media bricks like those in your sump, what do you think about breaking those up to use in the FX6 instead of the usual media Fluval provide with the filter

I use pre filters on my inlets and then I only clean the canister when I move the tank (almost never)

I clean my filter once a month, water change once every other week.

All your videos are interesting. I rinse my media out weekly. I have the easiest diy top filters on my tank. So easy, why not rinse them? I rinse media in aquarium water the day before I do water changes. I keep messy fantail goldfish.

Wait we’re supposed to clean our canisters? Also what if you used the og bashee sump for the sump under the 375?

I have always cleaned my cannister filter using the existing aquarium water with thought that using tap water may kill the bacteria. Am I wrong?

I know you deal with fish tanks, but I have a question about my 150-foot by 50-foot by 15-foot deep pond. I'm not sure if you can help, but I've asked a bunch of people locally and here on youtube with no help. The water test comes back, and everything is in the right parameters. The water isn't clear and I get a brown film on the top and the vegetation gets the same film on it. I have an aerator with two air stones, and I put blue dye in also. We swim in the pond with about 500 koi when the weather here in Nothern Ontario gets hot and muggy. Thanks in advance for any help from you or your subs.

Do you sell merch?

I have a sump so i only clean the first section. Which means take out the filterfloss and replace it 😂

About every 3 months. Really depends on feeding.

I clean all my filters with tap water about once a year.

Hi Joey

My sump 2 years cycle ... fx6 about 6 months or when flow reduces

water all over the plug is frying my brain

I have an fx6 and fx5 on a 180 gallon and my fx5 had broke down sense than it’s been a year sense I cleaned my fx6 but I know I got to 😂😂

"A little bit of water splash".... right next to a power strip.

fx6 is the best filter in the world.

Use a tub with some water from the tank and use that to wash everything boom your welcome

Cleaning 300litre reef tank canister filter once week😂

I clean my sponge filter.. now like 11 month..

Joey..... where are your shoes?

All that fish 💩 😮

You gave away the he feet for the free oh noooooo

I only clean when flow rate is reduced…..get video

Iv got better flow rate than that 😂

Hope you washed your hands afterwards.

"technically", "technically", "technically". You don't even use it correctly

Folks please don't use fresh water to clean your sponges like he doing. Get a 5 gallon bucket and fill with the tank water. Then gently squeeze sponges clean. If water gets too dirty just simply empty bucket and add more tank water.

Ew, kinda tainted video with Chinese advertising lame