I've used fluval canisters since a 203 in the 80s. They have seriously evolved and i've never had one fail. I clean them every 6 to 8 mos and just rinse them out exactly as you did only I pour out the filter water in a 2 gal bucket. I recommend always cleaning the impeller well and impeller along with the oring and groove while you have apart. Lubricate the oring and seal around the impeller cover with food grade silicone or vegetable oil in a pinch. This can all be done very quickly without the sponges drying and with minimal loss of established bacteria. Great video John, I think it will help beginners using these excellent type of filters.
I've been rather appalled at the cleaning recommendations from some folks online, since they create problems. Too much cleaning is a hugely bad thing, but people are actually being told to clean constantly. Worst one yet, a beginner was told he needed to REPLACE the substrate every 6 months. SO glad you pointed out that the health of the tank matters most, and that means LEAVE IT ALONE in some ways!
@@oxylepy2 That was my first thought. It reminded me of some of the recommendations I received as a beginner from pet store staff. I don't buy into their nonsense anymore, and I'll even call them out on it, but back then? I believed what they told me. At great expense for me AND the fish.
Wow that's not good advise. I dont vac my sand and let all the waste go into thw sand and lava rock where the plants make the most of it. They seem to be happy with the 2 year old substrate so far.
@@RooRichy Same here. I can't even remember the last time I used my gravel vac. I want all that mulm to stay in there and work its way into the substrate to feed my plants. He didn't say WHERE he got such horrible advice, but I have suspicions...
Wow!!! Impressive! I have the Fluval 207 on my 29 planted community fish tank. Its a few months old (Had a Fluval C3 on it for years) replaced that the with the 207. Put a intake sponge on it I just have gave that a rinse every month. Love the 207.
Always love to see your wonderful cats make an appearance! I just adopted a cat a couple months ago and she is afraid of everything but follows me around everywhere 😂
The red foam Carrier in the 407 is the prefilter . Got a 407 myself great filter just keep an eye on the flow coming out when it slows down its time for maintenance
Just a bit of a twist here, but I have a Fluval 403 that I never cleaned in years and is still running. When I moved to a different tank, I opened it up to check it out. I don't use carbon or any foam materials. Just bio media of different types and it makes a huge difference when needing to cycle a tank. I never have any ammonia buildup when I move this filter to that tank until it gets established and it is not nasty inside, just a bit of brown residue/bacteria film I think. Maybe consider not to use it as a filter to polish, but more of a bacteria house to keep in control of the tank especially when tank is heavy loaded with fish. I have over 50 albino pleco's that I don't know what to do with in a 50 gallon plastic vat tank with this fluval and no issue. Very thin layer of gravel, but one thing I do is use a prefilter I made up with pvc and 2 long marineland foam sponges, cylinder style to catch all the gunk before it goes into the fluval. I clean those every few weeks as needed. Works like a charm!
Thanks John for this very important video. You just helped to eliminate an extra step in my aquarium cleaning that I don’t have to do. I don’t have to clean it as often as I have been. I was cleaning it every 3 months and it was absolutely clean. So, now I don’t have to feel guilty about not caring for my poor fish. It’s probably a lot easier on the canister as well not having to take it apart so often. I have on my 130 gal. an fx4 Fluval and I love it. It keeps my tank clean and healthy. Keep those awesome videos coming. 🐟🐟🐟 Cathy, (Pat’s wife) I thoroughly enjoy my buddies.
I have pre-filters on the canister intakes in the aquarium, those sponges get rinsed every two weeks during water changes ... the canisters get done once a year or so ;)
Oh Karl, u r too precious my luv. Helping dad do his dirty hard work. Ur a handsome big boy. Hugs n kisses my Karl darling. I luv u 😘😘😘😘😘😘😘😘😘😘😘😘😘😘😘😘😘😘😘😘
Awesome video! 👌 I haven't gone into my main canisters for quite some time because I haven't needed to. Ever since I moved all of my mechanical filtration to smaller canisters hooked up to the main canisters maintenance has been much easier. Plus I have much more room in the main canisters for bio media which is awesome! I got the idea to do things this way from the pond guru. All credit goes to him
Lots of information in this video! Thank you for being so transparent for us. We all learn from each other, even any mistakes or misshapens. Channels like yours are why I am successful now in this hobby.
I have an Aqueon Quiet Flow 400 canister filter on my 75g Oscar tank. It is VERY easy to maintain. I turn off the power to it, turn the valves to the closed position and then take the lid off the filter body, and then do maintenance from there. Very easy. To set it back up after maintenance I put everything back in the filter, fill with water, put the top back on, open the valves and turn the power back on. I only disconnect the tubes from the body of the filter when I am doing my 1x a year tube cleaning. Other than that it takes my 10 minutes to clean. This filter is easier for me to clean than my tidal 110 on my other tank.
My 20 year old fluval 406, still going (was not in use for about 8 years in the middle of this) Its a beast. I open it up about every year to squeeze the filters, shake the bio and lava rock, replace the crushed oyster shells and fine white pads I replace with pond pads. I like the oase with the internal heater and pre filter though, how the technology has moved on..
I've got 2 Aquaone canister filters running on just 60-70L nano tanks and they need cleaning at least once every 6 months of the flow stops. Fluval ones must be beasts by comparison.
These filters prove that the two tanks are running very healthy. Every waste biologically degrades nicely. Most of the brown stuff is filter bacteria together with their food. As long as the sponges don't clog up, there's no need to clean them. Filter bags usually are made of Nylon or something similar. Unsless you didn't forget at least two 0's in the number of years running, they certainly didn't disappear. The only option is: The bags you put in were not filter bags, but transport bags made of whatever kind of biodegradable material. That would mean, they were never designed to be put into the filter.
I have a canister filter on my 145 african cichlid tank and I only have 8 juvi's I looked at my tank to find everyone gasping and looking lethargic, so i did a api water test to find the nitrate was at 60ppm after doing a gravel clean a few days earlier. I left my canister for only a month without cleaning and I almost lost all my fish. I don't know how the nitrates didn't boost up without cleaning it for 3 years.
It brings me so much joy seeing you make more videos and lives streams in the fish house! Keep providing great content and information. You guys are awesome.
10:00 - It happened to me on Aquaclear hang-on filter. The mesh broke apart at some point. The longest I had any filter running would be several months. Most of my filters have prefilter sponge I clean every few weeks, but the cannister or internal sump may go for much longer. It depends on bacteria balance and diseases, too.
I use an internal filter as a pre-filter for two Oase Biomaster 600 filters filled with biomedia from Pondguru and connected in series. I clean the internal filter every two weeks and the internal pre-filter from the first Oase every month. The rest of the Oase filters haven't been touched for more than a year. During daytime both of the pumps are working, during nighttime only the pump of the first Oase. Pumps deliver enough flow and the fish are doing fine.
Never had canister filters, I don’t have big tanks ( yet lol ) but love this info, I use sponge filters and always put 2 in my tank for this reason so I can alternate them when the time comes to clean them up a bit.
I watched this video after I just cleaned my Fluval fx4 that I installed in May of last year when I thought the valve on my Hydor filter broke (it didn't). I've been afraid to clean it as whenever I do any maintenance on my tank, it all goes down the drain and I end up with a catastrophe. I figured since it was going on a year since I installed it, I should clean it. It was dirty but not as bad as I thought it would be. Since putting this canister on my tank, it has never looked so good.
I do mine about every 8 months or so with a small water change, rinse out the sponges and media in the water I take from the tank. It keeps my fish tank cycled so much better that way. I used to clean them every month and had so many problems.
I just cleaned out my first canister filter for the first time after running it for about 8 months. I was quite surprised that it was still mostly clean. A lot cleaner than yours, LOL. It was good to see your video. I was feeling guilty about 8 months.
I totally agree, I've got low range externals and the fx range I seem to find the cheapest run better and for longer, I would never buy an fx6 again I much prefer the smaller fx4
You can use the "if it's not broke don't fix it" method, or people can also go with "it's good but we can make improvements" to lower nitrates and debris in the tank. Less work and more enjoyment.
I have a Marineland going on 2 years, prob clean them once spring comes. Had it in a 75 gallon filled and refilled with purple mosaics guppies. And a hand full of albino corycats
For your heavily scaped aquariums like the Mbuna how do you clean under all of those rocks when you vacuum ? Do you have to take them All out every now and then ?
That one part killed me, I literally laughed so loud my husband asked what was wrong with me lol I had to rewind and show him because it's something that would have happened to him haha
I have an Aqueon canister filter on my 75 gal. I clean mine monthly and do a water change once a month to get the grime out of the gravel. Like the idea do fix what is working.
I started out cleaning my canister filter once a week, then once a month, then every 6 months. There was no difference between a month and 6 month cleaning. No noticable difference in the amount of waste removed.
I only clean my fx series about once per year, which is also about how long it takes for me to notice a reduction in flow. Only takes about 20 minutes, I still can't figure out why people think canisters are more work than other types of filters that need to get cleaned more frequently. I use sponges and hang on backs also for different applications and they have to be maintained far more frequently.
Why not more ceramic? Could have gotten 3 Fluval 407 out of 1... Still entertaining video, but the goldfish tank is not fed a lot, they woulg get huge within a year if you feed them more... Thanks for the video!
There are cheap self enclosed carbon bags that come with some filters or in replacement boxes that are biodegradable plastic. They disappear. I prefer to get bulk carbon and reusable bags. I am also starting to limit my use of carbon to only remove medications. I'm in Seattle so heavy metals are not a problem with my water. It's fairly neutral, so much so that RO filters are not really necessary. If I lived in Chicago or used Midwest well water, I would need carbon.
Hey guys, question: yesterday while doing a water change my fish went to the surface and started gulping air and not moving much. I have to turn my HOB filter to bring the water level down to do a water change, the filter aerates the water with the little water fall spillway. I recently had an algae bloom in the tank, is that the reason my fish were running out of oxygen so quickly in the water? I went out and got a new air stone and air pump just to add more oxygen to the tank anyway just to be safe.
I bought some Mopani wood from Petsmart and I want to put it in my 55 gallon that has aragonite sand in it. How will that affect my pH? I want to put Mbunas in there but I don’t know if that would be safe for them. Thanks John and Lisa. I have a 307 and a 207 doing filtration.
I have fx5 on a125 with 3 Oscars severum and 2 bichirs. I realized I need to clean the filter every 4 months. The flow isn't the same. A lot of debris clog up. I usually do more than 50% water changes a week for it. Maybe too much food or I gotta accept they're messy pigs in aquatic form
