Anna Piranha
08-19-2003, 11:34 AM
Filters are my nemesis. If something is going to go wrong during a water change, it’s always the filters. This weekend I took apart the canister filter for my 55 gallon tank. It was pretty filthy as I was negligent in my water changes over the last 2 weeks. Ok, so I get what I deserve. Here’s what I got:
It took me an hour to scrub the gunk from the hoses and the baskets. I decided to leave the whole unassembled works lying in the back yard in the sun. You know, so they could dry out and so all the living bad things would bake to death. (I left the ceramic bio filter media in a warm bath in the house, so the good bacteria wouldn’t die). So a little while later I gather up my filter parts and attempt to re-assemble it. Now basket #1 is supposed to sit about an inch from the bottom of the canister. I pushed and I squeezed and I used a butter knife and a screw driver, I damaged a thumb and a forefinger and still basket #1 would not slide into place. About 45 minutes into this fiasco, it occurred to me that the damn canister had somehow shrunk out there in the yard. Well, if I had been awake during THAT physics lecture, I would have understood the concept of “contraction and expansion.” It took an observant friend to suggest hot water. :idea: I filled the @#$! canister with hot water from the tap and inside of about 3 minutes, basket #1 slipped easily into place.
I am saying all of this to help any newbies avoid the silliness caused by the canister. Today I have bruises on my arms, on my feet (I tried to steady the canister with my feet while using both hands to force the basket – what a picture that was :banghead:), my back has been in spasms for two days since. All told, it took me 2 hours and 45 minutes to clean a 55 gallon tank on Saturday. I lost a good bit of the day and my back is ruined for any other activities in the near future. So BE CAREFUL out there in fish land and take care of yourselves!
It took me an hour to scrub the gunk from the hoses and the baskets. I decided to leave the whole unassembled works lying in the back yard in the sun. You know, so they could dry out and so all the living bad things would bake to death. (I left the ceramic bio filter media in a warm bath in the house, so the good bacteria wouldn’t die). So a little while later I gather up my filter parts and attempt to re-assemble it. Now basket #1 is supposed to sit about an inch from the bottom of the canister. I pushed and I squeezed and I used a butter knife and a screw driver, I damaged a thumb and a forefinger and still basket #1 would not slide into place. About 45 minutes into this fiasco, it occurred to me that the damn canister had somehow shrunk out there in the yard. Well, if I had been awake during THAT physics lecture, I would have understood the concept of “contraction and expansion.” It took an observant friend to suggest hot water. :idea: I filled the @#$! canister with hot water from the tap and inside of about 3 minutes, basket #1 slipped easily into place.
I am saying all of this to help any newbies avoid the silliness caused by the canister. Today I have bruises on my arms, on my feet (I tried to steady the canister with my feet while using both hands to force the basket – what a picture that was :banghead:), my back has been in spasms for two days since. All told, it took me 2 hours and 45 minutes to clean a 55 gallon tank on Saturday. I lost a good bit of the day and my back is ruined for any other activities in the near future. So BE CAREFUL out there in fish land and take care of yourselves!