Cleaning of external power filter

How often should a filter be cleaned as a practice? I am sure it all depends on the bioload/no.of fishes etc but on a safer frequency what would the normal practice be?

Do all of you clean the entire filter (throw away the water),change the sponges,bio-balls,peat etc etc during this cleaning regime or is it just 1 of them? I usually change only the sponges, dont touch the bio-balls, change 2 layers of sponge..This is only during the complete filter change..When i do this i sometimes do find that the water cycle is completely broken and it takes some time to reboost back. Is this expected?

As you say, depends on the bio-load, tank size, stocking density, foods being fed and water change frequency.

When I used them, I always had a sponge filter running and would alternate cleanings. I used to break down my canister weekly (most would not). Its mainly because I fed 10-12 times a day and waste builds FAST. I used a prefilter in the intakes and still, the canister would get dirty fast. In the 5 or so months I used my canisters, I never replaced a single thing on them, only rinsed/squeezed the sponges/media in tank water. My canisters were mainly course sponges and pourus rings.

HTH

Eddie

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Originally Posted by Eddie

Its mainly because I fed 10-12 times a day .

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Wow... i wish i cud be ur fish now :D

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Originally Posted by smiley

Wow... i wish i cud be ur fish now :D

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LOL, not heavy feedings though....just light ones, every 2 hours. I've throttled back to about 8 now. ;)

Eddie