ChicagoDiscus.com     Cafepress Store

Page 2 of 4 FirstFirst 1234 LastLast
Results 16 to 30 of 49

Thread: Will rinsing my filter with tap water kill the bacteria?

  1. #16
    Registered Member Eddie's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2004
    Location
    Vacaville, CA
    Posts
    28,057

    Default Re: Will rinsing my filter with tap water kill the bacteria?

    Quote Originally Posted by fishhead123 View Post
    Why risk it anyways? Just use aged water or water from your tank.
    Risk what?
    Visit Eddie's Place

    "If you ask for an opinion...don't get pissed when I give you mine."

  2. #17
    Registered Member
    Join Date
    Jun 2009
    Location
    Woodstock, GA
    Posts
    215

    Default Re: Will rinsing my filter with tap water kill the bacteria?

    I regularly rinse the crud off of my Eheim canister filter pads under the running faucet, especially the coarse and prefilter ones, as they bear the brunt of the waste load. To clean the filter media itself (Substrat Pro, Ehfimech etc) I simply put it in a big colander and pour a large bucket or two of w/c old tank water through it, refill the baskets, and put it all back together again- and the quick disconnect hose assemblies make it very easy. Doing "poop scoops" in between w/c's also greatly cuts down the amount of waste getting into the canisters, as do sponge prefilters on the intake tubes, which can also be removed easily for rinsing.

    Colin

  3. #18
    Registered Member srusso's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2009
    Location
    Bridgeport, CT
    Posts
    336

    Default Re: Will rinsing my filter with tap water kill the bacteria?

    Quote Originally Posted by Eddie View Post
    Risk what?
    Eddie, if you WC 50% a day and have a BB... then I guess there really is no issue... why even have a filter?

    but you cant say there is no risk for others... this doesn't apply to most discus tanks but it matters a lot in a balanced planted tanks... and yes I would go as far to say that you should be doing it with WC water... not a fresh treated bucket. Quick changes in temp, pH etc.. can kill off bacteria. It just simply matters.

  4. #19
    Registered Member Eddie's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2004
    Location
    Vacaville, CA
    Posts
    28,057

    Default Re: Will rinsing my filter with tap water kill the bacteria?

    Quote Originally Posted by srusso View Post
    Eddie, if you WC 50% a day and have a BB... then I guess there really is no issue... why even have a filter?

    but you cant say there is no risk for others... this doesn't apply to most discus tanks but it matters a lot in a balanced planted tanks... and yes I would go as far to say that you should be doing it with WC water... not a fresh treated bucket. Quick changes in temp, pH etc.. can kill off bacteria. It just simply matters.
    No, it doesn't but you can rely on whatever information you want, this isn't something new.

    Regardless of how much water I change, there is a huge bio colony established on all my filters. I can leave for weeks to a month and nothing will build but nitrates. Many many breeders perform multiple 100% water changes throughout the day and yet, still have sponge filters.

    Its good to have a strong bacteria bed established and it appears that some don't.

    Eddie
    Visit Eddie's Place

    "If you ask for an opinion...don't get pissed when I give you mine."

  5. #20
    Registered Member Darrell Ward's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2005
    Location
    Western North Carolina USA
    Posts
    3,385

    Default Re: Will rinsing my filter with tap water kill the bacteria?

    I always have way more bio than needed for all my tanks. I think it's just good insurance against problems no matter how water you change. I've seen pictures of discus on the forums with ammonia burns, and it ain't pretty.
    Darrell

  6. #21
    Registered Member Eddie's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2004
    Location
    Vacaville, CA
    Posts
    28,057

    Default Re: Will rinsing my filter with tap water kill the bacteria?

    Quote Originally Posted by Darrell Ward View Post
    I always have way more bio than needed for all my tanks. I think it's just good insurance against problems no matter how water you change. I've seen pictures of discus on the forums with ammonia burns, and it ain't pretty.
    Yeah me too and they ain't mine!
    Visit Eddie's Place

    "If you ask for an opinion...don't get pissed when I give you mine."

  7. #22
    Registered Member waters10's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2008
    Location
    Canton, MI
    Posts
    622

    Default Re: Will rinsing my filter with tap water kill the bacteria?

    To be honest, I'm very surprised by some of the answers, specially Eddie's, somebody that knows his stuff from personal experineice. I fully admit that I was going with what I read here before.

    So the question is, does rinsing with tap water ok, no matter where you are? Meaning, levels of chlorine/chloramine varies per location globally, so even worst case does that still hold true?

  8. #23
    Registered Member
    Join Date
    Apr 2010
    Posts
    7

    Default Re: Will rinsing my filter with tap water kill the bacteria?

    Quote Originally Posted by waters10 View Post
    To be honest, I'm very surprised by some of the answers, specially Eddie's, somebody that knows his stuff from personal experineice. I fully admit that I was going with what I read here before.

    So the question is, does rinsing with tap water ok, no matter where you are? Meaning, levels of chlorine/chloramine varies per location globally, so even worst case does that still hold true?
    You have your answer in Eddie's post...

    Unless you have a "huge bio colony established on all filters" and "a strong bacteria bed established" then don't do it.

    And even with that, I doubt anyone would run all their bio media that they have in their wet/dry, canister, HOBs, etc under tap water at the same time. Isn't that the reason we all use water conditioners?

  9. #24
    Registered Member Eddie's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2004
    Location
    Vacaville, CA
    Posts
    28,057

    Default Re: Will rinsing my filter with tap water kill the bacteria?

    Quote Originally Posted by waters10 View Post
    To be honest, I'm very surprised by some of the answers, specially Eddie's, somebody that knows his stuff from personal experineice. I fully admit that I was going with what I read here before.

    So the question is, does rinsing with tap water ok, no matter where you are? Meaning, levels of chlorine/chloramine varies per location globally, so even worst case does that still hold true?
    People do what works for them. I would imagine that a higher level of chlorine would affect the colony more but its not going to nuke it completely. Even rinsing/squeezing media under tank water or dechlorinated water, removes the bio film. Most of that dirty/cloudy water left behind, is good bio that has been dislodged from the media. Its natural, one way or another, it will need to re-establish itself.

    Eddie
    Visit Eddie's Place

    "If you ask for an opinion...don't get pissed when I give you mine."

  10. #25
    Registered Member acroken's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2008
    Location
    Philadelphia
    Posts
    897

    Default Re: Will rinsing my filter with tap water kill the bacteria?

    I have been washing sponges out under my tap for many years and never experienced any ammonia spike.I do not use buckets because i do not want to cross contaminate. If you only have a few tanks i could see using buckets to clean filter and keeping that bucket just for that tank, but if you are running many tanks it seems ridiculous to have 15 or 20+ buckets around just to clean filters. IMO it is best to have more then one type of bio filter in each tank and rotate your cleanings, do not clean both filters in the same week. I do clean my breeders sponges in small 1 gal buckets but mostly because i like to see how much waste is washing out.

    Kenny

  11. #26
    Registered Member waters10's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2008
    Location
    Canton, MI
    Posts
    622

    Default Re: Will rinsing my filter with tap water kill the bacteria?

    Quote Originally Posted by Eddie View Post
    People do what works for them. I would imagine that a higher level of chlorine would affect the colony more but its not going to nuke it completely. Even rinsing/squeezing media under tank water or dechlorinated water, removes the bio film. Most of that dirty/cloudy water left behind, is good bio that has been dislodged from the media. Its natural, one way or another, it will need to re-establish itself.

    Eddie
    I think this might be one of those things that people just start repeating so much, that it became a fact. Like how brine shrimp is considered a terrible food, when in reality it's not bad, just not as good as others. The difference is I've read plenty people challenging the notion that brine shrimp is terrible, while I don't remember reading anyone challenging tap water would wipe bio filter before ...

    Anyway, good to know it's not gonna nuke your bio, assuming your filter is well stablished. I hope when somebody searches this topic in the future, they find this one.

  12. #27
    Registered Member Darrell Ward's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2005
    Location
    Western North Carolina USA
    Posts
    3,385

    Default Re: Will rinsing my filter with tap water kill the bacteria?

    Quote Originally Posted by acroken View Post
    I have been washing sponges out under my tap for many years and never experienced any ammonia spike.I do not use buckets because i do not want to cross contaminate. If you only have a few tanks i could see using buckets to clean filter and keeping that bucket just for that tank, but if you are running many tanks it seems ridiculous to have 15 or 20+ buckets around just to clean filters. IMO it is best to have more then one type of bio filter in each tank and rotate your cleanings, do not clean both filters in the same week. I do clean my breeders sponges in small 1 gal buckets but mostly because i like to see how much waste is washing out.

    Kenny
    It would be ridiculous to use a different bucket, or a different this or that for each tank if you've had all you fish for a long time in the same place. The only way this cross contamination theory makes sense is if you are quarantining fish, or regularly get new fish from different sources IMO. These fish are not that fragile. If you use common sense, I don't think you need to be as sterile as a hospital. When I get new fish, they get their own tank for a few months, if they do well, I consider them as healthy as the rest of them.
    Darrell

  13. #28
    Registered Member Eddie's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2004
    Location
    Vacaville, CA
    Posts
    28,057

    Default Re: Will rinsing my filter with tap water kill the bacteria?

    Quote Originally Posted by Darrell Ward View Post
    It would be ridiculous to use a different bucket, or a different this or that for each tank if you've had all you fish for a long time in the same place. The only way this cross contamination theory makes sense is if you are quarantining fish, or regularly get new fish from different sources IMO. These fish are not that fragile. If you use common sense, I don't think you need to be as sterile as a hospital. When I get new fish, they get their own tank for a few months, if they do well, I consider them as healthy as the rest of them.
    Wow, not me. Even utilizing the same equipment isn't a fail safe. I've had discus in 2 separate tanks for 6 months at least, used all the same equipment, cleaned filters at the same time and then swap fish around and BAM. Its the host fish that can carry something into one system and not affect another. All fish have different immunities and react different to new diseases. Guess time will tell.....


    Eddie
    Visit Eddie's Place

    "If you ask for an opinion...don't get pissed when I give you mine."

  14. #29
    Registered Member Darrell Ward's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2005
    Location
    Western North Carolina USA
    Posts
    3,385

    Default Re: Will rinsing my filter with tap water kill the bacteria?

    Quote Originally Posted by Eddie View Post
    Wow, not me. Even utilizing the same equipment isn't a fail safe. I've had discus in 2 separate tanks for 6 months at least, used all the same equipment, cleaned filters at the same time and then swap fish around and BAM. Its the host fish that can carry something into one system and not affect another. All fish have different immunities and react different to new diseases. Guess time will tell.....


    Eddie
    I think what you may have experienced was a freak thing out of the norm. I've moved many fish around over the years without such problems. Heck, our good friend Hans uses central filtration systems without problems. He has several such systems where a whole rack of tanks are tied to a central sump. Strange things do happen, but it's not the norm I think, and even when they do, one can never know for sure what went wrong in the first place.
    Last edited by Darrell Ward; 04-16-2010 at 07:48 PM.
    Darrell

  15. #30
    Registered Member Eddie's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2004
    Location
    Vacaville, CA
    Posts
    28,057

    Default Re: Will rinsing my filter with tap water kill the bacteria?

    Quote Originally Posted by Darrell Ward View Post
    I think what you may have experienced was a freak thing out of the norm. I've moved many fish around over the years without such problems. Heck, our good friend Hans uses central filtration systems without problems. He has several such systems where a whole rack of tanks are tied to a central sump. Strange things do happen, but it's not the norm I think, and even when they do, one can never know for sure what went wrong in the first place.
    I guess I am the lucky one....lol. Hans fish are strictly Stendker aside from the wilds. Not sure if those wilds are thrown into the main system as all the thousands of other gallons.

    My point is the individual fish can carry something that has nothing to do with the water.

    Eddie
    Visit Eddie's Place

    "If you ask for an opinion...don't get pissed when I give you mine."

Page 2 of 4 FirstFirst 1234 LastLast

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •  

Cafepress