Will rinsing my filter with tap water kill the bacteria?

[Kingfisher]

Just out of curiosity, when I clean my filter, should I not use water straight from the tap? If I did, will it kill the bacteria growing on there?

[gr8nguyen1]

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

unfortunately most tap water contain chlorine or chloramine of some kind to kill the bacteria and make it suitable for human consumption. so yes it will kill the bacteria in a thriving filter media. i learned this out the hard way and messed up my whole nit. cycle. had to start all over, it was a disaster. just rinse it with the water that your going to change during wc

[Chad Hughes]

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

Just out of curiosity, when I clean my filter, should I not use water straight from the tap? If I did, will it kill the bacteria growing on there?

What kind of filter do you have?

[waters10]

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

Just out of curiosity, when I clean my filter, should I not use water straight from the tap? If I did, will it kill the bacteria growing on there?

Yep. Rinse with water + conditioner (primer, safe, amquel, etc) or like most do, tank water in a bucket.

[Kingfisher]

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

What kind of filter do you have?

I have a Rena XP2 cannister and a AquaClear 70 HOB. I don't clean both at the same time. I always clean my filters in a bucket of dechlorinize water but did it because I was being cautious. Now at least I know I have to. Thanks!

BTW, im upgrading to a 112 gallon acrylic tank. The tank comes with a sump, should I used that for my filtering needs? Or should should I stick with the HOB's and the cannisters?

[Yboat]

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

I've always used water change water to rinse in.

[ifixoldhouses]

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

I wash my sponge filters under tap all the time, it says on the instructions to do it. It may kill some of it, but just do it once a week.

[gr8nguyen1]

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

everytime i do a wc, i turn off my eheim canister because i don't want it to suck up all the sand that is kicked up when i siphon the gravel. i know that the bacteria in the canister need oxygen. how long can i have the filter turned off before the bacteria die? is it ok to constantly turn on and off the filter

[waters10]

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

I wash my sponge filters under tap all the time, it says on the instructions to do it. It may kill some of it, but just do it once a week.

And you never had ammonia/nitrite spikes? Did you keep track of that right after you do that?

If you don't get spikes, it might be because you're overfiltering. Either way, if the instructions say that, it's definitely wrong ...

[dwilder]

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

in general there is not enough chlorine in tap water to kill much more than a small amount of bb when cleaning a filter usually not enough to do much harm any ways

[Eddie]

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

As mentioned, a good bacteria colony on the media will not be set back by rinsing under tap water.

Eddie

[gr8nguyen1]

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

most municipal tap water has to have a certain level of chlorine to kill water borne pathogens. but some contain other chemicals like ( not sure of the name i think is flouride) to prevent the water pipes from eroding too quickly. most people when they clean their filters don't just wipe with tap water. we usually run it under a faucet. so the constant flow and exposure to the chemicals can't be too good for any biological filtration i mean if its strong enough to kill water borne bacteria in drinking water and bb is a water borne bacteria. you get the idea

[Eddie]

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

most municipal tap water has to have a certain level of chlorine to kill water borne pathogens. but some contain other chemicals like ( not sure of the name i think is flouride) to prevent the water pipes from eroding too quickly. most people when they clean their filters don't just wipe with tap water. we usually run it under a faucet. so the constant flow and exposure to the chemicals can't be too good for any biological filtration i mean if its strong enough to kill water borne bacteria in drinking water and bb is a water borne bacteria. you get the idea

Not really, the amount is so minimal, it won't kill the bacteria. Been doing this for ages.

[fishhead123]

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

Why risk it anyways? Just use aged water or water from your tank.

[Darrell Ward]

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

Why risk it anyways? Just use aged water or water from your tank.

I agree. It's no big deal to rinse them in a bucket of tank water if you're doing a water change anyway. I've been doing it for decades just out of habit.