# Damn Dirty Water



## SpecialEffect (Aug 7, 2009)

So, today was the day i was going to do all my aquarium maintance aswell as change the silica sand in my 10 gallon breeder into a new different color .... hell went with that because my cray molted (bastard) So, decided to work on my big aquarium...

Decided to clean the spongey filter with aquarium water from water change... and look at what happened....
Is this normal :/ Also, once i finished with the water change... turned the filter on and a bunch of brownish stuff came out from the outake... im guessing it's all in my tubes.

Also, after cleaning the spongey stuff, my filter seems to be pumping water out faster heh.. guess it was time to clean that.



















*After turning the filter back on*




























*Its starting to clear up alot though, slowly but thats alright...







*


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## bigshawn (Dec 29, 2005)

wow, when was the last time you clean out your sponges? it should be cool now


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## SpecialEffect (Aug 7, 2009)

To be honest, 2 months







I honestly did NOT expect that at all... my water's always always clear... That's why i took the pictures, i was just damn amazed about it


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## THE BLACK PIRANHA (Dec 8, 2003)

Those fluvals will catch a lot of crap.  The Fluvals have those ribbed hoses and it catches alot of crap in the ribbes. Iknow people say to wash you pads out in tank water but always use tap water on the pads. I wash my bio media, ammonia remover and carbon in tank water because both hold a ton of bacteria. If you dont clean out your fluval properly you will end up with a mess like you have.


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## SpecialEffect (Aug 7, 2009)

THE BLACK PIRANHA said:


> Those fluvals will catch a lot of crap. The Fluvals have those ribbed hoses and it catches alot of crap in the ribbes. Iknow people say to wash you pads out in tank water but always use tap water on the pads. I wash my bio media, ammonia remover and carbon in tank water because both hold a ton of bacteria. If you dont clean out your fluval properly you will end up with a mess like you have.


Well, i have 2x purigens on my last level of my media cartridges... and it's time to "replenish" them... So they should be ready in a a day and a half..

When i re-insert those, i will do what you said by washing them with tap water... i didnt do that cause i thought it was bad bcause your spongey does contain alot of bacteria too.

Also, you clean your bio media too? Never knew you had to do that... i look at my highest level with bio media and it looks pretty clean, however my "media cartridges" are only like half full... should i fill them with bio max to at least 90% full? (as in 1/4 inch empty)


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## Greez (Feb 12, 2010)

Just a question, but if that was in your filter, wouldn't that black stuff be bad for your fishes health?


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## Winkyee (Feb 17, 2003)

Wow, that's alot of crap.
Maybe you should have rinsed the filters in a clear pail after first rinse?
I hate the stuff that comes out of the fluval tubes after a change, I switched to clear tubes and PVC on my latest setup that has a fluval.


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## MiGsTeR (Jan 19, 2008)

I like the natural environment :d


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## SpecialEffect (Aug 7, 2009)

Winkyee said:


> Wow, that's alot of crap.
> Maybe you should have rinsed the filters in a clear pail after first rinse?
> I hate the stuff that comes out of the fluval tubes after a change, I switched to clear tubes and PVC on my latest setup that has a fluval.


LoL, funny you say that cause the initial rinse the water was clear.... and after i did a little soakage rinsage the spongey came a bit clearer, but was still dirty.... im going to be doing what black pirhana does friday during the day....

Uhm, is it okay if you take a picture of the clear tubes and PVC you used on your latest setup thaks







( i know how they look, i just want an idea)
and is it a 405? or fx5?

*For some reason now i really really hear my filter running lol... im guessing it cleaned a bunch of sh*t out of the tubes and inside the filter itself... you like hear the water rushing threw the tubes :/ *


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## Ibanez247 (Nov 9, 2006)

Wowwee. So the tubes are ribbed? Would make sense as to when you kicked on the filter a bunch of crap came out. I get a little bit of a dusting when I do filter changes but nothing like that. I never wash my bio media. I just take it out of the filter and set it in some tank water. I will wash out the heavy filter pad but thats it. I always replace the fine filter pad. Im sure it will clear itself up but next time you might want to rinse out the tubes themselves. Might prevent that from happening again. I do filter changes every 4-6 months on my pygo tank. I run Eheims 2217's.


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## SpecialEffect (Aug 7, 2009)

Hmm, i shall clean the hoses, but i might just replace the hoses with clear tubing and pvc... im going to wait for when pirhana replies back with what i asked.

Also, the thing that sucks, my intake and outake are built into the stand into the aquarium...
picture will explaine.... Basically need to shove a plastic cap on the intake and outake heh, and then clean the tubes.


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## scotty (Oct 3, 2007)

That's why when I do get around to taking my canister filter out to clean, I ALWAYS run it with the intake in the tank and the output in a bucket.It doesn't matter if they are built in, there's some type of hose that can be disconnected to do this. when it starts to run clear I gently shake/tap the canister to get all the rest of the crap out. BTW I'm running those foofy shower thingys unraveled in my canister (eheim 2028). My water is crystal clear.


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