About Cleaning Filters

so i'm currently working with zebra and goldfish in my 10 gallon tank with an aqua clear mini..

and i've never actually known the truth.

when cleaning the filter.... should i NOT be making sure all the gunk is out of the sponge thing? i was told by one of my other fish keepign friends that that is where all the bacteria reside and by cleaning out all the junk you are getting rid of all the helpful bacteria.... he told me to only slightly rinse it so as to leave some goop in it...

thnx in advance,


Daniel

 

you should clean it in water you took out of the tank like in a bucket if you use tap water the chemicals in the water will also kill all good bacteria I just take it and put it in a bucket of tank water and kinda wipe it off as good as possible

 

I agree with Jeff, Nexus. The beneficial bacterial lives on the filter. Just rinse it out in tank water gently and put it back.

 

awesome..

thnx for the replies guys.


just out of curiousity... how long does it take for the bacteria to get themselves established in the tank?

 

It depends on a lot of factors like size tank, temperature, filtration etc, but I believe a non-seeded 55 gallon should take about 6 weeks to cycle using the fishless method.

-Chelle

 

Absolutely agree.