Why You Should Clean the Filters in Your Fish Tank on a Regular Basis

Shannon Frye
Not only is it important that you keep up on cleaning the fish tank but you must also clean the filter as well. You will want to clean the filter for a number of reasons. You must replace the filter cartridges that are inside of your filter system. These will help to keep your water from getting too cloudy and it will keep the levels down in your fish tank. It's very important to keep up on cleaning your filter otherwise it will not function properly and the levels in your fish tank will start to get higher and higher.

You will want to take a good look at the filter system before you clean it. You want to know how to put the filter back together. If it works fine and when you plug it in, it no longer works you need to push the impeller down into the motor to get it to run. You will need to clean all the parts of the filter including the tubes and sprayer bars as well. You will never want to clean off the bio wheels if you have that type of filter system. If you do not clean the filter it will become gunked up with a lot of waste and it wont run as well. If the filter isn't running as good it wont clear up the water.

You have to understand that a filter system is actually taking your water, filtering it and placing it back into the tank. If the filter is really dirty it will throw all the water from the fish tank back into the tank more dirty than it went in. You need to clean out the filter system each time that you clean your fish tank. You should clean your fish tank at least once every 2 weeks. You will also need to clean your filter system at this time as well. You can skip cleaning the filter for about one month but don't go any longer than that.

If you notice that the filter system isn't functioning like it used to it's probably because you need to clean the filter system out. Usually the water will not flow as fast once the filter system starts to get dirty. You will want to make sure you keep up on the filter just as you keep up on the fish tank. Without a clean filter system you are putting your fish at risk of getting sick. The main purchase of the filter is to clean the water and keep your fish alive. If the filter isn't removing the excess food and waste from the water the levels will go up and the fish will probably get some type of bacterial illness such as ich or fin rot.

Published by Shannon Frye

I am a stay at home mom. I have a 2 year old daughter.  View profile

1 Comments

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  • Guest12/7/2009

    When setting up a new tank it needs to be cycled first. Do not throw away filter sponges after two weeks! It takes around 6 weeks for any beneficial bacteria to build up on your sponge and in your filter, and THAT is what removes ammonias etc from your water. Clean your sponges in old aquarium water and put them back in. Only replace them when they are showing signs of wear or breaking down.

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