Canister Filter Cleaning, How Often? Options

[white horse T1]

The hidden army of BB exposed.

350 grams worth of Biohome is lined up neatly underneath the bag of Ehfisubstrat (about half a litres).  The sponge surronding the sinter glass acts as a curtain to block light from entering the cavity.  I don't use Omaya paper to cover up the wet chamber as I find it's ugly.

I so smart. 

there are still light into yr biological filter right?

based on my 1 yr experience with IOS, it still get dirty in the chamber unless u scoop up some water (and stop the pump) during filter change.,
and the best way to minimise light penetration is still to cover up. bacteria strive better in darker envir.

[mountain]

i dun find it necessary though, thru my experience (less then GH Lim), we always tend to place more bio-material then needed. although we should take note the extra's doesn't mean extra BB, there will only be so much BB alive to convert ammonia, any extras will just die off .. so long u measure your water parameters and get the water change timing right, i dun think covering it up is necessary. A Nice to have.


HB, already got another person saying the chamber WILL get dirty time will come for you to work out some sweat

[HappyBuddha]

there are still light into yr biological filter right?

based on my 1 yr experience with IOS, it still get dirty in the chamber unless u scoop up some water (and stop the pump) during filter change.,
and the best way to minimise light penetration is still to cover up.  bacteria strive better in darker envir.

The pic doesn't show but actually all four sides are surrounded by sponge. I suspect some light still comes through but the outter most "ring" of the media shields the rest from the sunlight leow. The top is completely covered by sponge. The bottom is the desktop of my wooden cabinet. So it's a zero light environment.

[HappyBuddha]

i dun find it necessary though, thru my experience (less then GH Lim), we always tend to place more bio-material then needed. although we should take note the extra's doesn't mean extra BB, there will only be so much BB alive to convert ammonia, any extras will just die off .. so long u measure your water parameters and get the water change timing right, i dun think covering it up is necessary. A Nice to have.


HB, already got another person saying the chamber WILL get dirty  time will come for you to work out some sweat

Kekeke. I'm still scratching my head over this since you told me about your experience last time. So far I'm not experiencing likewise. Maybe my expectation is different? Imagine how dirty a canister filter is. To me the IOS is very clean. I have big palms (don't bowl, don't bowl!) and yet I can stick it in to wipe the glass walls. It's only the upflow chamber I find tricky to keep clean because it's narrow.