How do you clean an undergravel filter?
Q. I have an undergravel filter in a 10 gallon tank along with a power filter and I am pretty sure the undergravel needs to be cleaned out from plant debris and such. Since the tank has a lot of live plants and fish I am trying to figure out how to clean the filter. Is there a way to clean it without breaking down the entire tank? Thanks!
Asked by Krystal - Mon May 19 15:52:07 2008 - - 2 Answers - 0 Comments

A. Hi, Yes you can. You will need hose that is smaller than your up lift tube and a pail. Now remove the top half of your up lift tube. Next fill the hose with water and place a finger over each end. Insert one end of the hose into the uplift tube so that you can move it under your under gravel filter plate. Next place the other end of the hose into the pail and remove your finger from that end. The water should vacuum out the stuff under the under gravel plate. Move the hose around as needed and only remove 25 percent of the water from the tank. I would vacuum under the under gravel plate about every three or four months.
Answered by fishbarn - Mon May 19 16:37:07 2008

How do I know its necessary to Change filter medial and sponge?
Q. I bought a Eheim 2026 yesterday. Its working fine. I have 2 questions. 1. How do i know its time to change the media and sponge. I couldn't find a indicator in 2026. 2. I was using a overhead filter for about one year. I am running the overhead filter and 2026 filter parallely. How long I have to wait for the beneficial batteria's to move into my new medias in Eheim filter
Asked by suresh - Tue May 13 21:40:04 2008 - - 2 Answers - 0 Comments

A. the eheim is going to be a bio powerhouse in about 3-5 weeks. you can add seachem stability right into the biomedia if you want to jump start the canister or just add it to the water and let it find its way. in regards to maintenance every tank is different in regards to waste generation so it's hard to tell you when to break down the filter. Plus it depends what your running inside. If there is no polishing pad (first thing to clog) then you can wait longer. etc. Some people need to scrub out the sponges every month, others can go 3 months easy w/o breaking down the filter. you have to find the sweet spot yourself but one of the prime advantages of canisters is there low maintenance. If you omit the fine polishind pad (you may find… [cont.]
Answered by mwm0788 - Tue May 13 23:02:54 2008

How to protect an open air filter against water?
Q. Hello together, I have an open air filter from K&N with a strange intake. Anyway, the "problem" is, the filter is right behind the wheels. So it's very easy to get it wet throw rain or wet streets Is there something I can buy to protect the filer? I heard about something which protects filters against water, but I don't know what.
Asked by alexmayer21 - Thu Apr 17 17:55:29 2008 - - 3 Answers - 0 Comments

A. They sell a valve that fits further back on the intake tube. It's just a foam diamond shaped segment and it acts as a bypass, should water actually get past the filter.
Answered by Satan - Thu Apr 17 18:15:52 2008