The tank of an aquarium is arguably the most important part of the aquarium. If you don’t take care of it and clean regularly you are probably putting the fishes inside in danger. Some of you might not know the correct way of taking care of your filters. That’s where we come in. There are many types of aquarium filters. Today we are going to provide you safety tips for aquarium canister filters.
What is a canister filter:
Canister filter is a plastic box that holds many layers of trays of different filter media. Water from the aquarium is pulled out through a pipe connected to an electric pump. The water is pushed through the filter media trays then back to the aquarium through another pipe. Canister filter is usually placed under the aquarium. Canister filter is an excellent choice for high water capacity aquarium (40gallons or above).
Cleaning the canister filter:
You are going to need some tools to clean the filter. Before we get started gather the tools listed below.
- Toothbrush
- Scrub pad
- Hose for high-pressure washing
- Q-tip
- Towel
Step 1:
Turn off the filter. Like we mentioned in the beginning canister filter works with an electric pump. So, make sure there is no running electricity in the aquarium or the aquarium filter.
Step 2:
Turn off the shut-off valves. Turn the shut-off valves to “off” horizontally. What this does is it prevents water from leaking out accidentally. It is required before you disconnect the tubes from the motor housing.
Step 3:
Unscrew the tubes and remove them. Unscrew the threaded pipe till they come loose. The trapped water inside the pipe will fall off when you do this. That’s why you should keep a bucket underneath where you are doing it. After the water out, keep the pipes in a safe place. Because you are going to place them back later.
Step 4:
Transport the filter to a place where spilling water won’t be a problem. We recommend taking them to the bathroom. That way you have no risk of accidentally spilling water all around your room. You are going to need high-pressure water to clean them off. So you better take them to someplace safe where water issues can be tackled.
Step 5:
Remove the motor housing. You can do that by removing all 4 locks in the motor housing. Warning again, in this step you will also spill some water. Make that bucket ready again.
Step 6:
Remove the guts. In this process, you will once again spill some water. But bear with the struggle a little. Gently remove the housing and place it somewhere safe.
Remember to remove everything except the trays and keep everything close. Because you are going to put them back to place.
Step 7:
Using the high-pressure hose clean every nook and canny. Use the old toothbrush and scrub pad to make them shiny. Rub them as hard as you can. Make sure there is no garbage residue.
After scrubbing take the hose again and clean it with high pressure.
Step 8:
Vert carefully remove the impeller from inside the motor. Previously you were as rough as you can be, but here you need to be as gentle as you can be. If you try to force remove it you have the risk of destroying it completely. We don’t want that. They are fragile and break easily. Trust me we had first-hand experience regarding the matter. We don’t want you guys to go through the same horror.
Step 9:
If you didn’t destroy the impeller in the last step then, clean it gently. It will affect the performance of your filter. Remember to clean the plastic parts around the impeller as well.
Step 10:
Clean the impeller hole. This is another important stuff. This is where you use the Q-tip. Use it and clean the inside of the impeller hole thoroughly. The hole most likely has some gunks building inside that’s why you should clean it properly. Otherwise, your filter performance going to change drastically.
Step 11:
Remove the biological media trays and give it the same treatment. Wash it properly and show them who’s the boss. Please make sure you do this step as fast as you can. You might want to place them in a bucket of aquarium water. Otherwise, you have the risk of losing important bacterias.
Step 12:
Using high-pressure water clean the canister. This is the last step of cleaning. Do it properly and move on to the next and final step.
Step 13:
Reassemble the motor housing and the whole filter like the way you dissembled it. Don’t forget any parts outside. Once done connect the pipes and turn on the shut-off valves. Plug the filter back in. If you have done everything right it should start just fine.
If you follow these steps you don’t need more safety tips for aquarium canister filters.
