Clouds of poop when I took apart filter?

[Sean]

I just posted the other day about treating for ich so after a day or so the problem just seems to be getting worse. I still haven't seen what is for sure ich but the fish are flashing a lot and acting strange. I decided to treat with nox ick (only half the dose since I have catfish) but, when I went to take out the filter pads that had carbon in them this happened to the tank. It won't hurt the fish will it?

[Regalblue]

Is it bacteria bloom or debris from the filter? 

I'd do a big water change either way & get the filter back on it

[Sean]

It's just all the gunk that was stuck inside the filter, and when I took the pads out it was all let loose. It seems to be settling down and the fish are acting normal aside from the signs of ich.

[Super Turtleman]

When cleaning your filter, if it's still running while you remove the media you're gonna get all that crap in the tank.

I turn the filter off and let the water settle in the filter (it should drain to a point) before lifting out the media. I keep the biomedia in tank water and clean everything else out. I also alternate between maintaining filters so I don't shock the system so much.

[four_by_ken]

You'll be fine.  Just let it all settle or get caught with the filter running again. 

Then as the others have said, do a good water change on it and check your filter media again, might need to clean it depending on how much it caught.

[Maize-N-Blue-D]

Not sure what others do but when I clean out my filters,  I physically remove the entire filter from the aquarium, take it over to a utlity tub and clean out the filter media in the tub, that way all the "crap" goes down the drain and not into the aquarium.  Please note: I do not scrub the inside of the filter as you want to keep that slim intact as it is all the benificial bacteria...

Good Luck !

[four_by_ken]

Way overkill in my mind.

The only time I remove a filter completely is if it stops working.

[Maize-N-Blue-D]

Not sure what others do but when I clean out my filters,  I physically remove the entire filter from the aquarium, take it over to a utlity tub and clean out the filter media in the tub, that way all the "crap" goes down the drain and not into the aquarium.  Please note: I do not scrub the inside of the filter as you want to keep that slim intact as it is all the benificial bacteria...

Good Luck !

Mind you I do not use the media that came with the filter,  I only use AC110 Sponge cut to the size of the filter with Seachem Matrix in the bottom.  Thus I am forced to clean it out this way...  I am not a fan of having to buy filter cartridges...

[linuxrulesusa]

Not sure what others do but when I clean out my filters,  I physically remove the entire filter from the aquarium, take it over to a utlity tub and clean out the filter media in the tub, that way all the "crap" goes down the drain and not into the aquarium.  Please note: I do not scrub the inside of the filter as you want to keep that slim intact as it is all the benificial bacteria...

Good Luck !

Mind you I do not use the media that came with the filter,  I only use AC110 Sponge cut to the size of the filter with Seachem Matrix in the bottom.  Thus I am forced to clean it out this way...  I am not a fan of having to buy filter cartridges...

I think you can accomplish this fairly well by just grabbing the sponge out and holding a bucket or cup under it then take the sponge over to the sink to rinse.  At least that's worked for me.  You get a little crud on the lid that way but a quick wipe and that part's all set.

[Maize-N-Blue-D]

Not sure what others do but when I clean out my filters,  I physically remove the entire filter from the aquarium, take it over to a utlity tub and clean out the filter media in the tub, that way all the "crap" goes down the drain and not into the aquarium.  Please note: I do not scrub the inside of the filter as you want to keep that slim intact as it is all the benificial bacteria...

Good Luck !

Mind you I do not use the media that came with the filter,  I only use AC110 Sponge cut to the size of the filter with Seachem Matrix in the bottom.  Thus I am forced to clean it out this way...  I am not a fan of having to buy filter cartridges...

I think you can accomplish this fairly well by just grabbing the sponge out and holding a bucket or cup under it then take the sponge over to the sink to rinse.  At least that's worked for me.  You get a little crud on the lid that way but a quick wipe and that part's all set.

I have tried that and when I started the filter back up there was a big bunch of "crap" that went into the tank.  I'm also not a big fan of having my newly cleaned tank get messed up by being too lazy to properly clean out my filters...So I do the extra work and get it right the first time...Not saying that anyone else doing it the other way is wrong or being lazy - LOL  it's just my method of doing it...

[Sean]

Makes sense. It's mostly settled now, but I will do it differently next time. I was just in a hurry because its my show tank and I had just stocked it with a bunch of really nice male peacocks and haps. Plus it was 1 o clock in the morning and I wasn't really thinking straight lol

[four_by_ken]

I have tried that and when I started the filter back up there was a big bunch of "crap" that went into the tank.  I'm also not a big fan of having my newly cleaned tank get messed up by being too lazy to properly clean out my filters...So I do the extra work and get it right the first time...Not saying that anyone else doing it the other way is wrong or being lazy - LOL  it's just my method of doing it...

But, you are messing with the filter more than what is needed.  There is no reason to do this.  In fact I would believe you would be getting rid of more bacteria than what you think you are and in turn hurting your tank more than helping it.

[Maize-N-Blue-D]

I have tried that and when I started the filter back up there was a big bunch of "crap" that went into the tank.  I'm also not a big fan of having my newly cleaned tank get messed up by being too lazy to properly clean out my filters...So I do the extra work and get it right the first time...Not saying that anyone else doing it the other way is wrong or being lazy - LOL  it's just my method of doing it...

But, you are messing with the filter more than what is needed.  There is no reason to do this.  In fact I would believe you would be getting rid of more bacteria than what you think you are and in turn hurting your tank more than helping it.

All I do is rinse out the sponge and replace it ! Remember - I have a ton a seachem matrix in the bottom of the every filter, that is where the bulk of my BB resides...The sponge just collects the "crap" and excess food...

[linuxrulesusa]

I have tried that and when I started the filter back up there was a big bunch of "crap" that went into the tank.  I'm also not a big fan of having my newly cleaned tank get messed up by being too lazy to properly clean out my filters...So I do the extra work and get it right the first time...Not saying that anyone else doing it the other way is wrong or being lazy - LOL  it's just my method of doing it...

But, you are messing with the filter more than what is needed.  There is no reason to do this.  In fact I would believe you would be getting rid of more bacteria than what you think you are and in turn hurting your tank more than helping it.

All I do is rinse out the sponge and replace it ! Remember - I have a ton a seachem matrix in the bottom of the every filter, that is where the bulk of my BB resides...The sponge just collects the "crap" and excess food...

This is what I was going to suggest.  However, I have my Aquaclears set up the opposite way - sponge in the bottom, then the bag of ceramic/matrix.  That way the sponge catches all the crud (mostly) before it hits the biomedia.  The downside is I have to sit the bag of media in a bucket or container while I rinse out the sponge, but even in 5 minutes it's not going to dry out enough to be a problem.  Oh, and I used a turkey baster to siphon out some of the leftover crud from the bottom of the filter when I cleaned my brackish tank last night.  That worked fairly well.  FWIW. 

As long as the crud gets out of the tank and the fish are healthy and the water's mostly not on the floor, there's not a 'right' way to do it.  Although some ways are less work.   

[four_by_ken]

This is how I do it also.

It only takes me 2 minutes to rinse the sponge, so I am not worried about the bio drying out.