Hang On Filter - maintenance and frequency

[diki]

Hi,

Just like to find out how often do you need to clean your Hang On Filter (HOF) and also this might be a stupid question......How do you clean the HOF?

I realise that the flow rate of my HOF is getting from bad to worse so need to find out how u guys do it. Just clean the media (sponge?) or also the internal of the HOF as well. Since I buy, never clean before so need some advice before I clean them.

Thanks.

[benny]

Hi diki,

Which make and model are your using?

Usually, I clean mine about once a month. I remove the bio sponge and rinse them in aged/tank water. The sponge is cleaned with a strong spray of water at the basin or replaced if it's too grubby already.

Hope that helps.

Cheers,

[diki]

I am using the Atman HF-0100 and Jebao JF-300. Both are small HOF.

I only have a black sponge in both of them and I did not use the carbon that comes with them. Since their compartment for media is so small, not much media can be put in. What media you put in your HOF?

[benny]

On my Eheim Liberty series, I have a bio sponge as well as another carbon cartridge. I just junk the carbon cartridge whenever it's too dirty to be cleaned.

For the Atman and the Jebao series, you might have to cut filter sponge to size if you regular LFS don't sell the pre cut ones. Good to cut a few if you are having a go at it.

Cheers,

[diki]

Thanks for the speedy reply.

There is no precut ones but I have some spare which I can use to cut to the appropriate size. Thanks for the advice and the Jebao's maintenance is long over due since it has been there for quite a few months. Thanks.

[benny]

There is no precut ones but I have some spare which I can use to cut to the appropriate size. Thanks for the advice and the Jebao's maintenance is long over due since it has been there for quite a few months. Thanks.

For a start, you can rinse the existing sponge. Keep squeezing it under running water and you will be amazed by the goop that comes out of it. I can usually use mine for quite a few months.

Cheers,

[benetay]

I've used quite a few hang on filters, i personally don't really like the ehiem liberty, i've got the 50 & 150 i think...which i deem unsuitable for bigger tanks and the maintainence is too much for me.

I've stayed with using jebao even it's a taiwan brand? higher flow rate, bigger space capacity. I use sera filter floss almost 2 big handful and a small media bag of filter media.

Normally a hang on is more of removing the floating particles in the tank.

[diki]

For a start, you can rinse the existing sponge. Keep squeezing it under running water and you will be amazed by the goop that comes out of it. I can usually use mine for quite a few months.

Cheers,

Thanks. I did that with a small container of the tank water and was amazed by the colour. Still, I don't think I have completely cleaned the sponge but not too clean is usually better, right? Have cleaned the Jebao HOF sponge and also the inside of the filter. It is very dirty, with a lot of mulm if I'm not wrong.

[diki]

I've used quite a few hang on filters, i personally don't really like the ehiem liberty, i've got the 50 & 150 i think...which i deem unsuitable for bigger tanks and the maintainence is too much for me.

I've stayed with using jebao even it's a taiwan brand? higher flow rate, bigger space capacity. I use sera filter floss almost 2 big handful and a small media bag of filter media.

Normally a hang on is more of removing the floating particles in the tank.

Hmm... removing floating particles? How does it do that? Since my water level is quite high (around 1-1.5 cm from the outflow of the filter). The Jebao one after cleaning, is causing some bubbles on the water surface. First time I have seen this. Must be really dirty then.