Maintenance Interval for External Filter

[stream]

I have a Eheim 2228 and I would like to know how often hobbyist do maintenance on their external filter system? Besides brushing away all the slimy built up on the tubing, changing the filter wool and pouring away all the debris in the canister, what else do you do? Wouldn't that kill off a lot of beneficial baterials that has been cultivated over time?

TIA

[Urban Aquaria]

For my canister filters, i usually do a full clean up on them (rinse media and brush though pipes/parts etc) every 3 months. That seems to work well for my setups.

The vast majority of beneficial bacteria reside in the bio-media so its okay to pour out the dirty water, clean the canister parts and change the white filter wool. The small percentage of surface bacteria that is cleared out will be quickly replenished by the existing bacteria in the bio-media.

Filter cleaning schedules depend alot on the filter efficiency and tank bio-load... you'll just have to try different schedules to see which can maintain a stable and safe tank environment.

[BFG]

The media housing the beneficial bacteria must not come into contact with tap water to preserve their existence. You should rinse the media itself with aquarium tank water. Doesnt need to be ultra clean, just to remove the gunk that is stuck to it.

Another way is to use a pre-filter attached before the canister filter, connected in series. You could use any container that does not leak water, even a spare canister filter too. Just remove the impeller and fill it with filter wool to catch and trap fish waste as well as uneaten fish food. The filter media in the main canister filter is left alone until you really need to service it annually. Just make sure your main canister filter is larger than the pre-filter, reasoning is you may want as much filter media as possible to have a comfortable bacteria population while a smaller sized pre-filter would keep the cost of using filter wool low.