Cleaning a freshwater fliter help

[B4tney]

I just got a freshwater filter from my girlfriend to try to help with some flow prob in my small tank. I am just wondering how can I sterilize it so that I dont have to worry about the stuff that was on it and in it. Any help would be great trying to get this up and in the tank soon. Thanks again for the feedback guys

 

[jayman10134]

I just got a freshwater filter from my girlfriend to try to help with some flow prob in my small tank. I am just wondering how can I sterilize it so that I dont have to worry about the stuff that was on it and in it. Any help would be great trying to get this up and in the tank soon. Thanks again for the feedback guys

just rinse it with some hot water and it will be fine. i have done it before with no issues.

 

[B4tney]

Alright. I didnt know if I need to boil it or anything. Thanks for the help.

 

[B4tney]

Would it hurt anything if I did boil water then dunked the parts in the ran the water through it?

 

[WoodRiverTroutBum]

Boiling water might warp thin plastic parts like the impeller. Honestly, you wont have any issues with a good wrinse and maybe scrub off any algae that may be on it. Was the tank sick when the filter was last used? If it hasn't been used in a while no bacteria from the FW tank will still be alive on it.

 

[B4tney]

Also a question, sorry I am annoying about all this. Could I run a new filter in that filter or is that a bad idea. Also my Pygmy angelfish has what looks like lil air bubbles on it what could that mean?

 

[B4tney]

I really don't know about the filter it came from my gf, I think I am going to just give it a good scrubbing. Then rinse in hot water. Thanks for all the help guys.

 

[WoodRiverTroutBum]

No problem. I am running a bio wheel filter that came straight off a fresh water tank, rinsed it and used my finger to get a little algae off and put it on the 20 gallon sw tank with a new filter cartridge. Never saw any changes in my water parameters or anyhting like that if it makes you feel any better about it.

 

[B4tney]

So I can put a new cartridge in.

 

[WoodRiverTroutBum]

Yep, I usually wrinse new ones in tank water after a water change to get any carbon off of the outside of the cartridge.

 

[B4tney]

Yeah I still have water from my water change last night I will rinse in that then the RO water.

 

[JohnK]

Different bacteria in freshwater vs saltwater, so don't worry about preserving it for anything useful. I'd probably clean it with a bleach solution and or use new filter media (mainly because coming out of a FW set up it is probably full of crap that will continue to decay and release pollution into the tank.)

 

[B4tney]

Well it was out of the tank for about 3 years. I have scrubbed it. If I mix water and a very little bleach do I just rinse it and that's that.

 

[JohnK]

Yea, mix the bleach solution strong enough that it smells of bleach, let it soak overnight, then rinse and let dry. If it still smells of bleach, rinse and let dry again.

That said, if it's been sitting that long, A really good rinse in tap water would probably be all you need.