Cleaning the Fluval FX2 after 3 months. The importance of a clean filter!
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- Опубліковано 28 вер 2024
- This was always something that we discussed with customers in the store and I do think a fair few issues in your aquarium could come down to thinking your filter is working when it's actually not.
The @fluval FX2 has performed very well through this 3 month period, but it definitely performs better when the sponges have space to catch the muck!
It was quite a surprise how much of a difference this made to the rare tetra aquarium and even now when I stir the aquarium up it clears within seconds rather than still looking murky an hour later.
So remember, just because your filter is flowing, doesn't necessarily mean it's working!
P.S not sure what happened to my hair towards the end hahaha.
Video from when I first set up the FX2:
• @fluval FX2 external a...
Installing the FX UV video:
• The NEW Fluval FX UVC:...
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I am that guy that never cleans filters as long as the water is flowing and after watching this I am going to change the filters on my 40 gal and see if there is a big difference. keep them coming
Me to 3 months it’s only just gettin started 😂
It varies from tank to tank but I am that person sometimes too.
Hey Matt - you are a treasure to the UA-cam fish-keeping community. And your work with MD is nothing short of great therapy for those of us lucky enough to watch it. If you ever wonder if your work on UA-cam matters, remember me saying this: to this fishkeeper, it matters a whole heck of a lot.
That is so kind of you and your comment means a lot to me!!!
@@FishShopMatt This is so kind of him and it's 100% true! I love watching you two and I'm trying to save up money to hopefully meet you guys at Aqaushella Dallas IF you guys decide to go.... :)
Agreed! Thank you for sharing your expertise with us!
Same here!
Its good to see maintenance done on a tank, a lot of people dont realise whats actually involved. And, everyone does it differently.
Yeah there is so many different ways that work just depends what works for you.
That water is fantastic for watering house plants!
Wow thats a huge improvement. Doing a filter clean tomorrow!
Hi Matt, we need more videos like this for the novices like me who are waiting for there tank to arrive.
Awesome I'm glad you found it useful.
Your house plants would go crazy with that water. Nice vid. I just purchased my 1st oase thermo. Had water everywhere, forgot to put the heater back in the hole after looking at it. Then, I forgot how easily you can shut off the water - instead frantically trying to pull the intake hose out of the tank. Those suction cups are strong! It was like an episode of "I love Lucy".
The roses enjoyed these buckets. Oh no! But I've been there before where you have a problem and the best answer doesn't come to mind first.
Poor Flo, she’s got low self esteem now after being labeled “not good enough” 😂 I liked this video because dirty filters are something we all deal with.
Hahaha yeah I did feel bad for her
I like tank maintenance videos. Sometimes you see folks setting up tanks, and forget that there's more work that needs to be done to keep the tank running. And that is as, if not more, important as the initial scape work.
Absolutely it's a complete circle. It's all very well setting them up but you got to look after them after that.
@@FishShopMattgreat video 👍
Would you say a pre-filter on the strainer would help with tank conditions?
Dear Matt! I'll be honest - there's always some room for improvement - but as a freshwater aquarium enthusiast with over 30 years of practice and experience, I don't think I could learn much from you. But I don't care about that at all. I "come" here for every new video, without exception - to relax. Every such on the channel - is like a glass of water in the desert. There is no price tag on authenticity. And for someone with great passion, it's hard to imagine a greater pleasure than watching another such a nutter in action. Thank you for this chill out ( it's already accumulated a few hours since the beginning). Take care bud x
Agreed. I am 54 and have been in the hobby since like I was 25 so all this stuff is not new to me. But the way Matt explains is so soothing that I come here for a professional psych session. Pozdrowienia! I assume you are Polish. My real name is also Artur. 🙂
Loving the content and as always you come over as chilled and explain things in plain terms on all your uploads,keep it coming im just off to clean my filter😅
I run dirt base filterless tanks successfully for decades, as I can’t be asked to buy and clean filters, but my tanks still need care. I enjoy your videos.
Must clean filter more often! - noted 😂👍
I tip the dirty filter water on my garden, makes the plants grow really well ✌️💜
The roses got this water
I pour mine into a patio pond. They say to fertilize the plants in the pond...Not when you have this dirty aquarium water. It's gold. I have massive success with it in my little patio world.
I wish you would have shown what the filter looked like after the week of running the "dirty" system. Great video!!
You've just motivated me to clean my filter. Thank you very much! :D
I appreciate this video, as someone in the hobby 2 years now I feel like a lot of filter / nitrogen content is aimed at absolutely new fish keepers.
There was a really small piece of the MD at ADG Houston video where Jeff started talking about their filter media, and the reasoning behind it. I learned more in that 30 seconds than many other videos cover in 15 min
Thank you. Oh that's very interesting I'll have to go and rewatch that video.
I really like this thumb nail. I like your signature purple...I do...but sometimes I cant see what the video is about and cant get excited for it because im distracted by how much purple and swirling colors there are. I loved this toned done version, still could get the feel of your unique twist and style but could see and enjoy what the video was going to be about. love the work you're doing!
Basics but so important. Excellent video. I clean my filters, but we all know it's dirty work, and we put it off sometimes.
I run Aquael ultramax 2000 and inside sponge filter with 1000l/h pump. I clean sponge filter and pre-filter on ultramax about once a month. Last time i open canister filter itself was after 2 years of running it and it was fairly clean inside, almost felt like it was unnecessery. But you inspiered me to check it out after next 2 years now xD
This was genuinely so helpful. I look a lot of tips videos and they're usually things I know already, but this educated me. I'm so guilty of leaving my cannister for too long.
I have a question that you might know the answer to - if you leave the filter unserviced like this, assuming it's still flowing and the water is testing okay, can it cause disease?
I had a few bouts of illness in my tank that I could NOT figure out the source of. Just ocurred to me that maybe I was leaving the filter too long.
PS your videos keep me sane love you
Just came back from cleaning my canister after watching this vid. After 1 month of my 40 gal filter used on my 30 gal long tank, I did not expect the sponges to be CAKED.
Yeah it's crazy sometimes. Now watch how clean the tank becomes over the next few days.
Hi Matt, great video. I use a Fluval 307 and follow the maintenance guide. It has run lovely all year, and the water, plants, and gravel have stayed lovely and clean. I can't recommend Fluval filters enough.
Keep the videos coming.
Thank you, yeah fluval is a great brand!
Amazing isn’t it Matt how despite the filter being rammed with waste it still kept the water quality in general good
Yep, definitely helps to have a lot of plants, wood and rock
I loove that you hung up your tools on the cabinet door! lol
Thanks for the demo. Nice tank!
Successfully cleaned out my fluval 407 after this, great job Matt
The fluvals are a nice filter, I've used fx5 and fx6 on my old tanks. The only thing I don't like is once they get dirty and after a cleaning, they tend to get filthy twice as quick, I found changing one set every 2nd cleaning works great, but the downside is there not cheap. I have since moved on to a trigger 20 gallon sump, with media in my supply and charcoal in my return and filter floss after my refugium of freshwater plants. I change the floss once a week and just top off. Thx for the vids, even got my daughter watching them with me 😊👍👍
They are decent filters but a good sump is a great thing. Glad to hear your daughter enjoys it, next gen of fishkeepers!
We have just got our first aquarium plants all added, water additives added and water has settled nicely going to do all the tests tomorrow as its nice clean water now all the cloudiness has gone , its great for us new aquarium owners to see this video / tutorial many thanks for sharing 👍 now following you for more tips
I know people think it’s crazy to do but I clean my fx4 and all my other filters with tap water in my utility sink. It’s so much easier and faster to clean with the pressure from the faucet. Yes my tap has chlorine, there have been studies that chlorine does not kill beneficial bacteria in quick exposures just if it’s soaked in the chlorine water for long periods, I believe a video from primetime aquatics explains this, after cleaning fill back up and add a dechlorinator of course, I have never had a tank crash from this. I have over 14 tanks and I breed and sell fish I clean all my filters this way. Just makes things a lot easier than using tank water and buckets lol
You antichrist, LOL...I did not know that. Most of us have a few tanks, you have a lot of tanks .
You've just created another job for me this weekend, cheers Matt... 😅
Good video. I clean mine out every six months and it’s not this dirty 😂 I do clean the pre filter weekly with the water change etc and suck out detritus straight to my garden. I never need to clean the media and the fine filter lasts this long.
I actually had a filter problem on my newly set up tank. I noticed that my green rasbora was buoyant! They were grasping for air and I guess they have that kind of swim bladder where they can manually pump it up, so they became buoyant. I thought I had an ammonia spike or something like that but I couldn’t see anything when I tested the water. I did a big water change anyways and next day they were better. But the real problem was the filter, it hade become clogged up by melting plants and wasn’t moving the water enough causing the oxygen to become low! After that I am checking my filter every week.
oOoOO good effort on spotting it!
I like the aglae on the rocks and such. It looks natural.
That's why I leave it, naturalizes it and also provides a bit more food for the inhabitants
Love your video brother!! Your specific explanation on how your filter was full of matter and then cleaning it was on point! Thanks for sharing the importance of cleaning these filters. Subbed.
Great video. Love this tank Matt! And definitely getting myself this filter when the time comes.
One question, do you have any issue with shrimp and that inflow strainer?
Great video and great advice.
Keep up the good work. I will admit I am very lax on cleaning my filters. On my smaller tanks(under 55 us gallons) I generally do them every 3 to 6 months but my later tanks(over 55 to 125 us gallons) I do once a year on new years days lol.
On new years day! That's commitment, as I say if it works for you go for it.
Congrats on 50k Matt 🎉
I just changed my pre-filter, it had JUST reduced flow and there was a LOT of muck. I hope I can get away with just cleaning the pre-filter for a while. I don't want to have to get in there 😂😂😂💜🦖
Yeah if you have a prefilter it can help out massively as most of the muck stops at the prefilter.
I’m the one who needed to hear this, thank you
I've got two Fluval HOBs that will not let me get away with not cleaning them. Fortunately I tipped them towards the tank to stop them from overflowing when the media rises up. lol
Good plan hahaha
If you have dead spots in the corners, having cory cats also helps keep the detritus suspended. They cruise around and kick up detritus into the water column so the filter can remove it.
There is a group of sterbai and a group of Amazon bumble bee cats but they don't seem to work hard enough for a three month gap.
Hi Matt,
Thank you for the very informative video, Excellent as always! Also, thanks again for helping me to get the Colombo CO2 Reactor last year, it was very much appreciated.
I have a question for you and I hope you don't mind me asking it here?
I had to go abroad and leave my aquarium for a month. When I returned there was a lot of evaporation from the aquarium as I expected. Can freshwater aquarium evaporation cause land moss to form on wood and plant leaves due to being exposed to the air? If you have the time, please reply.
Great video
nice job clean fillter happy fish
Thank you!
Another quality video Matt …….. I saw them plant holders on your tank where are they from can you share a link …. Thanks in advance
I have 20 corydora in a 200l planted tank. I clean the Eheim filter once or twice a year. I move the baskets up and down a few times to remove the heavy dirt before I completely remove them. I completely remove them. I give the sponges a good wash under a running tap, hot or cold, then reassemble. Been doing it this way for last 6 years. Only seem to lose fish to old age. This of course won't work for everyone.
I keep bettas in two of my tanks. I have learned the hard way that slacking on my maintenance routine, whether I'm busy or just not up to it, has had disastrous results for my bettas. I've raised both since pups and each time I decided to skip maintenance they've gotten sick. Putting off filter maintenance and water changes have both put me and them in worse positions. I think what makes it worse is I may be a bit overstocked while running HOBs.
Currently saving up for a proper canister for my bigger tank so it can better deal with my bouts of neglect than my current HOB. Not that I want to neglect but as a bit of extra security.
Yeah it's always worth having a safety net and sometimes the smaller filters don't give you that.
in general I clean my SUNSUN 704Bs once a year at the 1st of June. there is only bio filter media in them , they do fine,
With a ton of bio media it can work and ultimately if it works for you go with it.
Heavily planted tanks will create plenty of dead spots for muck to accumulate, especially away from the filter intake. A prefilter, like on the Oase biomaster, is invaluable in keeping the main filter cleaner for longer. I clean my prefilter every fortnight and the main canister every 6 months, but it is so lightly soiled I could leave it a year.
I run a sponge in addition to a canister and find the same effect. Easy to squeeze it out every week or so and the main filter takes forever to get properly dirty.
Yeah my oase biomaster does help but I find the flow slows down way quicker if you don't sort the prefilter.
When you place new pothos from the soil do you just wash the soil off and plop it in the aquarium? I've only had luck with arrowhead plants for terrestrial plant filters, pothos always dies when I try it. Anyways great video Matt!
Thank you for the ever informative content! I'm thinking about starting a 200l cold water tank. How would you stock it, if it was your project?
I guess I should clean my fx4 this weekend, it’s been going for 3 months
❤from 🇦🇺
Put me in the surprised camp. Amazing that it sucks it out of the far corner.
All of it good common sense knowledge.
the science is now in that you can clean your filter media in chlorinated tap water. Put simply the microbes are not in contact with the water long enough to be killed. I've just found this out and it's what I do now. Everything is ok.
I do this with the sponges, the extra pressure definitely helps. But to be on the safe side I clean my biomedia with tank water. I assume that any bacteria in the sponges that did get killed will quickly repopulate from the biomedia.
I have a 3 gallon bowl with 4 mosquito fish and 4 tiny shrimp in it. Next to it is a 1 gallon with my assassin snail and a crayfish that apparently hatched from an egg on my plants. There were snails (bladder snails, I think). I suddenly had a bunch of brown algae on the glass and a bunch of little white worms in the smaller bowl.
I was wondering if there is a way to filter these small bowls without beating the occupants to death.
I am using a small LED desk lamp to light them both.
I scrubbed out the little bowl today and started with a couple cups of water from the larger bowl to get rid of the worms.
I ran a good bit of water through the larger bowl, but tried not to disturb the aquarium soil under the gravel. I scrubbed the glass the best I could.
Both bowls have java ferns, which are growing pretty well. The large bowl also has a couple of dwarf Amazon swords and a banana lily.
I love watching the little critters. I really wish I could get them balanced . The plants are growing well. I hope more growth will inhibit the algae. I did raise the lamp a bit today.
Thank you for all your tutorials. I have learned a lot from you. 🤗
Great video again Matt thanks. The flow on my filter ebbs within a few days of me cleaning the sponges. I have been squeezing my sponges 😂 about once a week but still the flow slows down a few days later. Would it be best then to squeeze out the sponges as soon as you notice the outflow has slowed? Rather than a weekly routine. My flow has often been slow for a few days when Friday night comes around and I do my maintenance.
I run an eheim 2215 with a 2217 impeller but if I ever changed to a new filter it would either be the FX2 or the 2217. Have heard it's one of the best.
Hey Matt, I'm pretty new with fish keeping, but crashed my cycle a few months ago been trying everything to fix it. So far not much success. I did however upgrade my filter to a fluval u3 (it's a 55L planted community tank).
I'm scared of I clean my filter I will mess up the little cycled bacteria I already have? Is that true or not really 😂
Can you talk about how to maximize water flow from the output on the fx2? On my 75 gallons long I want to make sure my flow is moving as much as possible to my low input spout.
My filter does this to. Even if it's perfectly clean it still doesn't pick up the muck from the opposite corner. I always have to get it with my siphon when I vacuum the bottom. I have a HOB and it's for 50 gallons but I only have a 20 long. It will also build up on my plants. I have a tank full of pond snails and 4 otto's. Ok. It's not reallyfull of pond snails. I control their population with how much I feed all of the fish I have. I have 7 Cory cats, 4 long finned danios, and 1 African dwarf frog. Oh and the 4 otto's. So it's not really overstocked. But I would think that the cory's and the frog would keep it stirred up enough for it to get sucked into the filter, but no, they ALL pretty much ignore that corner. Why??? IDK why either. So there's my delimma. Any thoughts?
Well Matt, this was helpful! Now I'm starting to rethink what I'm doing. I'm setting up a 75 gallon (284L) tank and I was going to put a hang on back filter on it. And because of the rock work against the back of the tank, it would have to go at one end or the other. It provides pretty good flow, but I'm wondering if the canister would provide better flow? Also, it looks like the UV is a separate attachment? Is it really necessary? Or more of a "luxury" item?
I'm guessing letting the filters get that impacted will ultimately shorten their lifespan? Your thoughts?
And then all of that "nasty" water out of the filter . . . do you use it for house plants in in the garden? Our house plants have never looked so good since we've been watering with filter water and water change water.
As always, thanks for sharing your knowledge and insights.
Have a fantastic weekend, Mate! ~Ron
Hey Matt, Do you still work for MA Taunton or are you YT full time now?
That dirty filter waste and water? Your house plants will absolutely adore it
The garden roses got it this time round
Im curious about the UV clarifier. How do you find they help? Worth it?
That murky spillwater is perfect for watering youre houseplants, they love it. DONT just throw it away, just my 2C.
Helps if you put filter media in the same order as the water goes through your filter (water in > large foam > medium foam > small foam > fine bio media > water out)
Probably also a good idea to only clean half the media at a time, so you don't take out all the bacteria...
Good god! My FX 2 is on a tank with a full grown soft shell turtle in it, and it doesn't get that nasty! Gack! I can even smell it through the internet! I can also feel my supper coming back up. I can only imagine what your poor fish were living through. So glad you cleaned it!
Very good video on a very important subject!
I kinda like that earthy smell.
Hahaha it didn't smell that much on all honesty.
do you reaaaAAAaaally need a filter on aquarium like this with so many plants? Or just some water circulation would be enough? Some snails and shrimp might do all the cleaning you need. A lot of fish though.. Hmm. hm?
Not to mention the stuff in the filter rotting an breaking down going back into your tank.i may not do water changes at all but I will do a filter change every 6 weeks or so.then again I have a sump on my planted tank an only take out the dirty filters.
mucky or not that’s a beautiful tank
This is where an island type of build comes in handy for water circulation..I haven’t cleaned my large Ehiem filter for over 2 years,because I use a 2.5 ltr Pre filter with just sponges 🧽 in.and my Ehiem is just full of media…I did have a look 👀 in there and it’s clean.i clean my pre 2.5 ltr once every 2 months…
Nice sounds like a good plan
I have a reminder set on my calendar to clean my trurtles filter every month and my fish tank ia evwry 2 months atm due to only having a small amount of fish but it will chmage to monthly in the future once rhey breed some more(food supply for the turtle 😅)
Hey, hopeing for some advice? I have a 2ltr (1.5) after hardscape, planted tank. Its been set up for about a month now, been doing water changes and testing, things are looking good 👍 what kind of shrimp would do well in this size of tank and how many? Or is it better suited for snails? Ive tried finding information online and its a bit conflicting. Worried about over stalking 🤗
I afraid to ask how dirty MDs filters were when you were last there!!
I like the eheim classic range of fliters 0% chance of any bypassing the foams
It's been a long time since I used one of those but I remember them being good.
So glad to hear you say that. People do WAY too much to their tanks.
With the amount of muck the filter took out after 7 days, should you break it down and clean it again? I'm curious if it filled back up after cleaning all that out.
Hey Matt nice video as always, i wanted to ask what's the point to improve the filter replacing the previous one to a bigger one, does it affects the life of fishes? Do I have to do weekly water changes or that thing can change?
Thank you, the main thing is as your fish grow or have babies the waste levels increases. Upgrading the filter just gives you a hand in keeping up with maintenance.
As long as you don't go crazy the bigger the filter the better.
@@FishShopMatt Ok since i host Endler guppies it should be good to invest in a new one, but i hate to waste money, what can i do with the old one?
@@andreacasoli3371 you can try and sell it but I would keep it as a spare as you never know when something may go wrong and a spare will come in handy.
*whispers loudly* uh oh, a hoarder. 😂
Is it OK to have detritus at the back of the tank if you have live plants back there?
My Fluval 207 is only around a month old, i have no detritus at the back but it all seems to settle at the back.
My instake is in the far left back of the tank, and outtake is in the far right back of the tank, and faces slightly off centre towards the right pane of the glass...
Should I change anything?
As long as you don't have algae and fish issues there isn't really an issue with the detritus.
You could always get a turkey baster and use it to stir the muck up once in a while.
@@FishShopMatt thanks mate. No algae issues at all luckily. However had some issues with the fish, brought 10 guppies and only got 7 left. And two of the remaining ones have fin rot / or have fin nipping issues from other males.
So not sure if its like some bacterial issue or just like how they are with being highly bred.
Not sure if you can help, some fish have a like red rash on their bodies.
I've had a tank before so understand the cycle. The tank has 0 ammonia and 0 nitrite. Plenty of live plants. So I dont understand !!!!
@@jonathanpilmore7140 if I was to bet it would be a bacterial infection as guppies are notorious for it. But it could be bullying and then the damage gets infected. Either way I would get an anti bacterial/fungus treatment in there as soon as possible.
@@FishShopMatt right, ill give that a try, thankyou so much.
Didn't you start out using an oase biomaster on that tank?
What kind of light is that?
Fluval plant pro is running in the video. The other light is an AI blade but shhhhhh
Hehehe i see some people in fish groups. Being proud that they havent cleaned it for 6months to 1 yr 😂.
i’m gonna clean my filter later tonight, its been a few months already 😢
Every tank is different so it may be horrible it may be ok.
I know its an unpopular opinion but i clean my filter in the bath with the shower and tap water i only use my filter as a waste collector my tank has been running for about 2 and a half years there is plenty of beneficial bacteria in the tank its self to not have to worrie about whats in the filter
Yeah I have done it before it's just way riskier for new comers to the hobby. It's a bit more gross but at least there isn't any issues with cleaning in old tank water.
Great video, but don't make the mistake I did and watch it while eating.
It's only a bit of plant gunk and fish poop hahaha
@@FishShopMatt and I'm sure it smelled lovely.
I cannot believe that's only 2 months worth of waste. Not sure what that's telling us, is the filter super effective or just clogs too easily!
It's 3 months, this tank has a lot of muck because of the planting and the chunky fish. It's just very efficient at getting waste out of the aquarium.
One thing I noticed early on when cleaning pump filters is that regular plants love that "dirty" water.
No polishing pad ? Also those outer sponges are course so nothing to catch fine muck no wonder your bio media is clogged
4th
First comment
This is how you clog your biological ceramics because your sponges are full and the water is bypassing all forms of mechanical filters and the muck is now in full contact with biological filtering and knackering it so it would need replacing within 6 months. This is why you should do maintenance once a month whether you think it needs it or not.. your sponges should never be heavily clogged that way your biological media will last years not months.
Fish 💩 and these type of filters just store the 💩 away from the tank until it clogs up. That filter is a really easy filter to keep clean and therefore the tank. Koi ponds have drum filters to keep muck out and sea tanks rolling paper. Drum filter would be way to big for a tank but how about some salt water systems in a freshwater tank?
1st ;p
I cleaned my profi filter last week and found a costello tetra alive in the top tray. He must have jumped over the skimmer grill and up the tube and down into the filter. How he survived I'll never know. I had noticed him missing 3 days earlier and couldn't find a body. Needless to say he is now my favourite fish in the tank. He must've been like the kid in Willy Wonkas chocolate factory, up the tube and gone... 😂
I'm going to put an end to this nonsense.... 😅
I don't even have a filter
I have my fx2 setup like this: ua-cam.com/video/5NqNPKFGFCQ/v-deo.htmlsi=XNLlvgMgl0ikiqHd. Works like charm. Thanks for sharing your fx2 experience!
Interesting I'll have a look at that.
Thank you for that referral. I just heard more about the anaerobic biological filtration than I have ever heard before! ❤