Hi guys
I have a canister filter iv'e had since new [1500ltrs per hour], its been running about 8 months now, I removed the charcoal early on, and it now runs a sponge on the bottom, with a few trays of bio balls one of ceramic, and one with filter wool.
how often should I clean it, and when I do, should I just clean the sponge and the filter wool? or the other stuff to,
thanks,

whenever you noticed that there is a reduction on its flow rate...
which means it is almost clogged....

I clean mine every 2-4 weeks, mostly pull the sponges out and squeeze and rinse in draining tank water, I've rinsed the bio balls once the same way just last week cause they were getting green and slimy. Is this too much I wonder?

Oliversmom wrote:

using the existing tank water would be fine and will work perfectly...
but i wouldn't waste my time and energy if it is not yet necessary.

You clean them when they need cleaning, it's as simple as that. You may find that any fine media such as wool needs changing/cleaning on a regular basis. Personally, I like to leave filters as long as possible. Canister filters do you have to be watched as they can collect quite a lot of crap which could interfere with the flow.

yeah, i just did a big clean a few weeks ago when the hith popped up, now i'll go back to weekly water changes and monthly canister cleaning.

I clean my filters every 8 weeks. However as you have filter wool you might find that needs cleaning more often( if you find the wool clogs quickly you can just clean that). The more fish you have/ the more you food you feed your fish, the more often you will have to clean your filter

If your filter flow rate slows up then you are not cleaning your filter often enough. If you clean your filter and it looks quite clean then you are cleaning too often