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Hi,
Can anyone tell me if it is possible to sterilize a canister filter? I have a HOT Magnum and Marineland says to clean the micron filter with a diluted bleach solution, rinse and dry. Can I run that same solution though the filter, give it a thorough rinse maybe run water conditioner to remove any remaining chlorine, dry it out and then put in my tank.

The idea of putting someone elses tank with unknown alge and other critters in my tank.

Thanks for any suggestions.

amackattack

Dispose of all the consumables first Much easier than trying to de-bio the biomedia

I've run bleach through a system before without a problem, but not through that model. I shouldn't imagine it would be a big deal as the parts that are in contact with the water should be pretty well inert and not likely to react adversely to bleach. If algae is a concern, bleach is probably your best bet.

That being said, you can probably get a similar clean by just using very hot water and elbow grease to shift the biofilm and anything in it (I sometimes clean tank gear in the shower - much better than a hose in winter!) It won't kill algae, but it will thin the number of organisms that will make it into your tank. :-)



For animals, the entire universe has been neatly divided into things to (a) mate with, (b) eat, (c) run away from, and (d) rocks. - Terry Pratchett

Might be off base and completely wrong because Im just brain storming.
What about high salt concentrations with hot water? Wouldnt this be enough to kill algae and still be easily rinsed out without concerns? any salt left behind would be diluted to almost nonexistent in a tank.

just a thought.

I am concerned about the algae, but more importantly any possible diseases that may have been present in the other tank that the filter may have been used in. I'm toying with the idea of buying a used filter, but am a little leary for these reasons.

Sounds like the bleach will work if all else fails.

The high [salt] idea looks like a good one too - nicer to the environment. Anyone have any experience with this?

Alec

Yeah, just go and bleach it. Shouldn't do any damage to it. Though once when I did it with a very strong chlorine solution all the sponges in my cannister got soft and floppy. They're cheap enough to replace anyway.

Cool. Thanks for the info. Just bleached my MagFloat scrapers and gave a good rinse - look brand new now.

If you're using chlorine solution be sure to let it sit in the sun and then rinse with fresh water again. The UV will help break down the bleach.


^_^

When I did this, I removed the media & ran the filter for 24-48hrs with a solution of bleach & water (2 cups in 50 gals). Afterwards, ran the filter again using fresh water heavily overdosed with chlorine remover - did that through several changes of dechlored fresh water (each time the dechlor was heavily dosed). Because I didn't want to be concerned about the cost factor of the dechlor, I bought a chlorine remover from a pool shop. As long as the active ingredient is Sodium Thiosulfate, then that will do the trick. I think this might be the product I used, but as I'm not at home to check the label, can't be sure.
http://www.alwaysclearpoolsnspas.com.au/products.php?product=Chlorine-Remover-1-Kg

In regard to the media, I boiled the heck out of everything (except for the sponges, which were chucked). I really thought that should do it, but then a forum friend said to put the media in a microwave safe container with enough water to cover - then nuke it in the microwave on full power for 2 mins. Not much will survive that! But be careful as it will be very hot when it comes out!

After all that, I dried the media out in the hot sun.

I had a particularly nasty disease run through my tanks last year - wiped out 15 discus, so I researched this method before I did it. The filters and media are currently in use with new fish (since around Sept-Oct last year) and there have been no signs of any mishap, so it seems safe to sterlise in this way.

You can also run the filter with a solution of PP. Have the PP at double strength to which is usually used for treating sick fish. For the PP to be doing it's job, it must remain pink/purple. Once it changes colour to orange/brown, it has used up all it's ability to sterilise - so you will need to watch that & top up the PP level accordingly. It helps if you make sure the cannister, hoses & all bits & pieces are as clean as you can get them - it is the organics that will use up the PP quicker. The cleaner your filter, then the longer the PP will remain active.


HTH

Cheers
TW

Great advise Robyn. Sounds very thorough. Glad to hear your fish are doing well this time round. Can you tell me what PP stands for, I'm not familiar with it.

Babel, I did not know that about the sun, should come in handy.

Thanks again everyone for all the information, very usefull.

amackattack

PP = Potassium Permanganate, also known as condies crystals.

Usually available from your local pharmacy and sometimes from an agricultural supplier (although I believe you can make it into some sort of explosive because they pulled it from shelves here when the terrorism thing came through, and it is rarely available in large quantities anymore.

For animals, the entire universe has been neatly divided into things to (a) mate with, (b) eat, (c) run away from, and (d) rocks. - Terry Pratchett

In Australia, the sale of PP is only restricted in larger quantities. There was a bit of misinformation for a while, where Aussie Chemists themselves were under the impression they couldn't sell PP at all due, to it's bomb making capabilities. But one friendly Chemist checked this out for me and found it is only re the sale of large quantities of PP where the resitrictions apply.

Cheers
TW

Thank you for the chemistry lesson.

amackattack

Cheers
TW