# eheim filter media



## ebetcruz (Dec 30, 2012)

is it okay to re-use a canister filter that was used on a saltwater aquarium including all the filter media?

please advice

thanks in advance


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## Fishfur (Mar 4, 2012)

Re use it for what ? Freshwater ? If it was used for a salt tank, it won't have the right bacteria for FW and you'd want to get rid of the salt from it too. You'll need to clean it all very, very thoroughly to use it on FW tank.

I'd empty it. Rinse the container, rinse and clean any tubing. Scrape or scrub out any algae that might be in it, make sure there are no snails or anything else in there, dead or alive. 

Depending what kind of media is inside it, you might be able to clean it and use it again. If there is any carbon, it should be tossed, it's likely used up. If it has bio balls or ceramic bio media, thorough cleaning needed to use in FW. If there's anything like sponge or floss, if it's in good shape and not falling apart, should be usable again once thoroughly cleaned.

I'd use bleach on all the media, of all types, because it will kill any unwanted bacteria. Maybe 10% bleach.. one part bleach to 10 parts water. Find a relatively narrow container or bowl, dump the balls or ceramics in that with bleach water and agitate them. Best to use gloves. Work the pieces around and around to knock off the gunge from all the little crevices and nooks and crannies. Once it is reasonably clean, you can finish it on the top rack of a dishwasher. Put the media in a net bag of some kind so it won't fly around, and make sure the button for hot drying of dishes has been turned OFF. It might melt plastic bioballs. Use the sani cycle if you have one.. but before you do, drop a plastic bio ball in boiling water just to be sure it does not melt out of shape. If it does, don't use the sani cycle. Regular cycle will do. 

Once it's all clean, rinse thoroughly a few times over in FW, make the last rinse in water with dechlorinator added to it, to be sure of getting rid of any residual chlorine.

Now you essentially have a 'new' filter, that needs to be cycled. If you can get some media from another cycled tank, or rinsings from a filter that needs cleaning, use that to seed the canister filter, and speed up the process of cycling.. or set it up on a tank that's already cycled, and let it run for a week or two, which should be enough to seed it so you can use it on a new tank.


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## pyrrolin (Jan 11, 2012)

if the bio media is ceramic rings, make sure they are not clogged up with stuff from the saltwater. Ceramic rings are supposed to be a little rough to provide more surface area for bacteria. If ceramic rings, it might be best to boil them, might want to add some vinegar to it to.


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## ebetcruz (Dec 30, 2012)

Thanks alot for the advice! Very helpful!

I cleaned every thing thoroughly and soaked the ceramic rings overnight & rewashed it again. Scrubed the tubings & replaced the filter pad & foam. Primed it with the current tank water (FW). 

Thank you very much again!!!


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