# [Wet Thumb Forum]-HOT magnum cleaning...



## ekim (Jan 31, 2004)

I'm running a HOT magnum 250 on my tank full time to polish the water, I only use the micron cartridge in the filter. It seems to clog up fairly fast so I guess it works good!

I have to clean it weekly to keep it going alright. I take it all apart and soak the cartridge in bleach & water (1 : 5) for a couple hours, then run it on a bucket to make sure there is not bleach left inside!

? Now i'm wondering if I could just run it on the bucket and add some bleach to the bucket (1:20) so I wouldn't have to take it apart all the time! Would a 1:20 bleach solution destroy the gaskets?









I know i'm really lazy








How are you cleaning yours?
Thanks


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## ekim (Jan 31, 2004)

I'm running a HOT magnum 250 on my tank full time to polish the water, I only use the micron cartridge in the filter. It seems to clog up fairly fast so I guess it works good!

I have to clean it weekly to keep it going alright. I take it all apart and soak the cartridge in bleach & water (1 : 5) for a couple hours, then run it on a bucket to make sure there is not bleach left inside!

? Now i'm wondering if I could just run it on the bucket and add some bleach to the bucket (1:20) so I wouldn't have to take it apart all the time! Would a 1:20 bleach solution destroy the gaskets?









I know i'm really lazy








How are you cleaning yours?
Thanks


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## Ron Kundla (Feb 2, 2003)

I soak the cartridge in the recommeded bleach solution if it is really dirty. Then I wash it with clean water, soak in some dechlorinator, rinse again and let air dry.

I wouldn't put those foam gaskets in bleach water. I haven't experimented on disinfecting the whole unit though.

Best bet is to get another two cartridges so you can cycle them out without needing to take the whole filter out of service for a long period of time. *That* is lazy, but expensive.







You can also extend the life of the micron by using the thin blue filter pad from the carbon cartridge. That keeps some of the heavy stuff away from the micron and still allows water to flow through.

Ron


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## Steve Hampton (Feb 13, 2004)

I follow pretty much the same procedure as Ron. I've actually got four Micron Cartridges, not purchased all at once, but over a period of a few months. I built two Micro Cartridge "soaker holders"







out of PVC pipe with caps. One is filled with about a 25% bleach/water mixture. The other is filled with water containing a very heavy dose of sodium thiosulphate. I rotate the dirty filters from the Magnum, to the bleach, then to the de-chlor, then air dry until needed. I always have at least two clean cartridges ready for duty. Using the bonded blue really extends the length of time between cartridge changes. I have two Magnum 350's, one is used as an everyday filter 24/7 without the micron filter, just the bonded blue covering the media basket that is stuffed with poly-fil. It also serves as the CO2 reactor for that tank. The other Magnum I use for water polishing my other 7 tanks, on a rotating basis.


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## gsmollin (Feb 3, 2003)

When I used the micron filters, I had two of them, and swapped them every week. I cleaned them by soaking in 20% bleach, like most people. I can't recommend running bleach through the Magnum. I don't think its stressed for it.

If you want to hear lazy, I don't use the micron cartridges any more. I just stuff filter floss pretty tightly into the media cannister, and get about the same results. I just throw away the filter floss after a week or so. No cleaning, and filter floss may be cheaper than micron cartridges and bleach.


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## ekim (Jan 31, 2004)

Thanks everyone,
I'm was cleaning mine in the beach solution then rising it off and putting it back in the filter, then running the filter off a bucket of water just to make sure the bleach was all gone!

I cleaned the damn thing that way monday before I did a trimming, then with in a few hours after the trim it was clogged again so I did it again monday night! Thursday I had to trim a couple more plants and guess what!

I just took the cartridge out and replaced it with the blue style foam sleeve cartridge with nothing inside, gonna go get some filter floss thank for the idea! Maybe the trick is letting the micron cartridge dry.... I never tried that!

Thanks again


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