"Carl Beyer" wrote in message
...
In article ,
"Gale Pearce" wrote:


As for a bit of trivia. I put all my sponges in a net laundry bag. To
clean the filters I just pull out the bag and there it is... You can
run the bag through a washing machine, I just throw the spunges on the
driveway and hose them down.
Hi Carl - I clean mine much the same way, only I leave them in the bag
and
hose them down on my driveway at the season end. A couple of times a
season,
I just stick the garden hose in the top of my barrel and back flush some
of
the crud out the inlet fitting at the bottom of my barrel as I slosh the
bags around inside - about 10 min total - I also don't use sponge, I use
scotch brite type pads
Gale :~)

Yeah... Cool... I have the scotchbright as well, along with some
floorpolishing disks.. No sponges... Everything is a sponge to me so
that was that wording....

I am wondering if I over clean the filters. But man, they are gross
after a couple of weeks... And then the water slows down... But I may
be overdoing it...

Also I am in socal so seasons are hot and warm...

Carl
--
http://www.cobaltbluefilms.com

What I learned right off in this room was to not clean filters with anything
but pond water. Any type of filter also acts to some degree as a bio filter
and you don't want to kill off the bacteria on the filter that breaks down
the fish waste. For mechanical filters you want the water to be able to
flow through them but you don't want to wash them off to the point of them
being 'sparkling clean'.