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just got my xp3 and was wondering with it, how often do u guys with a similar filter, do a complete water change? or does the filter work so well that i dont need to? im hoping i dont have to because, when i do, it takes about an hour to change the water and clean the inside since theres no water, and when i refil the water, its all cold and the turtles get all inactive and stop eating. run on sentence galore lol.

2nd question, how often should i clean the filter itself?

oh and edit: 3rd question about the filter, how often should i change the chem zorrbz.

Never do a complete water change, it will completely mess up the nitrate cycle and you will have cloudy water. Do no more than 50% at a time and depending on how the water looks you may be able too go a week or 2 without ever touching it. Of course you may need to add water because of evaporation.

I usually clean my XP3 about once a month, how often depends on how dirty your tank is and what sort of media you use. If you notice the flow is decreased, it's time for a cleaning. I'm not sure how long bio-chem-zorb is meantg ot last, it should say on the package (or online somewhere). When you do water changes, 25% at a time should be fine, as Vtolds said, never do more than 50% or you risk upsetting ther nice little bacteria that are owrking so hard to keep your water clean.

I think the filter package says clean the filter once a month. Replace the white foam of the filter every 4 weeks and the bio-chem zorb every 4 weeks. That's what the manual says. The black foam can be rinsed and reused a number of times according to the website, so maybe a few months or half a year. Ceramic rings or bio-stars, I have no idea, but I'm guessing you never want to change out all of them anyhow, you'd lose your bacteria colonies.

The rings last pretty much forever, i guess at some point they might start to break down, but either way you wouldn't want to replace them all at once. I've been rinsing out and reusing my black sponges for about 6 months now and they still seem good as new.

oo awsome.

yea before my filter i was doing a complete water change of my 55gal. wasnt fun.

the media i use are the items that came with the filter + the ceramic rings.

i have two adult turtles one about 5 inches and one about. they make a decent mess but im sure the xp3 is taking care of it.

I have to admit that I don't understand the whole nitrate cycle thing. Could someone explain?

Nettle, Octpusgirl8 said it pretty well here: http://www.redearslider.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=142494&highlight=#142494.

Basically, it involves the bacteria changing ammonia into nitrites and then nitrites into nitrates.

Thanks. ^_^