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After doing a couple different searches of the forum, I've found a difference of opinions of how often you should rinse/replace filter media and how often to clean the tank. It seems to range from rinsing media weekly with partial water change weekly, to rinsing media monthly with no partial water changes.

I've got one 7" RES, who gets fed in his tank, in a 75 Gal tank (with probably 70 Gal of water). The filter is a Fluval 404, with media: pre-filter, carbon, and 2 baskets of biomedia.

Everything has been up and running for two weeks now, and I haven't rinsed any of the media or done any partial water changes, and the water is still crystal clean.

Can I get away with rinsing about once a month (or even a bit more frequently) without any partial water changes, and just do 100% water changes as needed? Or should I rinse more often and/or do partial water changes too? Anyone with a similar set up, I'd love to hear what you do

Are you doing any testing on the water? Such as ph levels, ammonia, nitrate/nitrites? That will tell you if there is a need for water changes etc.

I think you should still do the partial water changes. Just cleaning the filter probably won't be enough. To be sure test your water. If all of the levels stay correct with no partial water changes, then your probably fine. But I think you'll find that your going to need them.

Something I wonder about is whether there's something else to be concerned about besides what we normally test water for - ammonia, nitrites, nitrates, and ph. What about harmful bacteria? If the "big four" tests are ok, and the water isn't murkey or smelly, is it safe to assume it's clean enough?

We have a 9 inch turtle in a 90 gallon tank which we feed her in and we use an XP3 . We do a partial water change every two weeks and clean the filter and tank once a month. We change the activated carbon every two months. We also use a microfiltraton pad in the filter that we change every month.

I don't know of any tests for harmful bacteria. From keeping fish, the only things that I know can introduce harmful bacteria into the tank are other fish and dirty water (waste, uneaten food). It's always recommended that when introducing store-bought fish into a tank, that they are quarantined for a short while to be sure they are not ill.

Other tests available for the tank, aside from ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and ph, are for water hardness and chlorine. The water hardness test come in handy if you are unsure about the water from your faucet. For chlorine, if you leave the water sitting for 24 hours, the chlorine will automatically evaporate or you can use chlorine removers.

Thank for everyones input! The water here is soft-medium, so I don't need to worry about that, other than that, I'll just keep testing and see how it goes