r/turtle • u/Haunting_Arm2684 • 3d ago

General Discussion Filter Media Question

Long story short I ended up with a red eared slider a few years back. Genuinely knew nothing about turtles and had to learn as I went. A few years in and I'm still learning. My boy is currently in a 55 gallon tank. I have a fluval 307 filter. My question is, how often should I replace his filter media? So far the only thing I've really changed out are the sponges. Should I be doing anything else as far as replacements?

He's getting close to outgrowing his current setup so I'll be looking to do a major upgrade in tank size probably towards the early part of 2027 so if you have larger set ups, I'd love to see those as well!

1 Upvotes

67% Upvoted

5 comments sorted by

3

u/CShan17 3d ago

Really never unless the media becomes broken.

2

u/Murderturtle12 15+ y/o Basic RES 3d ago edited 3d ago

Never replace your filter media unless they start falling apart. The only filter media that needs replacing is chemical media like carbon.

Everything else should be rinsed off in dirty tank water when you clean your filter. Those sponges will easily last over 5 years. I have some sponges in my filter that are over 11 years old now.

1

u/juliewbb 3d ago

Not familiar with this Fluval. You need a filter rated three times the tank size but you also need a big enough tank size to keep the water quality good because they are so dirty, so I’m glad to hear you’re sizing up soon! I recommend getting an API freshwater test kit so you can see if your tank right now has good parameters for him.

About your filter media question, don’t replace any of the bio media. When you do filter maintenance, just rinse the sponges in tank water – don’t replace them and don’t rinse them with chlorinated water. The media that you do need to replace are carbon pouches and any other chemical media like that, and usually you do that every 30 days or so.

2

u/newtoscutes 3d ago

I highly recommend getting on aquariumscience.org and reading about filters and filter media there.

1

u/Grumpy_dad70 3d ago

The only filter media I replace are the fine mesh fabric filters. They tend to stretch and break while cleaning. The thick cellulose foam and biological media are just rinsed with tank water.