Amphipod?

So this morning I cleaned out my HOB Marineland 300. Just the filters actually. When I started rinsing it out, there were tons of amphipods all over it. Once I notices them, they were all dead from the freshwater rinse.

My question is, is this normal and/or, should I be mad at myself for killing off so many pods?

BTW: a reefer friend of mine had told me to not change the filter monthly as recommended, but rinse it with freshwater monthly until the black filter element starts to come out during a rinse. Any advice on this would be great as I'm not sure if the advice was right.

Thanks in advance 3reefers!

 

no reason to be mad at yourself - there are also loads in your tank and night time using a torch you will find them scurrying all over the place

I would not rinse you filter with fresh water
if your rinsing the filter monthly which is good, you should be using old tank water at time of water change to rinse it, that way you dont destroy beneficial bacteria that resides there and helps process the tanks wastes

Steve

 

Thanks steve. How often should change the filters?

 

the black ones are Carbon - so it depends on bioload . but a general idea would be if you look down through the end of the tank and the water looks a bit cloudy, thats when the carbon needs to be changed ?

the other filters, just clean them each week in old tank water and unless they get damaged they dont need changing IMO
Steve