Juwel filter medium. Change all or some?

Hi Folks. My tank is suffering from brown algae, green algae spots, hundreds of small white worms and generally cloudy water. I have been doing regular water changes and have removed all visible waste.

When I change my filter medium, should I change just one part or all parts. It's a Juwel system so it has a 'cotton wool' pad, a green part, and two blue parts. Surely changing all at once would lose all the good bacteria?

Also would it be worthwhile completely changing the sand? I'm pretty certain this is where these little white worms are living. The worms are less than a cm and attach to glass or free float. They constantly squirm and spasm in an S shape. They don't seem to be upsetting the axies, but I don't like the fact they are overrunning the tank.

Any ideas?

Well the wool needs replacing once a month and all others once every 2 months.
If they all need changing,take one out every three days or one a week and make sure to add cycle stuff,to add the bacteria that was takne out!

If you had fish in that tank thyed eat all those white things...Dont think axies eat them but fish do. Thats why in fish tanks you donte really see them that often...

Connor, that 'cycle' stuff is worthless. Also, it's highly NOT recommended to put fish in an caudate tank.

Mark, if you're having these problems, your filter's probably not the underlying cause.

Have you tested your water parameters? It's a good idea to test for ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates on a regular basis.

What size tank do you have, and what do you have in it? How often do you do water changes? Do you clean the substrate (such as with a siphon)?

In my filter, I often wash the 'fine filter pad' about once a month, but don't touch the rest of the filter. There's usually no need to replace these, as washing them is cheaper and just as effective.

As for the white worms, it's normal to have a thriving population of micro- and macroorganisms in your tank. Think of what a pond looks like under the microscope. This is healthy and normal.

If you would like to reduce their populations, siphoning the sand regularly, and doing additional water changes should bring their populations in check.

Well I just took 10% water out. Put the Axies into that (in a bucket!) then hoovered up the sand. I probably took out 15% of the sand which I replaced with thresh cleaned stuff.

I then took out each part of the filter (5 parts!) I squeezed them in a separate bucket of water to remove the excess <font color="ff0000">&#149;</font><font color="ff0000">&#149;</font><font color="ff0000">&#149;</font><font color="ff0000">&#149;</font> (lots of lots of mucky water) and then put them all back.

All though my axies seem fine, I hope the tanks condition improves after a weeks intensive treatment.