One of the advantages of the JBL CristalProfi external filter is the inner structure with the top mounted pre-filters which are easily accessible and thus easy and fast to clean.
Pre-filters are there to catch the coarse dirt which is sucked into the filter, so that it doesn’t clog the underlying filter material. This filter basket has been designed to prevent the worst case scenario of coarse waste clogging the pre-filters, which can happen very fast. It contains one large one-piece pre-filter mat with at least the double surface of its predecessors (2 small externally arranged pre-filter mats).
This way the pre-filter doesn’t clog as quickly and the high filter performance of the external filter is maintained.
Cleaning of plastics:
For many months it is sufficient to rinse the dirty filter sponges under lukewarm running water and then inoculate them with filter bacteria (JBL FilterStart) before using them again. However, as mechanical cleaning NEVER leads to complete cleaning and dirt will remain in the filter sponge, it is recommended you replace the filter sponges about every 6 months.
Inoculating filter material with cleansing bacteria:
Initial colonisation of filter material with cleansing bacteria takes about 1-2 weeks in freshwater and twice as long in seawater. If the filter material was already in use, the time for a "recolonisation" is doubled, as recolonisation does not take place so easily on dead bacterial lawns. The addition of a cleansing bacteria concentrate, such as in JBL FilterStart, shortens the biological start-up time to about 24 hours. Another benefit is that when you fill the existing settlement space in the filter material with beneficial bacteria, pathogenic germs find no place to spread. This has now been scientifically proven.