My filter cartridge is gunky and overflows

[OrangeAugust]

My filter cartridge is all gunky and the water hardly goes through it at all anymore and just flows out of the overflow thing on the side.
So now the flow in my tank is a lot stronger because it's not being baffled by the cartridge and it's all coming out the overflow thing. My fish doesn't like it too much. How can I fix it? I rinse it off in the water that I gravel-vac'ed off, but it's still all gunky. Can I scrape stuff off the surface of it (looks like brown algae maybe)? What if I got a new cartridge? I know that would mess up my cycle but what if I stacked my old cartridge on top of the new one in the filter (it has like an open top under the hood)? will the bacteria colonize the new cartridge eventually and then I could just remove the old one? That might be really stupid. I have no idea. lol.
Basically right now it's not functioning as a filter because hardly any water is actually going through it. What should I do?

[registereduser]

I think I might have to do this someday so this is my plan......Buy a new cartridge and when you get it home, pull out the dirty old one, quickly install the new one and then squeeze and scrape as much gunk off the old one into the back of the filter box.

Test the water daily and I bet you won't see much if any change. A lot of the BB is in the filter box itself and in the gravel/deco.

My filters also have a sponge that is never to be washed or removed and that's where the good stuff is.

[Hallyx]

Originally Posted by OrangeAugust

..... what if I stacked my old cartridge on top of the new one in the filter (it has like an open top under the hood)? will the bacteria colonize the new cartridge eventually and then I could just remove the old one?

Yep. That's what a lot of us do. Takes a week or two.

[Thunderloon]

Buy an intake tip pre-filter sponge and every time you need to change the filter cartridge just reach into the tank and give it six good squeezes right where it is then wait ten minutes. The cartridge will pick up most the debris and then just switch the cartridge.

Remember to siphon-sweep the tank!