Bought my new cartriage filter today

[waterbear]

You usually cannot vacumn to waste with a cartridge. Best advice I can give is that if the cartridge looks green from the algae when you clean it (and I would recommend cleaning it frequently by hosing it off while you are getting rid of the algae) then soak it or spray it in a bleach soloution of about 1 part bleach to 3 parts water to kill any algae that is on the cartridge then hose it off well. You will find the cartridge being very effective when you vacumn since they filter to about 20 microns as compared to about 60 microns for sand. To make your maintennce easier, don't wait for the pressure to rise 8-10 psi before cleaning the cartridge but get into the habit of hosing it off maybe once a month.