Antimicrobial filters that keep water clearer for longer.

Rinse under a hose every 2–4 weeks. Deep-soak in filter cleaner overnight every 3 months. Replace the cartridge fully every 12 months — or sooner if the pleats have gone grey, are matted flat or the plastic end-cap has cracked. Heavy-use spas, bigger households and inflatables with small cartridges often need replacement at 6–9 months.

Antimicrobial filter media is treated to inhibit the bacterial biofilm — the thin slime layer you see on old filters — from taking hold on the pleats. Biofilm is what reduces flow rate, harbours bacteria that then re-enter the water, and causes sanitiser demand to climb over time. Antimicrobial treatment doesn't sanitise your water (chlorine or bromine still does that); it keeps the filter itself cleaner between wash cycles, so the cartridge keeps doing its job all the way to replacement.

Weekly/fortnightly: pull the cartridge, rinse between every pleat with a garden hose on a fan spray. Don't use pressure-washer — it damages the pleats.

Quarterly: soak the filter overnight in a bucket of filter cleaner solution diluted to the cleaner's instructions. Rinse thoroughly the next morning before reinstalling; residual cleaner will foam your spa badly.

Never: clean filters in the dishwasher, with household degreasers, or with bleach — all three destroy the media.

Yes — our filters are designed for the full current and legacy Canadian Spa hot tub and swim spa range. Each product listing specifies which Canadian Spa models and filter-well sizes it fits. If you're not sure which one you need, check the part number stamped on your existing cartridge's end-cap, or pull the old filter out, measure length, outer diameter and end-cap type (slip-fit vs threaded), and we'll match it. We don't supply filters for other hot tub brands.

Two things: the filter media is antimicrobial-treated (biofilm-resistant), and the pleat density is higher than on many generic-brand filters at the same sq-ft rating — meaning more surface area, better fine-particulate capture, and higher flow rates under load. If you want 'the best version of the filter your spa already takes', it's the Glacier equivalent.

Slip-fit cartridges have a hole through the core and drop over a plastic stand-pipe in your filter well. Most modern acrylic hot tubs use slip-fit.

Threaded cartridges screw onto a threaded stand-pipe or a threaded end-cap at the bottom of the filter well — more common on older or premium spas. The thread on a hot tub filter is called SAE-threaded.

Pull your current cartridge and look at the inside of the centre tube — if it's smooth, you're slip-fit; if you can see threads, you're threaded. Our product listings specify which type each filter is.

Not really — the filter has to physically fit the filter well in your spa, and the well is sized for a specific diameter and height. A higher-sq-ft filter of the same physical dimensions (sometimes achieved with denser pleating) can be a drop-in upgrade, and that's worth looking for. But you can't fit a larger physical cartridge unless the spa was designed to take it.

Pull the old cartridge, rinse off loosely-attached gunk, and measure in this order:

• Length — from the top of the top end-cap to the bottom of the bottom end-cap, along the outside.
• Outer diameter — across the pleats, not across the end-cap.
• End-cap type — look inside the core tube at each end: open slip-fit / thread / open handle / closed cap with stud.

The combination of those three is enough to identify 95% of hot tub filters. If you're unsure, send us a photo of the filter laid next to a tape measure and we'll tell you which listing matches.