bio filter

[chadman]

should i ever rinse out the sponge in my hob filter?

 

[usinkit]

Yes i would if you have another source of biomedia in the filter or liverock in the tank.

 

[chadman]

Originally Posted by usinkit
Yes i would if you have another source of biomedia in the filter or liverock in the tank.
i have a 30g tank with about 70lbs of lr...plus i run carbon in my filter...should i just take it out and rinse it in some distilled water?

 

[usinkit]

Yea i would definately rinse it out once a week. The sponge is a nitrate trap.

 

[chadman]

once a week wow...good point cause i have been having a very slight nitrate problem....all my other readings were at zero

 

[fyi]

i think u are supposed to change the carbon, not rinse it.. they have carbon test kits that tell u when u need to change it.. it will turn ur water a yellowish tint if not changed often enough

 

[fyi]

did u ever pick up that chaeto i suggested chadman?

 

[usinkit]

Yea food gets trap in there and the next thing you know your nitrates are climbing. Thats why i dont run any type of sponges in my tank. I only run a emperror filter pad with carbon one week a month in my sump.

 

[chadman]

fyi...i am talking about my sponge not the carbon...i rotate my carbon on a weekly basis...and i never got that chaeto...they always had it but since we spoke everytime i go there is none there...i am keeping my eyes open for it though!!!

 

[80sbaby]

YOU MADE A GOOD PIONT -I SHOULD RINSE MY CARBON PADS THAT ARE IN MY FLUVAL.
I WAS TOLD NOT TO TOUCH THAT FILTER FOR AT LEAST EVERY 6 MONTHS. SO THAT BIOLOGICAL STUFF DOESNT GET LOSSED. PLEASE FILL ME IN, THIS MIGHT BE THE REASON MY SAND IS GETTING BROWN. :help:

 

[chadman]

Originally Posted by usinkit
Yea food gets trap in there and the next thing you know your nitrates are climbing. Thats why i dont run any type of sponges in my tank. I only run a emperror filter pad with carbon one week a month in my sump.
i have so much lr in my tank that i have no room for a skimmer so i am stuck running my filter all the time....

 

[chadman]

holy mackeral!!!!!!!!! i just rinsed out my sponge...wow...its no wonder i was having nitrate problems

 

[fyi]

one thing u can do is buy a second sponge for it and have it in the system a week or two before u need to change it.. it wont pick up alot of the detrius and other things, since the water wont be forced thru it, but it will house alot of the bacterias... then when its time to wash the other, just put the 2nd one in its place, rinse the other really well, and put it back where the replacement one was.
i hope doesnt sound too confusing, LOL

 

[usinkit]

Yea bet alot of brown stuff came out. You should really consider hooking up a sump/refugium to your tank. That was the best thing a ever did. I have 0 phosphates and nitrates all the time now. That will allow you to put a skimmer in there to. I believe a skimmer is a must for this hobby. If you think the sponge had nasty crap coming out of it, put a skimmer on that tank and you will be suprised on what kind of crap you pull out.

 

[wax32]

FYI: He has plenty of live rock, so no worries about losing bacteria. The sponge is just a particulate filter in this particular setup.
chadman: For sure rinse the heck out of that thing every week, or you will see some nitrate buildup.

 

[chadman]

my tank is in my room so i have limited space...i would love to add a fuge though

 

[alyssia]

Originally Posted by chadman
holy mackeral!!!!!!!!! i just rinsed out my sponge...wow...its no wonder i was having nitrate problems

I was having the exact same problem with my trates, could not figure out what the heck the problem was. Someone on here suggested taking the sponge out of my filter, and presto, my trates came right down. Haven't had a prob with them since.