RO System ?....1st time RO user....Confused

[jamie289]

1st thank you for all your help and expertice!!!! Currently I don't have a QT set up to remove the fish. 2nd ?, I'm using liquid test kit from Aquarium Pharmaceuticals. I don't have my readings double checked by LFS since the closet to me is 1 hr drive, local pet stores don't affliate with SWF. Haven't feed cyclopeeze @ all this week. Only feeding reef flakes every 2nd or 3rd day. Haven't rinsed off ANY sponges on my set-up since I got it approx 1 1/2 months ago, thought that collected bacteria which was beneficial to the tank. Should I be cleaning all sponges when I do my water changes? Haven't done any readings on the newly mixed salt water. Using RO and Instant Ocean Salt Mix. Should I be doing the readings prior to adding the newly mixed saltwater? Never knew that. Again, any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[ophiura]

The sponges are not part of the biological filter - your LR is, and I believe you mentioned you have a wet/dry, which I presume has bioballs? The bioballs are the biological filter. Prefilter sponges are mechanical filters, that trap waste, and it rots there. These must be regularly rinsed (IMO, every couple of days). If you are concerned about not killing off bacteria, then rinse them in old tank water.
But really, they should not be a major component of your biological filter.
If you have a sponge on your overflow to the wet.dry, this should be rinsed. If you have filter floss or some sort of other sponge that sits on top of the bioballs and traps stuff, this should be rinsed.
As for testing on your new saltwater, I just want to ensure that you are not adding ammonia/nitrates from your water source...that it is only coming from the tank itself.
One of these days, I would recommend you invest in a higher quality test kit. Those, unfortunately, are not the most accurate.