cleaning filters

[arnie]

I've read that completely cleaning the filter will kill the beneficial bacteria in it having adverse consequenses in the tank. I have a 58 gal running a magnum 220 and a number V sponge filter inside. What's the best way to clean them? How often? Should both be clean at the same time?







Arnie ???

[Ralph]

Good question Arnie,
The important thing is too not kill the bacteria colony that lives in your filter. The two most dangerous things to the colony are temperature extremes and chlorine.

There are several good methods of cleaning sponges and filter material. One of them is to use the water that you take out of your tank when you do a water change and clean your sponges with it. You can use a bucket or just pour the water over the sponge as you genty squeeze the sponge.

Cleaning just parts of your filter set up at one time is a good way to avoid possible spikes in ammonia, but I don't think that it is as critical as avoiding chlorine and cold (or very hot) water.

[Mat]

;D Arnie i have kept various fish through the years with various populations i have always cleaned my sponges etc with the tank water, and so far i have encountered no problems. ;D

[Carol_Roberts]

. . . .and it is safest to clean your hydrosponge V a different week than the magnum . . .

[gary1218]

I could NEVER master cleaning out those d**n sponges. Didn't seem to matter if I was gentle or squeezed alot. I always got a nitrite spike a few days later. That's why I swithched a lot of my tanks over to a central trickle filter ;D

GARY

[cajunland]

I have a 55 gallon with an emperior 400 on one side and a sponge filter in the opposite corner. I add the ammonia crystals to my 400. This is a show tank with a thin gravel bottom and plastic plants. I change water, about 40%, once a week, using straight r/o water then adding trace elements. I keep the water averaging 80F. 4 large brown discus, 2 clown loaches, 1 rubber lipped placo. I clean the 400 once a month.
Any suggestions on things I may be doing wrong or not doing?
I'm new to the forum, but have read lot of books and internet articles. I have had my discus for about 10 months and no problems so far. (crossing fingers and knocking wood.)

[Carol_Roberts]

You should be doing at least two 40% water changes on adults with that fish load. You should not use ammonia absorbing media on a regular basis - your filters should be fully cycled and handling the ammonia produced by the fish. ARe you testing your water to make sure you are adding enough trace elemnts to keep pH stable?

[cajunland]

I use proper ph 6.5
I just started adding the trace minerals 2 weeks ago at the suggestion of my pet shop guy. I'm not sure what I should be testing for beyond the normal, ph, amonia, nitrates, etc.
Today he told me I should also be adding marine salt for freshwater aquariums? The box says 1 teaspoon per 5 gallons? I haven't put it in yet, was waiting to get opinions here.

[gators111]

My first concern is that the temp is 80. That needs to be upped to 84 at least. When I first started, I used proper ph 6.5 too, but if you check for phosphates, I'm sure they will be off the charts. I switched to seachem's alkaline buffer and acid buffer mix to fix my ph on ro water, they are both phosphate-free. The phosphates at such a high level promote algae growth. I have a 5 gal apisto tank that is covered in algae due to high phosphates.

By using straight ro water, you've got to check for kh and gh. Your LFS said to add salt as a buffer in acidic water. I would only add a small amount to the tank. Maybe 1 tbsp for the whole tank. The trace minerals you are adding also has salts in it.

Lastly, I agree with Carol not to use those ammonia crystals. They are a waste of money and at 6.5 most of your ammonia is ammonium, which is a much less toxic form. I have one question though. Are you using the standard filter cartridges for the emperor 400? B/c that has carbon which is not good and in acid water will affect the ph.

[cajunland]

as per what Carol said, I removed the standard replaceable filters with carbon. I took the (not sure what they are called, but I will refer to them as boxes) filled them with ceramic bio media, then found flow-thru filter bags that fit and put them in. So now the water goes through a course filter, then the bio media, then a fine filter, then returns to the tank past the bio wheel.
The trace elements he gave me to use is called Salifert Trace Soft. It is for reef tanks and the directions call for 5ml per 25 gallons once a week. He told me to cut it in half and use 5ml for the 55 gal. tank once a week.
I will turn up my heaters to get to 84.

[Carol_Roberts]

Any reason you aren't raising your discus in tap water like most of hte rest of us? Juveniles do fine in moderately hard water. My discus swim happily in pH 7.8

[cajunland]

I tried tap water. Maybe I wasn't doing something right or maybe we just have really bad water, but everything I tried died. Our tap water is at 8.7
Since using straight r/o water, I have had no problems with mortality.

[Anonapersona]

Oh, Baton Rouge... Mississippi river water.... Uh, huh, that probably explains it.

[jimmyhat]

hmmmmm my 25 gall seastar that has my red turqs in i fed them tubifex freeze dried today and it was messy so w/c after they were full. Then proceeded to clean the filters with hard squeezes in the wc-ed water. The waters murky lookin tonight? Did tests and nothing out of the normal? It was crystal clear before i started.. But something i noted last week when i put some cycle in it seemed the same thing happened? WHats with cycle?

[bennyblanco]

Oh, Baton Rouge... Mississippi river water.... Uh, huh, that probably explains it. i live in louisiana and my ph from the tap is 7.2ppm

[CAGE-RATTLER]

In my community tank (100 gallon) i run a fluval 304 and a sponge filter.

I clean my fluval once every 2 months and clean the sponges in it with tank water and also the bio media in tank water. Everything else gets cleaned with hot tap water and ive not had a problem with ammonia or nitrite spikes.

My tank is also a gravel bottom .......... which probably holds enough bacteria anyway.

On my juvie tank i have 2 large sponge filters that have been going for 3 months now and i clean them in a bucket of tank water and squeeze the heck out of them ........ and no problems with ammonia or nitrite there either. The sponges get pretty dirty since i have no power filters on there.

[korbi_doc]

I tried tap water. Maybe I wasn't doing something right or maybe we just have really bad water, but everything I tried died. Our tap water is at 8.7
Since using straight r/o water, I have had no problems with mortality.

:D Cajun, since you are using straight R/O water, you should be checking the gh & kh or just ppms with a meter....I've used straight R/O for yrs now, have a Hanna TDS meter which will tell you the ppms of your water...my fish are in the 300-350ppm range, esp youngsters...adults can take less & breeders are around 80-100..you don't need salt as a routine, but the water must be reconstituted for good skeletal growth..I don't know 'bout the products you are using, but there is a recipe here on the forum for reconstituting to the correct ppms....salt will cause it to rise, but you won't have the right am't of calcium & magnesium if you use it alone...if you need the info, let me know, I'll post it again... HTH Dottie ;)

[1977]

I've been taking my sponge filters out and running them under the faucet and completely squeezing them out until they run clear for a couple months now and I believe I've seen an improvement in health of discus(I do all filters in the tank at once). I hope I'm not making a mistake but so far so good

[RyanH]

I've been taking my sponge filters out and running them under the faucet and completely squeezing them out until they run clear for a couple months now and I believe I've seen an improvement in health of discus(I do all filters in the tank at once). I hope I'm not making a mistake but so far so good


You must have well water? :confused:

I don't like to use sponges for mechanical filtration so I keep my airflow relatively low. This is what my water change regiment is for.

I agree with you. It's really important to rinse them out regularly.

-Ryan

[Timbo]

I've been taking my sponge filters out and running them under the faucet and completely squeezing them out until they run clear for a couple months now and I believe I've seen an improvement in health of discus(I do all filters in the tank at once). I hope I'm not making a mistake but so far so good


hi 1977

if you are on municipal water, i'd say you have been lucky not to kill off your good bacteria with that method. if it was me, i would never clean all the filters at once. if you are on well-water, your method has less risk

[Jarrod]

I fill a 5 gal bucket with tank water when I do my wc's...I take my sponge filters out of the tank and squeeze them out in the bucket of tank water to clean them..I've heard that squeezing them out under running tap water would possibly kill the bio bacteria that has colonized in them.
Jarrod