To all you Fluval FX5 users...

[Sharkbait]

How often do you clean your sponge pads? Do you ever replace them? Do you do it all at once? or one at a time?

[discusjoe27]

I've never replaced them, I siphon some aquarium water out, and soak them in the aquarium water, then squeeze them then put them back in the filter.

remember, the ben-a-fish-al bactira needs oxagen, one it's gets cut off of oxagen after 20 mins, you will have to start over cycling your tank.

[Chad Hughes]

I clean the pads once a month when I tear down the filter. I do not rely on the sponges for biological filtration, although I'm sure they are contributors. Every surface area contributes. I wash them in tap water, squeezing them until water coming out of the sponge is clear. After one month, they are pretty filthy.

All I use in this filter is ceramic biological media. No other mechanical or chemical media. Works well for me. I have only replaced the sponges once and that was probably at year two. After a while they get a little "weak" and, IMO, they needed changed. I gues that would be a judgement call though.

Hope that helps!

Best wishes!

[Disgirl]

__________________
Chad Hughes - "Don't believe everyting you read"

Hi Chad, gee is your statement the truth!! Read Basic Feeding by Al today.

Barb :D

[Chad Hughes]

__________________
Chad Hughes - "Don't believe everyting you read"

Hi Chad, gee is your statement the truth!! Read Basic Feeding by Al today.

Barb :D

Hey Barb!

You got my point! LOL! When I started reading some of what that persone was posting I coined this little quote and made it my signature. Sort of a passive warning. It does make you think about stuff that you read, doesn't it? How much of it is bunk? :p

Anyway, glad you like it! I hope you and yours are doing well!

Best wishes!

[Sharkbait]

Hey Chad!

Perfect! This is exactly what I've been doing. Glad to know that I'm doing something that a discus expert is doing :)

I only have bioballs, and a bit of peat granules (only because my PH and KH were creeping up).

I was curious about the sponges because they do get disgusting after a month or so and one of these day they'll need to be replaced. I wash them in tap water as well. Is there a reason you don't use aquarium water?

Thanks again!




I clean the pads once a month when I tear down the filter. I do not rely on the sponges for biological filtration, although I'm sure they are contributors. Every surface area contributes. I wash them in tap water, squeezing them until water coming out of the sponge is clear. After one month, they are pretty filthy.

All I use in this filter is ceramic biological media. No other mechanical or chemical media. Works well for me. I have only replaced the sponges once and that was probably at year two. After a while they get a little "weak" and, IMO, they needed changed. I gues that would be a judgement call though.

Hope that helps!

Best wishes!

[Harriett]

I have the baskets loaded with bioballs and filter pads. I use a fine pore large prefilter sponge on the intake which I clean 2 x week. What I found from doing that is that I only need to clean the FX5 every 6-8 weeks; the one month cleaning wasn't needed with a great prefilter. When I clean it, I thoroughly clean 2 of the 3 sets of circlular pads and rotate, so one set keeps the whole bio in it. I rinse in tap water until they run fairly clear. Every few months I also unscrew and check out/clean the impeller--the FX5 uses a ceramic one and if it has gunk in there, it will likely snap--been there, done that. Luckily my LFS decided at one year, it was too new and they covered the replacement. HAve been using this filter for 3+ years now. Still like it alot.
I have a second canister filter on this tank and run CO2 through that--together they cover the 180g.
Best regards
Harriett

[Chad Hughes]

Hey Chad!

Perfect! This is exactly what I've been doing. Glad to know that I'm doing something that a discus expert is doing :)

I only have bioballs, and a bit of peat granules (only because my PH and KH were creeping up).

I was curious about the sponges because they do get disgusting after a month or so and one of these day they'll need to be replaced. I wash them in tap water as well. Is there a reason you don't use aquarium water?

Thanks again!

I wouldn't call me a discus expert. LOL! I am learning something new every day. I only share information with folks that has worked well for me. My statements are ismply based on my experiences. Thanks for the compliment though! ;)

I choose to rinse the sponges in tap just because it's much easier. You never really get the sponges clean, especially by sponge #6 if you are using aquarium water. The water becomes way too polluted with gunk. Tap water really lets me achieve a nice clean sponge. Like I mentioned before, I don;t rely on the sponges for bilogical filtration. I do rinse the ceramic media (bio balls in your case) with aquarium water just to remove any debris.

The reason that I let the filter go as long as I do is two fold. First, I'm lazy and hate tearing that filter apart more than once a month. Second, as debris collects in the sponges, the filtration becomes fine. More particulate is captured in a clogging sponge than a clean one. I can't say that I notice a big difference in flow either.

On a seperate note, if your KH and Ph are creeping up, then you likely have excess CO2 in your source water. Do you age your water and allow it to gass off CO2? Just surious.

Best wishes!

[Sharkbait]

I
On a seperate note, if your KH and Ph are creeping up, then you likely have excess CO2 in your source water. Do you age your water and allow it to gass off CO2? Just surious.


That in itself is a long story. Originally when I moved and set up my tank in the new apartment, I noticed that my tank PH was 5.3 (without checking the source water first)

So, frantic, I decided to add a small amount of crushed coral to bring the PH up. Not knowing how much to really put, I felt like Indiana Jones in Raiders of the Lost Ark...

In turn, my PH skyrocketed at the same time my C02 canister ran out. Perfect timing. I lost almost my whole school of cardinals, quite a few rams and a clown loach. Good thing there were no discus in there yet.

Now everything seems back to normal. I put some peat in there to sooth everything over (not alot) and my PH is back to 6.6-7.0. I'll probably remove it in time, but I think there might have been some crushed coral that got loose in my tank somewhere (my PH remained high even after removing it).

I add dechlorinater to my tap water and put it in my tank. No room for aging. Source water PH is 7.0. I don't know how my PH got to 5.3 in the first place, but I'm glad that's over with.