If you have a hang on the back power filter like an Aqua Clear or a canister filter you need a prefilter sponge on the water intake tube.
Picture bits of uneaten beefheat and discus poop floating about in your aquarium. If it's sucked into the filter it just sits there decomposing. Bacteria love it! And you are running every dop of water through it three times an hour . . . or more.
Sponge prefilters trap food particles and feces before they can enter the filter. You pull them off at each water change and vigorously rinse all the gunk off. Rinse them hard . . . these are mechanical filters. The good bacteria for biological filtration grow on the sponges inside the filter.
Here's some pictures of the ones I use on my Aqua Clears
Last edited by Carol_Roberts; 11-07-2004 at 11:18 PM.
I totally agree with you Carol. Protect filter bio-sponge from the leftover food is very important for Discus keeping especially in a bare tank. Frequently wash the filter bio-sponge will certainly kill all the Nitrify bacteria (measuring Nitrite will prove this). Yet, Infrequently wash the filter with large amount of food debris trapped in it will cause acid fall and further case Discus acid burn (See attached photo).
Carol, I always thought only bio-sponge could sustain bacteria attack. Will the car wash sponge decay over the time?
The car wash (prefilter) sponge will fall apart eventually because of all the daily squeezing and rinsing to clean it. I rinse it under warm tap water. The "good" nitrifing bacteria are inside the filter, you don't have to be careful with the prefilter sponge - clean it good.
The pores on the Aqua Clear sponges are pretty big. I prefer really fine pores on the pre-filter sponges. Fine pores trap more gunk.
I like large pore sponges for biological filtration (inside the filter). Large pore sponges are good for air driven sponge filters too. Instead of being trapped in the sponge the particles pass through so you can remove them from the tank.
Forgot to add Carol. I use a pre filter sponge on the intake, and ALSO a layer of floss, followed by a small bag of bio granule thingamijigs then the two aquaclear sponges. Do you like this idea? In particular the added floss? I rinse the intake sponge on most days, and replace the floss weekly.
Yes, I do rinse the sponges inside the aqua clear from time to time. I'd say about every 6 weeks. If you see a fine cloud of particles when you restart the filter it's time for a cleaning in chlorine free water. You can rinse the sponges in used aquarium water or even a bucket of fresh change water.