Sponge Filter in Holding Tank

[spartyblaze]

Hello everyone, I'm attempting to set up my first 'semi-auto' water changing system, and a thread I read previously suggested adding a biological filter to the holding tank, just to get a head start on good bacteria formation.

Reference: Ardan's second post on http://forum.simplydiscus.com//index.php?board=5;action=display;threadid=1151


I'm thinking I can kill two birds with one stone, by letting a sponge filter in my 10g holding tank that sits directly below my 40g discus tank do the job of an airstone, stimulating water movement. I do daily, sometimes bi-daily changes and I think that adding any sort of houshold ammonia for cycling may be dangerous to my fish.

So I guess my question is, is there any advantage to running an extra sponge filter in the holding tank, to keep water moving and grow a little bacteria before transfer to the fish aquarium? Or should I stick to the standard airstone/heater setup?

If I do use a filter, should I
1. Add a brand new one
2. Add an established one or
3. Make a rotation between the three filters I have going, maybe a weekley change (that would be 2 hydro sponge 2's and one home made unit I purchased from aquabid)


Thanks
Ryan

[Ralph]

The problem is that there would be no food for the bacteria to live on. I don't know of any water suppliers who add or have ammonia or even nitrites is their water, at least in any appreciable amounts. Some city water has nitrates but that is not treated by nitrifying bacteria.

The heater and airstone should meet your needs and the semi auto set up should make your life a lot easier.

[Carol_Roberts]

I think that the folks who use a cycled sponge filter in the change water tanks have chloramines (chlorine + ammonia) in their water supply.

When the chlorine + ammonia bond is broken, ammonia is left. A cycled filter will convert this ammonia to nitrIte and then nitrAte.

If you only have chlorine in your water or pure well water like mine there is no ammonia to feed the filter. DO NOT ADD AMMONIA TO YOUR HOLDING TANK.

If you just have chlorine an airstone may work or you may need something stronger like a power head or pond pump. Do you have a chlorine test kit? Test your water after 8 hours with an air pump and see if it's free of chlorine. Also check you pH to see if it is the same as your tank water.