Questions about Hydro Sponges

[ecrew]

I visited a local LFS recently and asked about Hydro Sponges. If you'll look in the "Venting: Sick Discus in LFS" thread, you'll see my post.

Anyway, the guy at the store said that I shouldn't use Hydro Sponges because we you remove them to clean them, the gunk they've soaked up just runs back into the tank. He said they're very bad to use for Discus.
He picked up a hydro sponge that he was using in a tank and said, "See, when I lift it up out of the water, a lot of the stuff the sponge soaked up goes back into the tank." I'm VERY confused here!

How does everyone here handle their Hydro Sponges?

Thanks

[CARY_GLdiscus]

This is somewhat true,
Thats why its best to use a few in one tank and even other types so that you can take turns cleaning them

hth
Cary Gld!

[funkyfish]

i use hydro sponges and i think they are great i don't have a big problem with
the so called gunt i take my syphon hose and suck the stuff of the out side of them and i clean my tanks twice a day once to get uneatin food out and in the evening wipe down and the rest of the food

[ed8t]

I can see that alot of gunk will flow back in the tank especially if they aren't cleaned very often.

I run 2 Hydro's in addition to an Aquaclear 500. I run the syphon over the sponges every water change and when I do rinse them (about once a week) I give it a good once over with the syphon again before taking them out. Any (not much) debris that floats off would be picked off during the water change.

[Moon]

I use the Tetra Billi sponge filters in all of my 20 tanks. I take the sponges out carefully, rinse them and put them back. Nothing runs out. If they are maintained regularly you will not have any problems.

[Cosmo]

and here I thought I was the only one that syphoned my sponges before removing them for cleaning :(

The longer they go between cleaning, the more gunk will build up and consequently the more that will fall off into the tank as you remove them. Syphoning first really helps, but regular maintenance is the key

Jim

[RyanH]

If they have so much crud in them that it's dripping off of them, you aren't cleaning them often enough. In addition, if you pull them out of the tank while you are changing water then it shouldn't matter if some crud comes off of them into the water because you can syphon it up anyway.

Also, it's important to keep in mind where the motivations of your information sources lie. This guy wants to sell you a nice, expensive canister filter instead of a ten dollar sponge filter so of course he's going to tell you they are crap. The fact is, sponge filters are remarkable tools for both mechanical and especially biological filtration.

JMHO

-Ryan

[Howie_W]

Sponge cleaning reminds me of Jim Quarles...one of the basics often discussed in the past. :) Keeping multiple sponges going in the same tank is key so that you can alternate when cleaning them.

I always carefully siphon my sponges, not only before removing them from the tanks, but regularly throughout the day at the same times that I removing feces from the tank before each feeding.

Regular maintenance is essential to avoid fouling your tank. A well run-in sponge can be easily rinsed and quickly placed back into the tank during water changes.


Howie

[ecrew]

Thanks for the info!

I wanted to use at least one hydro sponge in my tank so that I could have it for a QT/Hospital tank if needed.

[John_Nicholson]

Of course the LSF did not want you to buy the cheap hydro sponges. They had plenty of high dollar filters that they wanted you to buy......LOL.

-john