No sponge in filter!!!!-read

[Iphantom]

"Try to let your LR and LS do your "filtration".....by that I mean don't run the biowheel or sponge in the HOB or skimmer. If you do, make sure you wash it weekly to keep it from getting "biological". Otherwise, you'll have a dependence on that "external" filtration, and when you take out or replace your wheel or media, you could have a small cycle. The exception to that is an external fuge, because it also does so many other good things for the tank."

 

I just read this from another post

 

I have been using an aqua clear 150 with 2 sponges

-am I not sposed to do that?

 

it makes sense that it whould become biological just like in fresh water tanks

 

-how to I go about taking the sponges out?

 

-will it cause an impact to just take them out?

 

-what should be in my filter? carbon? what else?

thanks

-Matt

[surfy]

Just take it out if you don't want it. If you keep it just wash it off once a week. I run carbon 24-7 and thats it. Unless you have phosphate prob's then you can run a phos sponge.

I run a carbon filter pad that I rinse off once a week for about a month then I replace the pad for new carbon.

I have gotten lazy and "forgot" to wash off the pad for a couple weeks or so before and it never had any bad effects on the tank.

I like to run something to catch all the floating crap, sponge, pad, etc. That way when I use a turkey baister to blow ditritus off the rocks and corals it catches it in the HOB. Then after the water clears up I rinse off the pad.

Yes it will become biological if you NEVER rinse it.

I ran bio wheels on my 35g for about a year and never rinsed them. It never did any harm to the tank. I took them out because I ripped one and didn't want to buy another.

It's up to you to decide. Some people swear that it will harm the tank and others will tell you otherwise.

As long as you have a good amount of live rock then you should be good.

[Dingo]

You have all of the biological filtration that you need in your live rock. When the nitrogen cycle happens in your rock, the resulting nitrate is in close proximity with anerobic bacteria that eat nitrate to breath and liberate N2 gas. When the nitrogen cycle happens in your oxygen-rich filter pads, everything stops at the production of nitrate, which will build up in your water. That is why people say to take out filter media before it becomes a nitrate factory.