filter sponges

[gkabbe]

Ive had my 24 gl. nano cube up and running for three months now.Ive gone through brown green and a little red slime algae,that the clean up crew and the sponge filters seem to have done their job keeping things clean.My question is do I still need both sponges,my water quality is is good except for nitrates at 5-10.Thats with weekly 20 percent water changes.Ive read that the sponges can be nitrate factories.Seeing I only have two fish (true percula)and 15 snails and and about a half adozen softies,seems a little high.

 

Any responce would be appreciated.thanks

[Web Guy]

Do you clean your sponges weekly?.. You need to be if your not!

[yellowbird53]

I use sponges only when water is cloudy, and then remove, clean, let dry. I run LV rubble in #2, and that is woroking great, so IMHO, sponges are not necessary, only when a 'spot clean up' of the water is needed.

Namaste

[Web Guy]

I run one sponge all of the time in Chamber 1 with purigen."Clean Weekly" LR and Cheato with refugium light in Chamber 2. And pump and heater and Chamber 3.

[gkabbe]

Ive been cleaning the sponges weekly,but now I think Ill remove the big sponge from chamber 1.In chamber two I have the small sponge,carbon,and lr rubble to the top.What are your nitrate levels at between changes.

[yellowbird53]

Should be as close to zero as possible, and I stay there with no sponges. Are u FOWLR?

[gkabbe]

Excuse my ignorance im still pretty new to this FOWLR?

By the way Ive been cleaning my sponges in the old water not cleaning in the sink.Bad idea ?

[gkabbe]

OK got the fowlr dah.No ive only got 2 fish and about 25 lbs. lr various soft corals,snails,crabs.

[Web Guy]

Carbon with reefs removes to many trace elements I think. You can use other things for that purpose:)

[gkabbe]

Yea ive been reading about that,and have thought about removing it but everything I have put in the tank so far has done so well.Its just the pesky nitrates that bug me, maybe removing the sponge will help.

[Web Guy]

I also run Purigen!..

[hvacguy]

I'm going to run a 1/3 of one sponge in chamber 1 right under the surface skimmer, then a bag of purigen under that. An Aqua C Remora in chamber 2 and 2 Eheim 1000's/heater/and JBJ atto float switch in chamber 3.

[artarmon42]

"Nitrate factory" refers to the fact that the Nitrogen Cycle bacteria grow rapidly in sponges. I think it's the porous material more so than sponges per se, which is how bio-wheels work. Thus Nitrate factories are "bad" because it:

1) Traps detritus, making it an all-you-can-eat feast for Nitrosomonas (the bacteria that converts ammonia to nitrites) and Nitrobacter (the bactiera that converts nitrites to nitrates).

2) Nitrosomonas and Nitrobacter have a rich breeding ground that allows them to grow disproportionately to the aerobic bacteria in the LR (that breaks the nitrates down).

 

The reality is that the sponge's collection of the detritus isn't necessarily bad. Without it, the detritus will decompose throughout your tank anyway. But washing of sponges removes detritus is critical. Ideally you should wash it as soon as any detritus is trapped before it has a chance to break down... in reality most people do it weekly, and cannot avoid the inevitable production of nitrates in the mean time.

 

For me, I choose to use Polyfilter, because it chemically absorbs ammonia. Thus, as soon as the detritus breaks down the ammonia is absorbed, eliminating the chain-effect leading to the "factory" production of Nitrates.

[gkabbe]

OK, well now im completly confused,maybe I should just leave it alone as long as all the inhabitants are doing fine without any algea blooms.Ive read most of the nitrate tests tend to read a little higher than it really is.Protein skimmer would be nice but would defeat the purpose of neat look of the nano.

[Web Guy]

I am working on a internal Skimmer that will fit inside the 12G with the lid shut with no mods to the lid. Were cutting one up for a test. We were looking thru some stuff today and figuring it out on paper. Will let you know more as I do.

[artarmon42]

gkabbe: LOL, I actually thought it was pretty well written

 

Web Guy: hey if it works, make me one too!

[steelhealr]

Pull your sponge and your nitrates will drop to 0...mine did. SH

[artarmon42]

Originally posted by steelhealr

Pull your sponge and your nitrates will drop to 0...mine did. SH

 

Nitrates are already in the water

 

It can get to zero via:

1) Water changes (dillution over time)

2) Macro algae, clam or aerobic bacteria (consumption over time)

3) Chemicals (I've heard good things about AZ-NO3, but the recommended dosage period is 2 weeks)

 

But it also depends on how much new nitrate is being created (e.g. over feeding, over stocking, water changes with nitrate-laden water, etc).

[Web Guy]

Will do artamon42! My LFS is helping me do this. I hope it works out like we planned on it. He might market it as well like his Auto Top Off unit he sells.

[gkabbe]

removed the big sponge inchamber 1 removed carbon and added purigen in chamber 2 on top of the small sponge,then lr the rest of the way up and did another 20 percent water change today.Thanks for the advice everyone,hopefully this will help.

[FireFish21]

there was a question about cleaning the sponges...

 

i also wondered exactly how you clean them.

 

just regular water or what?

[artarmon42]

Technically you should use RO/DI water and then final rinse with water similar to tank water (SG, PH, etc), before putting it back into the tank.

 

A simpler technique is to use tap water and then let it completely dry. It's easier, but you'll need 2 sponges because it'll probably take more than a day for the first one to dry.

[Web Guy]

I do the second suggestion. I have 3 of them, replace with dry one, clean with tap water, rinse, squeeze, dry, and put up!

[Chronicles]

hmm I rinse with warm water, squeeze it out, flick it at the bottom of the shower a few times and put it back in 8) Then again mine never do anything other then hold the floss in place.

[Web Guy]

Chronicles - I have done that too with no problems.