Filter sponge medium replacement schedule....

[Marty]

Greetings....

I have a 10-gallon tank with an AquaClear minifilter system plus an
undergravel filter. The aquarium is long established and my two
goldfish seem happy. I gave up using the charcoal filter packets quite
some time ago and now simply use two 'mini-sponges' in the AquaClear.
They are rinsed every 1-2 weeks when a partial water change is
performed. The sponges are old and haven't been replaced in a
loooonnnng time (> 1 year).

Just wondering if anyone could provide information regarding a
reasonable replacement timeline for these sponges.

Thanks,

Marty

[MartinOsirus]

First - I would add a 3rd sponge - so you would have 3 media in the filter. The
sponges don't need replacement - just rinse in discarded tank water every 2-4
weeks.

[Azul]

On 8 Feb 2004 09:07:23 -0800, (Marty) wrote:

>Greetings....
>
>I have a 10-gallon tank with an AquaClear minifilter system plus an
>undergravel filter. The aquarium is long established and my two
>goldfish seem happy. I gave up using the charcoal filter packets quite
>some time ago and now simply use two 'mini-sponges' in the AquaClear.
>They are rinsed every 1-2 weeks when a partial water change is
>performed. The sponges are old and haven't been replaced in a
>loooonnnng time (> 1 year).
>
>Just wondering if anyone could provide information regarding a
>reasonable replacement timeline for these sponges.
>
>Thanks,
>
>Marty

I usually replace mine when they quit bouncing back. Also I
only replace one at a time. I leave the older one on the bottom and
put the newer one on top, this helps the bio bugs to transfer over. I
also have bought the little bags that go in the aquaclear for the
filter material and filled them with polyester batting. I have one of
those in every filter too. I treat it like a sponge and when it gets
really grungy, I'll replace the batting inside.

Azul

[[email protected]]

when bits start to come off as you are rinsing them out. funny how these sponges
last for years and the ones we get for cleaning up begin to fall apart in a couple
weeks... engineered obsolescence, huh?
anyway, the other indication is when the water flow drops off. they are then so
clogged that water cant flow thru as easily. just replace one of course. let it
seed and get up to speed for a month before replacing the other. Ingrid

(Marty) wrote:

>Greetings....
>
>I have a 10-gallon tank with an AquaClear minifilter system plus an
>undergravel filter. The aquarium is long established and my two
>goldfish seem happy. I gave up using the charcoal filter packets quite
>some time ago and now simply use two 'mini-sponges' in the AquaClear.
>They are rinsed every 1-2 weeks when a partial water change is
>performed. The sponges are old and haven't been replaced in a
>loooonnnng time (> 1 year).
>
>Just wondering if anyone could provide information regarding a
>reasonable replacement timeline for these sponges.
>
>Thanks,
>
>Marty



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List
http://puregold.aquaria.net/
www.drsolo.com
Solve the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Unfortunately, I receive no money, gifts, discounts or other
compensation for all the damn work I do, nor for any of the
endorsements or recommendations I make.

[Marty]

Thanks for the advice everyone - i knew your all-knowing-fish-wisdom
would provide the information i required. I will replace one sponge at
a time over the next few weeks as they are old, dingy, water flow
seems reduced and appear to literally be falling apart. Whenever they
are rinsed, in used aquarium water of course, a lot of debris rinses
out that seems more than just fish waste.

Thanks for the third sponge tip - never thought about it but there
does seem to be room in the filter basket - this doesn't impair water
flow too much?

Marty


wrote in message >...
> when bits start to come off as you are rinsing them out. funny how these sponges
> last for years and the ones we get for cleaning up begin to fall apart in a couple
> weeks... engineered obsolescence, huh?
> anyway, the other indication is when the water flow drops off. they are then so
> clogged that water cant flow thru as easily. just replace one of course. let it
> seed and get up to speed for a month before replacing the other. Ingrid
>
> (Marty) wrote:
>
> >Greetings....
> >
> >I have a 10-gallon tank with an AquaClear minifilter system plus an
> >undergravel filter. The aquarium is long established and my two
> >goldfish seem happy. I gave up using the charcoal filter packets quite
> >some time ago and now simply use two 'mini-sponges' in the AquaClear.
> >They are rinsed every 1-2 weeks when a partial water change is
> >performed. The sponges are old and haven't been replaced in a
> >loooonnnng time (> 1 year).
> >
> >Just wondering if anyone could provide information regarding a
> >reasonable replacement timeline for these sponges.
> >
> >Thanks,
> >
> >Marty
>
>
>
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List
> http://puregold.aquaria.net/
> www.drsolo.com
> Solve the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> Unfortunately, I receive no money, gifts, discounts or other
> compensation for all the damn work I do, nor for any of the
> endorsements or recommendations I make.

[MartinOsirus]

>Thanks for the third sponge tip - never thought about it but there
>does seem to be room in the filter basket - this doesn't impair water
>flow too much?

No - the basket holds 3 media( 3 sponges)

[[email protected]]

the crud coming out is crud... the bacteria are really glued on pretty tightly to the
sponge and squeezing em to get teh crud out exposes the bacteria once again to food
and oxygen flowing past. Ingrid

(Marty) wrote:

>Thanks for the advice everyone - i knew your all-knowing-fish-wisdom
>would provide the information i required. I will replace one sponge at
>a time over the next few weeks as they are old, dingy, water flow
>seems reduced and appear to literally be falling apart. Whenever they
>are rinsed, in used aquarium water of course, a lot of debris rinses
>out that seems more than just fish waste.
>
>Thanks for the third sponge tip - never thought about it but there
>does seem to be room in the filter basket - this doesn't impair water
>flow too much?
>
>Marty


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List
http://puregold.aquaria.net/
www.drsolo.com
Solve the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Unfortunately, I receive no money, gifts, discounts or other
compensation for all the damn work I do, nor for any of the
endorsements or recommendations I make.