Cleaned Both Sponges In Filter,is This Right?

[maisy12345]

Hi , just cleaned my filter[ spongesonly] that`s just cycled and is approx 2 months old ,but cleaned both white one and carbon one by squeezing in old tank water ,is this alright ,also the instructions say to replace carbon filter every 3-6 weeks,is this right ,and how will it effect my cycled tank?

 

[Harlequins]

It shouldn't really need doing after 2 months,but has long has you done it gently and didn't remove to much mulm hopefully it should be ok...

Unless you're using meds in the tank or removing tannins,theres no need to replace carbon,the carbon becomes inactive after a few days,you'd be better off putting some media in the slot.

They say replace it has another money earner for the makers but theres no need too,removing any media carbon or otherwise may affect it,so just keep an eye on your stats.

 

[maisy12345]

I`m afraid i did squeeze it[ both sponges] several times in old tank water,oh no,what shall i do now ,?You say that there`s no point in the carbon ,i`ve got a spare new white sponge ,shall i put this in instead ,or would this have any detrimental effect as well?

 

[Harlequins]

The only way to tell if it has affected your cycle is by testing the water,when changing the carbon filter for a sponge,depending how much has grown on there may cause a mini spike...

If so just do the w/c's until its settles down again,

 

[Smells a bit fishy]

If there is an imbalance then hold off changing the carbon pad, or you could try and squeeze the sponge pad in there and remove the carbon out in a month or 2.

But the only way to tell if you have over clean it is to keep a close eye on your water stats and do water changes as and when

 

[maisy12345]

Is there any benefit in changing the carbon to a normal sponge ,if there`s no point in the carbon i can`t understand why they use them ,thanks for your help?

 

[raptorrex]

Is there any benefit in changing the carbon to a normal sponge ,if there`s no point in the carbon i can`t understand why they use them ,thanks for your help?

indeed there is. you can have more Bio media, to replace it with.
just change it out prior to your next clean. if you are a bit worried about its effect. wash the carbon out in the tank, not just in tank water.

 

[maisy12345]

Thanks Raptorrex,but don`t understand what you mean [still a newbie]
[indeed there is. you can have more Bio media, to replace it with]-please explain in simple terms,thanks.?

 

[Harlequins]

Taking out the carbon sponge and replacing with your white sponge(bio media)this will help the filter to perform better & has more area for the good bacteria to grow on

 

[Tizer]

"good" bacteria will grow on pretty much anything inside your filter maisy, be it the white sponge or the black carbon sponge. Ideally when you setup a filter, you shouldn't have any carbon sponges/pads/bags inside it but when you buy them brand new, they always come with one. Most experienced fish keepers will swap them out for a white sponge or some ceramic media which provive a good surface for bacteria to grow on. Since you've not done this, it would be wise just to carry on as you are, removing it now and replacing it with a new white sponge would reduce the bacteria in the filter, meaning it cant clean your water of ammonia and nitrite as quickly thus it would put you into a mini cycle until the bacteria grow back. So my advice is to chuck it all back into the filter and set it running again then next time, when your filter is really really dirty swap over the carbon sponge for a white bio sponge and do nothing more for a few weeks. That way the dirty mulm in the filter will help seen the new white bio sponge and in theory, you shouldnt have a mini cycle. Worst case would be 3 or 4 water changes over the period of one week to get it back on track.

 

[StandbySetting]

Squeezing in tank water as you did is fine, also just leave the black sponge as it is, it's just as good for growing bacteria on as any other sponge is.

 

[maisy12345]

Thanks a lot everybody for the advice ,that`s really helpful.

 

[Miles_hot]

would you change the (ex)carbonm blank filter all in one go? I would have played it safe and cut it into two and replaced only half. That way the OP would be replacing only 25% of the filter media which would be less likely to cause a spike. Better yet I'd leave it 6 months to let the tank really settle down and then swap out half the black sponge. Even better do that and give that half a sponge to someone who is trying to cycle their tank as mature media That person could be you of course if your suffering from MTS (More Tank Syndrome) !