Filter Question

[xhan]

I'm sure some people are going to complain about this!
I have a fluval filter that a friend gave me (so I dont know what type it is!) but it takes 2 long sponge pads and 1 long carbon pad, Its been running for about 4months now, every two weeks I take out the filter and clean them in the water change tank water.

I know your meant to change the filters regularly but how regularly? When I want to change the filter pads do I do them all at once or what? Surely taking them all out would mean endlessly cycling your tank.

My friend who has had fish for much longer than I have seems to have a much more advanced filter which takes lots of smaller different coloured sponges...which she changes all at different times, my filter seems much simpler than that!?

I know I need to change them but I'm confused about how I should go about it - help!




On a completely unrelated note, I have a small sponge filter which is in the same tank to cycle it for a small betta tank I have, how long before I can take it out and put it in the betta tank?

 

[xhan]

oh, I think I've just managed to find the instructions on the fluval website!

It says to replace the sponge every 4 months and the carbon every month, so I'm only behind on one! good thing I looked it up now!

Should I change both sponges at once? or should I replace one and the carbon, then wait a month to do the other?

 

[philak]

The carbon pad is probably spent by now but it's ok to leave it in to grow bacteria on. Primarily it's for removing chemicals from the water eg medicines , or water discolouration such as wood tannins.

I would just rinse the sponges and pad in used tank water when you do a water change and keep put them back in until they really start falling apart.Then change one at a time , allowing a few weeks between changes.

I heard recently on here that you should only clean one sponge at a time but i've always rinsed all mine at the same time and never had a problem. Just make sure you don't scrub them , a couple of swishes and good squeezes soon gets the muck out.

Don't forget to empty the filter casing out and rinse it through in old water as you can often get muck laying in the bottom.

 

[xhan]

The carbon pad is probably spent by now but it's ok to leave it in to grow bacteria on. Primarily it's for removing chemicals from the water eg medicines , or water discolouration such as wood tannins.

I would just rinse the sponges and pad in used tank water when you do a water change and keep put them back in until they really start falling apart.Then change one at a time , allowing a few weeks between changes.

I heard recently on here that you should only clean one sponge at a time but i've always rinsed all mine at the same time and never had a problem. Just make sure you don't scrub them , a couple of swishes and good squeezes soon gets the muck out.

Don't forget to empty the filter casing out and rinse it through in old water as you can often get muck laying in the bottom.

Thank you! That sounds sensible! Its coping with all the fish I have at the moment and I dont plan on getting any more soon!

 

[waterdrop]

Agree with philak, one of the quite interesting things to learn upon beginning to read around among the TFF discussions is that there are many, many very experienced aquarists who will say right away that sponges and other "biomedia" (filter media optimized to provide lots of surface area for the autotrophic bacteria we want to grow and maintain) should be used as many years as possible, usually until they begin to mechanically fall apart. With sponges this means when they start to fray. One of the ways that ceramic media is a little superior to sponges is that it lasts even longer, perhaps the entire lifetime of the hobbyist!

~~waterdrop~~