Juwel Filter Media

[slaterlight]

Just a quick one guys. Do I need to have carbon and nitrate sponges in my filter? In my last tank I swapped out the carbon to a standard sponge, and only went back if I had issues. I've neve used s nitrate sponge before so not sure on that...

Which sponge do you think I should replace it with?

And the tank Is only 2 weeks old, how long should I continue to put carbon in before I swap it... (I currently have mature media in filter from old tank)

 

[Smells a bit fishy]

Well if it were me personally, I would leave any filter media that is in it for a couple of months for the bacteria to colonise properly on all the media. Unless you have to medicate.

That's my personal opinion. I've not used a nitrate sponge so I don't know what benefits it brings.

But at the moment you don't know what filter media has what amount of bacteria on.

 

[Duz]

Carbon filters are only really needed to remove medicines or to make your water slightly softer. I have never used my carbon sponge (not even after 4 years). However, if you are using a carbon sponge replace it once a month.

Nitrates sponges convert nitrite into nitrate by nitrification. This basically means that plants get more minerals which helps them grow, yet again it is down to your personal choice whether you would like to use them. I personally don't use carbon/nitrate sponges although I might start using the nitrate sponge soon as I am putting in more plants. Nitrate sponges should be replaced every couple of months.

I will just say you can wait longer to replace the sponges so long as your tank is kept fairly clean, Juwel just recommend changing carbon once a month and nitrates every 2/3 months. Hope that can help you.

 

[waterdrop]

Agree with SABF. If the tank is only two weeks old then presumably you are still at the very beginning of the Fishless Cycle that will prepare your biofilter and make it ready to make a safe environment for the future fish!

During the fishless cycle you don't want to disturb the young bacterial colonies, no matter what the media type is. Adjustments to optimal media can be carried out in small bits, months and months later after the colonies are mature (the will be pretty mature at about six months down the road and will reach full maturity at about a year.)

Carbon falls in to catagory of being more optimal as a "chemical" media, using molecular charge to attract and retain various things. Most of us consider it a good thing to have in the closet, ready to be used in special cases. Mainly it gets used to remove medications (in the rare and sad event that that has to happen) and less often it is used to remove some of the yellow tannins from wood or the occasional organic smell of unknown origin.

In the average situation it is used in, carbon will be fully saturated within 3 days and useless thereafter, being ready to be removed and trashed at that point. This of course is one of the main reasons it is not used on a regular basis much.

Nitrate sponges are basically a sales gimick, but a harmless one. The sponges will remain just as good as plain sponges and in fact that is really all they are. In small filters and tanks, sponges remain one of the best types of biomedia you can own. Ceramics are also quite good but work better in larger beds where their larger between-grain spaces are not as big an issue.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[slaterlight]

Cheers guys, I'll just leave the mature media in there till it needs replacing, I'll be taking the carbon out at the end of the month then, no point having it in there really as it's pretty much cleared my water from the new bog wood,

Not sure on nitrate one... My tank isn't too heavily planted at the minute, only 6-7 small in there but I am looking to double that amount over the coming weeks.

 

[Smells a bit fishy]

As waterdrop said, the nitrate sponge is basically the same as a normal sponge, as bacteria used to get rid of nititres and converts I to nitrates any way, also I've heard somewhere that plants only use up 5ppm of nitrates. So no really any need for a special nitrate sponge. So just leave it in there and use it as a normal filter sponge

 

[eaglesaquarium]

It may sound silly, but you might actually do yourself some harm if you wait to remove the carbon. The carbon will become a surface that can hold bacteria, so leaving it during the cycle and then removing at the end could actually put you back into a mini-cycle.

 

[slaterlight]

Ok, I'm still not sure if my tank has gone into a cycle... I took out 2 sponges from old tank and moved my fish straight over with 80% water change. Been testing my water and seen no real spikes.... I will be continuing to test next few weeks, I'll take the carbon out tonight and put in the spear sponge I have.