Mature Media From Members

[waterdrop]

<a href="http/www.angelsplus.com/FiltersSponge.htm" target="_blank">http/www.angelsplus.com/FiltersSponge.htm</a>

I used these for eight fish that cost me nearly $300. I send a good sum of money towards Steve at Angels Plus, been dealing with him for years.

Just curious about something. I emailed Steve from the link you sent me and asked how he ships the meda so the bacteria doesnt die. He said just ships them in water so they stay wet but that the bacteria doesnt die. That it goes dormant and then reactivates in the presence of ammonia. This goes against everything I've read on here! I dont mind paying the 15 bucks for the filter media but I wanted to ask opinions on what this gentleman said about the bacteria not dying if its being shipped without ammonia and just in some water. He's in NY and Im in PA ...it'll take probably 3-5 days for the media to get to me. Input please!

I would think the steve fellow is right. Tolak could verify me here but I think the good bacteria is pretty robust. You might get 1% or maybe even 5% loss per day after the population goes into a total non-ammonia environment but the bulk of a healthy population should survive I think from my reading.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[Miss Wiggle]

A bacteria population will start to die off after 24hrs with no food. however how long it takes for it all to die off i don't know.

i would be dubious about much being left alive after 3-5 days tbh. however i also think Tolak's pretty trustworthy so I'd err on the side of anyone recommended by him, he knows his stuff and the local area so if its someone local to you then i'd be relativley happy to go with his recommendation

 

[Gazoo]

What about meeting the member someplace other than your home?

I'm thinking of adding my name to the donor list but I would only meet at a public place for the transaction - like how I handle local eBay pickups. As much as I like to see the good in people, there is always a chance of meeting someone new that has a loose screw. If that's going to happen, I don't want it to happen in my house.

 

[LionessN3cubs]

Okay so few more question before I buy the activated sponge that tolak recommended...just so I know I am clear on this.

Its a sponge filter system. From my understanding I'd need to hook my air pump up to it and just sit it in the bottom of my tank. My question(s) are this. I have an external penguin miniwheel bio filter running now. Would the bacteria from THIS filter eventually colonize the filter I already have so that I could eventually remove the sponge filter? Or, should I just remove my filter entirely and run the sponge filter then? Or should I just plan on continuing to run them both? Also, I have an air pump and line going into an air stone right now. If I buy this sponge filter do I need to buy a whole new air pump and line or would it be okay to unhook my airstone for awhile?

 

[Miss Wiggle]

if what you get is colonised sponge, then you can just stick this straight into yur filter and replace whatever media you have there. it will then colonise any other media in there.

if you run it as a filter seperate to your existing filter then yes this will also colonise the existing filter, you'll need to run them in tandem for a good few weeks and then you can remove the media.

my preference would just be to stick whatever you get into your filter, easiest, no need for messing around with double filters or anything like that.

 

[LionessN3cubs]

if what you get is colonised sponge, then you can just stick this straight into yur filter and replace whatever media you have there. it will then colonise any other media in there.

if you run it as a filter seperate to your existing filter then yes this will also colonise the existing filter, you'll need to run them in tandem for a good few weeks and then you can remove the media.

my preference would just be to stick whatever you get into your filter, easiest, no need for messing around with double filters or anything like that.

I dont think I can just stick the sponge filter into what Im using now. The penguin uses a cartridge type filter...square and flat (thin) this sponge filter is a cube..if it fits at all it would fill the entire interior of my filter (but I dont think it would fit in there unless I cut it all up and "stuffed it")

 

[Miss Wiggle]

cut it up and stuff it in then.

seriously it's fine to just do that!!!

just don't let it dry out, you won't harm the colony by cutting the sponge in two.

however if you don't wanna do that then just run them in tandem for basically as long as you can. preferably a month, minimum 2 weeks. once that's done you can remove the sponge filter and the normal filter will be colonised

 

[Tolak]

Bignose posted some very good info regarding the dieback of nitrifying bacteria in filter media; [URL="http/www.fishforums.net/content/forum/23...Is-A-Power-Cut/"]http/www.fishforums.net/content/forum/23...Is-A-Power-Cut/[/URL]

It takes 3 days for Steve to ship from his location in upstate New York to where I am in Chicago. I have tried substituting media in Penguins, they do not have the power to push water through sponges packed in the media area, and there is no way you are going to fit all that sponge in there. I would run the sponge filter and the penguin together for about 3 weeks, and over a weeks time slow the air flow to the sponge. The nitrifying bacteria will have colonized on the Penguin media by then. I run spare sponges like this all the time, pull them from a tank and set up another, adding fish right away. When I break down a tank I add the sponges to a stocked tank.

I wouldn't go slicing up a perfectly good sponge filter, you may need it for a future quar or hospital tank. If you plan on buying fish, run the sponge in your cycled tank for a couple of weeks, when you pick up fish you add it to the quar tank.

There is also a little trick you can do with sponge filters that are not cycled if you are stuck with having to set up a tank. Pile some gravel from a mature tank on top of the sponge, this will usually give you enough bio filtration for a few smallish fish.

 

[LionessN3cubs]

Bignose posted some very good info regarding the dieback of nitrifying bacteria in filter media; <a href="http/www.fishforums.net/content/forum/23...Is-A-Power-Cut/" target="_blank">http/www.fishforums.net/content/forum/23...Is-A-Power-Cut/</a>

It takes 3 days for Steve to ship from his location in upstate New York to where I am in Chicago. I have tried substituting media in Penguins, they do not have the power to push water through sponges packed in the media area, and there is no way you are going to fit all that sponge in there. I would run the sponge filter and the penguin together for about 3 weeks, and over a weeks time slow the air flow to the sponge. The nitrifying bacteria will have colonized on the Penguin media by then. I run spare sponges like this all the time, pull them from a tank and set up another, adding fish right away. When I break down a tank I add the sponges to a stocked tank.

I wouldn't go slicing up a perfectly good sponge filter, you may need it for a future quar or hospital tank. If you plan on buying fish, run the sponge in your cycled tank for a couple of weeks, when you pick up fish you add it to the quar tank.

There is also a little trick you can do with sponge filters that are not cycled if you are stuck with having to set up a tank. Pile some gravel from a mature tank on top of the sponge, this will usually give you enough bio filtration for a few smallish fish.

Okay so I can run them together...cool. Now, do I need to buy a 2nd air pump or can I unhook my air stone for awhile and use the pump that was hooked up to. May sound like a stupid question but I dont know how a sponge filter really works and since Im hooking up the air pump to that ...would that give sufficient air to the tank? I ordered the sponge filter this afternoon so hopefully I'll have it in the next 2 days since Im closer to steve than you are LOL

 

[Tolak]

With any decent air pump you should be able to run two devices, you do need a gang valve, those little valve arrangements that let you hook up multiple devices, with a small adjusting valve for each.

Sponge filter work on the same theory as undergravel filters. As the air moves up the tube it creates water motion by displacing water, and by rising. The water finds the route of least resistance, which is through the sponge with sponge filters, the gravel with undergravel filters.

 

[LionessN3cubs]

With any decent air pump you should be able to run two devices, you do need a gang valve, those little valve arrangements that let you hook up multiple devices, with a small adjusting valve for each.

Sponge filter work on the same theory as undergravel filters. As the air moves up the tube it creates water motion by displacing water, and by rising. The water finds the route of least resistance, which is through the sponge with sponge filters, the gravel with undergravel filters.

Think I'll have to get another air pump then. The one I have can't even fully utilize a 6 inch air stone completely. There is about 2 inches on the end with no air bubbles coming out. I think if I tried to double up on it, neither the air stone nor the sponge filter would get much air. I think I spent about 10 bucks on the pump (maybe less) because I never dreamed I'd need it for much of anything besides the bubble wall I purchased when I bought the tank. Live and learn I guess.

 

[Tolak]

Sponge filters don't need much air flow to provide bio filtration, I run them as low as one bubble per second on fry tanks. If you do pick up another pump, don't open the box, see if the spnge & air stone will run off of the old one first. If it does you can return the unopened pump if desired.

I usually load images to imageshack, then link to there, as it saves bandwidth on this site. It also allows you to post pictures in any area of the forum.

There is an article on posting pictures here; http/www.fishforums.net/content/Members-...pload-Pictures/

 

[LionessN3cubs]

Sponge filters don't need much air flow to provide bio filtration, I run them as low as one bubble per second on fry tanks. If you do pick up another pump, don't open the box, see if the spnge & air stone will run off of the old one first. If it does you can return the unopened pump if desired.

I usually load images to imageshack, then link to there, as it saves bandwidth on this site. It also allows you to post pictures in any area of the forum.

There is an article on posting pictures here; [URL="http/www.fishforums.net/content/Members-...pload-Pictures/"]http/www.fishforums.net/content/Members-...pload-Pictures/[/URL]

I figured out how to make my tank picture an avatar. Isnt the best pic tho so I'll do what you said

 

[Mikaila31]

Also you could use a UGF power head instead of the air pump. That is how I run my sponge filters. Just attach the power head to the top of the lift tube, or if you find the lift tube to a UGF you can use that too. Half of my filters are just lift tubes w/ mature media rubber banded to them and a power head on top. Also remember that once you get the mature media you will have to feed it ammonia to keep it alive.