Started My First Sw Tank

[stephen57911]

hi im new to sw and have just started my first tank i went for a small 20 litre shrimp tank i got my water and live rock and also sand from a mature tank at my lfs the guy at the shop also gave me a small canister type filter that he had been using in a nano sw tank but iv looked inside it and all it has is sponge is this ok i only plan on having 1 small shrimp till i get the hang of things ??

 

[stephen57911]

anyone ?

 

[FishAreFriendsNotFood10]

How much live rock do you have and do you have powerheads?

 

[stephen57911]

yes mate i have a power head and 3kg of live rock

 

[FishAreFriendsNotFood10]

I suppose the next question is do you want a external filter?because there are other ways around filtration like lljima's pico tanks that have high flow and a refugium on the back (you can find her tanks in the marine journal section). Can you customise the filter?. It won't do any harm on your tank alsong as you keep it clean

 

[SaltNoob]

First off, Welcome to the saltwater side of things!

I used an external only until the LR was able to handle the load. Now it is just LR. That sponge will generate nitrates if not cleaned every few days...

-Tyler

 

[stephen57911]

i have been cleaning it every few days wats the best way to clean it ?? i have been just squeezing it out

 

[FishAreFriendsNotFood10]

I clean my sponges in Fresh saltwater every week. I just squeeze out all the dirt and filfth. they are basically used for trapping debris to keep your water crystal clear, your live rock should take care of the rest like Tyler said. Shrimps aren't considered messy Eaters so you should be fine plus the extra flow from the external is a good thing externals aren't really required though but I gotta say mine does a brilliant job providing mechanical, biological and chemical filtration as I've only ever had a trace (and i do mean trace ;p) of nitrates since I started my tank 3 months ago

 

[SaltNoob]

I wonder if boiling some water and dunking it in for a period of time, then a good final rinse would super clean the sponge sleeve?.? I always just rinsed out really well or bought a new one. 3-pack was like 10 bucks.

-Tyler