Clean those sponges more than you think you should...

[deputydog95]

My tank has been up for quite some time now. And it's been running great. Not a stitch of hair algae or otherwise. I rarely clean the glass and when I do it's usually just to get rid of the coraline.

I run the large black sponge on pump 1 as my mechanical filtration. Pump 2 sponge was ditched a long time ago when I used that compartment for chiller pump return and ATO sensors.

I had thought about running no mechanical other than the skimmer, but I saw how much garage that sponge collects.

Up until recently I had been rinsing the sponge under a faucet till I "thought" it was clean. The LFS had suggested rinsing it in salt water but I can't see the benefit of maintaining a nitrate factory in a coral tank.

Fast forward, I now have a gold diatom outbreak as well as hair algae. Bulbs are relatively new. I do 10% water changes every week. Run chemi pure. In other words, I keep a tight regimen.

I don't know why I never thought of doing this before, but I recently put the sponge in a bucket with fresh water and rinsed it. The water turned black. It took 6 more fill and dumps before nothing came out of the sponge again.

I'm guessing I've only been partially cleaning the sponge this whole time by running it under a faucet. Now I'm following this sponge cleaning regimen weekly and I'm beating back the algae bloom. And it's only taking 2-3 fill and dumps to get the sponge clean now.

I had considered running a disposable poly filter instead, but the sponge is economical and will likely let small critters through whereas the polyfilter won't.

Anyway, just thought I would pass my experience along related to cleaning the sponge.

 

[Pat24601]

Interesting. I've just been doing faucet....

 

[Danreef]

If I understand your posting, you had the diatomeas after you started to clean the sponge ? You wrote that all was OK until you cleaned , is that correct ?

Those sponges are a big factory of bacteria, we probably have more bacterias on that sponge than in many rocks in the tank. And they do their job, like in the tank. Red Sea Technical people suggest washing them weekly in fresh water to kill that population and allow more growth in the rock (bacterias need to grow in some place to keep your tank in equilibrium). I like to clean that sponge every 2-3 months with freshwater. I did my first cleaning last week. My tank is new. But I gave a biocube with the sponge also and cleaned 3 times in the last year. The tank drives full of life. No nitrate factory.

The nitrate factory, my opinion, occur if we overfeed and the bacteria population in the sponges is not enought. That is why I like to wash it sporadically.

These are only my thoughts and many will not share it. I already told what Red Sea suggested on this forum. And is a very nice point of view.

Daniel

 

[DianaKay]

I didn't like the idea of how nasty stuff could get lodged in the center of those big black sponges and be very difficult if not impossible to get out. I trashed both of them from my RSM 250 right after my tank cycled.
I feel like I have enough very porous LR to provide enough good bacterial growth. Nitrates have never been high in my tank. Phosphate is a different story (needs reduction )
I've read where the sponges are sliced in half & used....seems like that might work & they'd be easier to throughly clean. I just can't imagine how you'd get the centers of those thick blocks of plastic feeling sponge very clean.

 

[Danreef]

Diane....as Red Sea wrote in the thread about the sponges "they are there to protect the pumps". We all have some kind of filter where the fine filter goes. But if that barrier fail, your pumps are 100% exposed to potential debris.

 

[nanoreefing4fun]

I know they (Red Sea) said that... ^ but most members of the RSM Club with RSM 250D don't run them, never have, with zero problems going on 4 years here.

When I got my RSM 250 most of the members of the club, that had RSM 250 since the day when these 65 gallon tanks came out, did not run them & had lovely tanks, so I tried not running them, never had a problem here.

but trends change more than one way to run the tanks.... if running them is working, then I would not suggest one change...


in my RSM 130D from 2009 - 2010, I did run the black sponge & a square of the white/blue on top of it, different setup from 250, I cleaned them weekly under tap water.

 

[newo11]

Most of you probably saw this post already, but just in case you hadn't. I pulled out the sponge months ago. Pump 1 just clogged on me (see my tank thread for pics).

I had a brand new sponge that I cut in 1/3 and put it back in just to act as a large filter but to minimize the "nitrate factory". Super easy to do - not sure why Red Sea makes them so large in the first place?!?

 

[Pat24601]

I had a brand new sponge that I cut in 1/3 and put it back in just to act as a large filter but to minimize the "nitrate factory". Super easy to do - not sure why Red Sea makes them so large in the first place?!?

I kind of wondered this myself. Red Sea seems to have a reason for doing almost everything. So, why is a sponge for simple pump protection so big? Durability? Or, do they not really have a reason in this one instance.

 

[nanoreefing4fun]

one thing anyone new to the RSM Club may not have seen (unless they went back & read lots of post) ... is since Red Sea starting making tanks back in 2007, they have evolved & incorporated many of the ideas RSM club members into the new releases...

skimmer mods, media racks, silencers, gates, surface skimmer cups, hood designs, cooling fans, light fan designs, leds are next... lots & lots of examples the key here for me, is what works for lots of RSM owners and what works over a long period of time (same with husbandry skills, but I digress), there is always a better way, that's what makes the RSM Club such a great help, everyone sharing what is working for them, so we can all learn and improve our tanks.

some of my thoughts...

 

[Pat24601]

Makes sense Glenn. Certainly even I can see that looking at the changes to the C-250. The media rack bring a really obvious example, but not the only one.

 

[deputydog95]

If I understand your posting, you had the diatomeas after you started to clean the sponge ? You wrote that all was OK until you cleaned , is that correct ?

Those sponges are a big factory of bacteria, we probably have more bacterias on that sponge than in many rocks in the tank. And they do their job, like in the tank. Red Sea Technical people suggest washing them weekly in fresh water to kill that population and allow more growth in the rock (bacterias need to grow in some place to keep your tank in equilibrium). I like to clean that sponge every 2-3 months with freshwater. I did my first cleaning last week. My tank is new. But I gave a biocube with the sponge also and cleaned 3 times in the last year. The tank drives full of life. No nitrate factory.

The nitrate factory, my opinion, occur if we overfeed and the bacteria population in the sponges is not enought. That is why I like to wash it sporadically.

These are only my thoughts and many will not share it. I already told what Red Sea suggested on this forum. And is a very nice point of view.

Daniel

Not exactly. I had been rinsing it weekly under a freshwater faucet, and everything was fine for a while. What I think happened was that enough debris and bacteria built up that it was eventually polluting my tank.

Simple washing under a faucet is not enough. My LSF suggested cleaning it by rinsing in my drained water change bucket. Wasn't a fan of that idea but tried it. Was shocked how much debris came out. So much that the water turned black. And that's after me washing it weekly under fresh water faucet.

Not being a fan of rinsing in salt water and maintaining the colonizing bacteria (I already have around 100 pounds of rock in my 250), I took the concept to a fresh water rinse in the bucket.

As I said above it took 6 filling and emptying of the bucket (no point in keep squeezing the sponge once the water turns black) to get it clean the first time. Leading me to believe I wasn't really cleaning it at all under the faucet.

Submerging it in fresh water and squeezing till it runs clear, will remove everything though.

After changing to this technique the algae bloom is subsiding. Both the hair and the diatoms are on the decline.

Personally I don't think you can run a tank without some sort of mechanical filter. The sponge if cleaned properly seems to be the best of both worlds. It will trap most large debris and protect the pumps. At the same time, it will allow some small particles through which will probably end up being food for something.

Fresh water thorough cleaning (which now only takes 2-3 minutes) keeps it from going biological.

My only wishes now is if there was another place to setup a mechanical filter. I'm setting a fuge in the media race (I have an In Tank media rack) and it will great if there was a free flow for pods to come through into the DT. Although they maybe able to navigate the sponge. Time will tell.

I didn't like the idea of how nasty stuff could get lodged in the center of those big black sponges and be very difficult if not impossible to get out. I trashed both of them from my RSM 250 right after my tank cycled.
I feel like I have enough very porous LR to provide enough good bacterial growth. Nitrates have never been high in my tank. Phosphate is a different story (needs reduction )
I've read where the sponges are sliced in half & used....seems like that might work & they'd be easier to throughly clean. I just can't imagine how you'd get the centers of those thick blocks of plastic feeling sponge very clean.

What do you use for mechanical filtration?

Diane....as Red Sea wrote in the thread about the sponges "they are there to protect the pumps". We all have some kind of filter where the fine filter goes. But if that barrier fail, your pumps are 100% exposed to potential debris.

Agreed. I've had pumps ruining before. Small snails, eels, etc... Doesn't take much to jam a $100 pump.

I know they (Red Sea) said that... ^ but most members of the RSM Club with RSM 250D don't run them, never have, with zero problems going on 4 years here.

When I got my RSM 250 most of the members of the club, that had RSM 250 since the day when these 65 gallon tanks came out, did not run them & had lovely tanks, so I tried not running them, never had a problem here.

but trends change more than one way to run the tanks.... if running them is working, then I would not suggest one change...


in my RSM 130D from 2009 - 2010, I did run the black sponge & a square of the white/blue on top of it, different setup from 250, I cleaned them weekly under tap water.

What are you using for mechanical? Based on the disgusting amount of debris and detritus I remove on a weekly basis from the sponge, I can't imagine just running an open system without huge nitrate and phosphate buildup.

 

[nanoreefing4fun]

^ StevieT white/blue filter material in the stock fine filter holder & a square in StevieT's media rack

this is how most run mechanical filtration in the media racks in the 130/130D & the 250's

but there more than one way to run a tank & have success

 

[deputydog95]

Interesting. The only I don't like about the floss is that nothing passes and they foul very quickly.

I'm going to use my "in Tank" media holder as a fuge. I bought some chaeto and pods today. I also discovered that the foam block for pump 2 fits in there quite nicely.

Underwater lights for the fuge should be here early next week.

The plan is remove large block from the pump 1 compartment (done). Add the pump 2 foam block to bottom of the media rack. This should catch debris and keep the general muck and detritus out of the DT. The top two chambers are now loaded with chaeto. I'm floating the pods right now. Will be adding them shortly.

So in theory, I'll have filtration down below. Fuge up high. And pods should be able to free flow into the DT. Theoretically. The chaeto clumps fairly well. I think ever if some were to pass through it would likely be dismantled by the impeller on pump 1.

Have I figured out how to have my cake and eat it too?


20140810_152830 by deputydog95, on Flickr

 

[Danreef]

The impele in pump 1 will not dismantled the chaeto. See the picture on this posting:

http://www.reefsanctuary.com/forums...ub/86917-newo11s-rsm-250-a-6.html#post1264771

 

[deputydog95]

The impele in pump 1 will not dismantled the chaeto. See the picture on this posting:

http://www.reefsanctuary.com/forums...ub/86917-newo11s-rsm-250-a-6.html#post1264771

Interesting. Good to know. I'll have to come up with a solution. Maybe I'll slice an inch of the black sponge off and use that as a barrier.

That being said, I have a much slower pump in the pump 1 compartment. The stock pump is total overkill. I forget the turnover rate, but it was silly fast and was blowing gravel everywhere. I went with something closer to 5x and added two ectotech pumps to the DT for water movement.

Since the flow through the media basket is much slower that typical, I wonder if I'll get as much chaeto debris. I'll run it for a couple weeks and see what happens.

 

[LakeLivin]

I found the easiest and most effective way for me to clean the sponges in my 500 is to take them outside and spray them thoroughly using a garden hose. My sink just does not have enough water pressure. I also did the bucket method but found it easier to just use the hose. Did not like the extra time and effort it took to dump out the bucket a fill it again repeating the process until the water stayed clear while squeezing the sponges. That being said, if you like the bucket method I would recommend spraying the sponges with a hose for a minute or two first to get rid of most of the crud before starting the dunk and squeeze method.

 

[Mark9]

Interesting. The only I don't like about the floss is that nothing passes and they foul very quickly.

This is not a true statement on my RSM 250.
There is a gap even with the fine filter in and pushed down as far as it can go.
I've heard the C-250 has no fine filter, so the above statement does not apply to the C-250.

post1262135

 

[Mark9]

Interesting. Good to know. I'll have to come up with a solution. Maybe I'll slice an inch of the black sponge off and use that as a barrier.

That probably would work fine as a barrier, i'm not sure why its as big as it is.