Cleaning the ol' black sponge

[Spikewire]

Hey all,
My black sponge has been out of the tank for a while and I was thinking of putting a piece back in. Any ideas on the best way to clean it before I pop it back in the tank? I've been told a small bit of bleach and water solution but I was curious if folks had any other methods.

Thanks!

 

[nanoreefing4fun]

I wash mine about every other day...

I just take it over to the sink & run semi-hot water through it for a few seconds, shake it out, pat dry with a towel & put it back in

 

[redsea reefer]

Hey all,
My black sponge has been out of the tank for a while and I was thinking of putting a piece back in. Any ideas on the best way to clean it before I pop it back in the tank? I've been told a small bit of bleach and water solution but I was curious if folks had any other methods.

Thanks!

When I used mine, I just rinsed it with warm tap water and squeezed and repeated several times, a good shake then back in the tank...

 

[Reefmack]

Rinse, but I'd avoid the bleach. Sponges take a long time to dry, and are hard to totally rinse, and you don't want to take a chance on adding chlorine to the tank.

 

[lobby]

I change it once a week during the water change. I rinse it out using the SW from the water change to keep the micro organisms in it alive. I don’t use tap water as it contains phosphates that you are transferring directly back into the system.:hallo:

 

[Nowellsy SNR]

I run mine under warm water rinse then it goes back into the tank

 

[satbert]

I cut mine in 2 so I use one and keep the other ready.
When it's time to put in the clean sponge I just remove the dirty one, install the clean one, clean the dirty one in warm tap water, squeeze it to remove as much water as possible and leave it to dry until the next sponge swap...
Guy

 

[tnwillia]

+1 with satbert, when I was using mine.

 

[Spikewire]

Thanks for all the great replies. I'm more concerned with the sponge as it has not been in my tank for a little over a month. It's really my bad actually. I took it out when I received my Tunze 9002 and media rack. I was so excited to install my new toys I didn't clean the sponge. It's now been sitting around in a bucket with my old stock skimmer.

So now that I am considering trying it again (probably cut in half like satbert) I was wondering how to clean a month old dirty sponge.

I know I'm a dope. I should have cleaned both when I took them out.

 

[satbert]

Your sponge is probably dry by now. I would rinse it under tap water for as long as dirt comes out of it. Your could also then rinse or let it sit in RO water to make sure all dirt is out. Then squeeze water out and use !

 

[Spikewire]

Thanks satbert. Hey by the way - what did you use to cut your sponge in half? Anything special?

 

[Reefmack]

Chris - I used a scissors when I cut my 130 black sponge down. My wife then told me our electric kitchen knife would do a much better job - and it did. I've since used it on similar sponges and it's like slicing warm butter!

 

[satbert]

I used a metallic rule and a utility knife.

 

[mbdave]

No offense guys but this is not surgery, I spray mine with the jet setting on my water hose squeeze the stuff out of it and use it, "when I did use it" IMO the RO water and all that is a waste of time and RO water. JMHO....

 

[Spikewire]

Thanks everyone. I really appreciate the replies.