How often should I clean my fishtank filter sponges?

Answer 1

This depends on your bio load, in other words how dirty they get. Also some of the cheapie sponges get gunked up faster and need more frequent rinsing.
Generally a schedule of once every two weeks is good schedule.

Make sure you rinse in either de-chlorinated water, or used tank water (to be thrown away), or well water. Chlorine in the rinse water can kill valuable bio bacteria.

I recommend reading these articles (where I got some of this info):
http://americanaquariumproducts.com/sponge_filtration.html
http://americanaquariumproducts.com/Nitrogen_Cycle.html

Answer 2

When doing your weekly water changes,carry a small bucket,fill the bucket with water from the tank that contains the sponge you wish to clean. Siphon in just enough water to cover the sponge and repeatedly squeeze the sponge until you can get no more dirt out of it. Repeat this a couple of times until the water stays fairly clear, it need not be perfect,just pretty good. Always use water from the tank in which the sponge is contained,and clean the sponge every water change. When the sponge is clean,do the gravel siphoning on as much gravel as you can with out making the water change too large(try for about 25%). If this proceedure is done every week you will find that after 3 or 4 weeks everything will begin to move along quite smoothly and aquarium maintenance will become less of a chore. Cleaning the sponges weekly will go really quickly after a few times.
Sorry for the long answer to the short question,but this works well in my fish room,and has cut way back on time spent cleaning tanks.
One more item,if you can't clean all of the gravel in a 25% change just do all you can and record (a note or by memory) what part to clean next time. This too will go faster if you can do the routine every week. Soon maintenance becomes less of a chore and allows you more time to enjoy your fish.

Answer 3

Some recommend every month and if it's a small filter I'd agree. Larger filters should be left longer. Only change one sponge at a time (every three months) or you'll lose too much bacteria and have water quality problems. Use water removed from the tank, never tap water and never 'hot' water. I usually do the filter cleaning at the same time as a water change though I must admit I often forget and then have to clean them because the filter stops working!
You'd think I'd have learnt by now, I've been keeping fish over 40 years! LOL

Answer 4

HI Shelley, this is a debatable subject as it is dependent on a lot of things like type of fish, stocking levels, type & performance of filter etc etc. Ideally it should be done at each partial water change so you have something to rinse them in & weekly is a good rule of thumb. Also there needs to be a distinction made between the white polyester 'water polishing' pads which generally need replacing often & the longer lasting open-pore sponge & these are discussed below.

It's a good idea to clean them by rinsing very gently in old tank water taken at a partial water change. You need to be getting rid of only the loose debris-the brown 'gunk' staining the sponge is the colony of good bugs which eat the toxins & needs to be preserved.

Another generalisation here but all manufacturers claims about replacement schedules can be at least doubled which not only saves money but improves the conditions in your tank. When you do change the media never replace all of it at once-if there are 2 sponges replace [for example] one every 4 weeks. This gives the new pad time to be colonised by the good bugs on the old sponge, changing all at once will throw your tank into a new cycle raising ammonia & nitrite to lethal levels.

Answer 5

Sponge filters are not unlimited but you don't have to throw them out when they get dirty. When you do your weekly water change you can pull it out and rinse it in a bucket of the old tank water. Or, you can just rinse it in de-chlorinated water. Sponge filters work quite well for mechanical and biological filtering. Fish breeders use those alone in their fry tanks so they don't get sucked up in the filtration system. I don't really know what you mean by rock filter. Are you talking about an under gravel filtration system? If so, I would advise against it. They are ok for about a year or so but then you would have to take apart your whole tank to change it and that's no fun. I run my 75 gallon with a power filter which hangs on the back of the tank and a sponge filter. My 20 gallon runs with a power filter alone. Sponge filters don't last forever but they are not that expensive either. You can make them work with an air pump or a power head. I prefer to run it with an air pump. And yes, it does make bubbles so it would oxygenate the water. Any kind of surface agitation will do that. I hope this helps and good luck :)

Answer 6

Depends on the amount of fish in your tank, but it is recommended that you do a 20% water change once a week and clean the filter sponges every 2 weeks. I do it this way and my water conditions are perfect and all my fish are very healthy.

Answer 7

i raised all sorts of breeds of fish in california where the city water was heavily chlorinated. i usually cleaned my filters whenever i did my water changes. i did my water changes every week and poured 1/12(about 5 gallons in a 60 gallon tank) dechlorinated water. how i dechlorinated was let 1 five gallon jug of water sit for a week before i did my water chang(rather than add chemicals(which add up to be expensive over time). if you let water sit for a period of time, it naturally dechorinates it where it's safe for fish.

now since the sponges add to the natural filteration system, you want to moderately and briskly swish your sponge around with some of your tank water(that you've taken out first ofcourse). if you have more than one sponge, alternate the cleaning. only clean one sponge at a time. the bacteria in there is healthy just like just like the bacteria underneath your gravel is healthy. if it's a new tank setup, then wait at 3 months before cleaning your sponges for the first time. you want to wait until your tank fully cycles naturally. this will help kill the nitrites that are HEAVY in new tank setups because of tank waste

when doing water changes, it's also good to invest in a cyphen and clean only the surface of your gravel or substrate(not underneath though) and if a new tank setup, you want to really do weekly water changes for the first 2 months until your tank naturally cycles(nitrites are high and deadly to your fish during this time)

Answer 8

You should always leave one uncleaned in a cycle to leave the bacteria in the filter every fortnight when you change 20% of the water

Answer 9

It depends on your bioload (amount of fish producing waste produce). if your tank is heavily stocked i'd say about every 2 wks but otherwise it's usually monthly, change 1 pad at a time every 3months

Answer 10

you should ideally clean the sponges at every water change.

just remember to use the old tank water to do this!