slakey

Ok people have told me to clean the filter sponges in aquarium water.

And I was just wondering do they mean, when you do a water change and have aquarium water in a bucket put the sponges in there and rinse them out, or does it mean take out the sponges and rinse them in the aquarium with the aquarium water?

I've done the second option *in the aquarium* and I am fearing I have done it wrong, as it was just browness all over.

Will my fish die?

COBettaCouple

It's good to do this with a water change. You just swish the sponges around in the container of removed tank water, perhaps squeeze them out and put them back in the filter.

I'd recommend a 50% water change daily for a couple days maybe to help clear up the tank, the fish should be ok.

slakey

I done a 60% ? water change straight after and water is clear.

COBettaCouple

Cool. Sounds like things are good then.

slakey

Only thing is all the brown stuff all over the substrate and wood etc

Also found out that my 1st air pump is no longer working :/

Ryno

Is the tank new (recently set up)?

Also do you clean your glass, decorations, on a regular basis?

capekate

Hi Slakey
you probably see all the gunk that was released from the sponge all over your wood and substrate. Did you go ahead and vacuum the gravel after your mistake, that should also help to clear up the tank. I can imagine your surprise when you did this.. and see the mess floating into your tank.
I did something like this once, while taking out the sponge without turning the filter off, and the water flow sent all that collected gunk into my tank.. uggghhh.. what a mess that was lol....

slakey

I don't clean my plants or decor, I leave that for the BN pleco to do, thats why I got one in the first place, to clean all the algae off.

But my sister says I should take out my plants and wood etc and scrub off the algae...

capekate

All I can do is let you know what happened to my tank when I took the driftwood out and cleaned all the ugly algae off of it. I went into a major mini cycle and ended up changing water daily for 15 days til the readings were normal again. During that time i lost 2 pleco's, a GBR, a cardinal tetra and a rainbow. I wont be doing that again! Since you say your BN pleco's are cleaning the algae, I would just leave it and let them do the job.

slakey

Yeah thought it was best to just let the pleco catch up on all the algae, there's alot of it, but once I set up my rio300 I'll get some more cleaner fish.

Like a 4-5" pleco to clean. And move the BN pleco to my 300 so he can start on that

Ryno

What is a Rio300?

slakey

Juwel Rio 300 is a type of tank that is made by Juwel.

Bad news, found my bn plec dead earlier today they always die on me.

Ryno

Wow, I checked out the Juwel Rio 300. Looks like a beatuiful tank. What color trim are you getting? They all look great in the right application. Are you getting the matching stand as well? Very niced size aquarium, I love the depth it has.

Sorry to hear about your BN Pleco. I have always had a hard time with Plecos too. Right now I just have a common Pleco in my planted tank. I want a BN Pleco or two but don't want to give up on him until he is too big or, sadly dead considering that is how it usually ends.

BTW, and so I don't totally highjack the thread, I do my filters in a different manner, the old water method sounds better though.

I take mine and rinse them in the sink. Only when I am doing a water change though since I know there will be some fresh prime in the tank with the new water. I also should mention that I have bio materials in my filter too that I do not rinse as often, or even at the same time in the case of my hang on the back unit. The canister filter is such a pain that I clean the whole thing out at once when I have it disconnected.

I think I will start trying the rinse in the old water method though. I just have to stop putting testing chemicals in my used water bucket.

Butterfly

Rinsing sponges and other filter media in removed used tank water helps preserve the beneficial bacteria in the sponges and other filter media.
The chlorine/chloramine in tap water can seriously deplete or kill the bacteria in your filter media.
Carol

Ryno

I am new to this forum but not the world of Aquariums but I still think you can learn something new every day on this site, incredible.

Butterfly

Glad to help
Carol