How Often Do You Clean The Sponge In Your Hob Filter?

I have 2 sponges set up in my HOB filter and I give them a gentle squeeze in tank water about every 2-3 months. I have a Marineland Emperor 280 in a 25 gallon, it's quite strong and filters well so I don't find I normally need to clean the sponges very often. How about you guys? How often do you clean yours, and do you reckon I clean mine too few or too often in between?

 

I squeeze mine every other water change, so about once every two weeks. If it’s dirty it doesn’t hurt.

 

I squeeze mine every other water change, so about once every two weeks. If it’s dirty it doesn’t hurt.

Do you squeeze yours the day of your water changes or do you wait a few days before or after to do so. I've been told doing so the day of a water change isn't the safest because you're removing beneficial bacteria the same time as you swap out the water that may contain bacteria that could quickly replace it.

 

Do you squeeze yours the day of your water changes or do you wait a few days before or after to do so. I've been told doing so the day of a water change isn't the safest because you're removing beneficial bacteria the same time as you swap out the water that may contain bacteria that could quickly replace it.

I do it it the same day, in the bucket of dirty water. The water column does not carry any of your beneficial bacteria, it needs to be seeded on something, your filter, small amounts on gravel and decor but not the water, that just has all the toxins you’re getting rid of, so it’s perfectly fine

 

I do it it the same day, in the bucket of dirty water. The water column does not carry any of your beneficial bacteria, it needs to be seeded on something, your filter, small amounts on gravel and decor but not the water, that just has all the toxins you’re getting rid of, so it’s perfectly fine

I see, makes more sense than the response they gave me

 

I rarely clean mine. I probably should but I’m usually the type that goes by the ole saying “if it ain’t broke don’t fix it.”

 

I can’t quite recall.
Oh, is that a bad thing?

 

I clean mine every 2 months.

 

I have 4 sheets of filter floss in 2 of the compartments in my sump and I clean them only when I drain my sump because too many shrimp and kuhlI loaches have gotten down there. I also toss the top dirtiest one and put a new one on the bottom about once a year.