75g gamefish clarity
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Nah, toss the muck. That's the point of cleaning the filter pad. If you put it back in the tank, you've defeated the purpose! 
I have learned the value of mechanical pre-filtration and now have filter sponges wrapped around most of my intakes. Then the muck never gets to your biological pad and you just rinse the sponge and put it back as necessary.
I have learned the value of mechanical pre-filtration and now have filter sponges wrapped around most of my intakes. Then the muck never gets to your biological pad and you just rinse the sponge and put it back as necessary.
knifegill;4372487; said:Nah, toss the muck. That's the point of cleaning the filter pad. If you put it back in the tank, you've defeated the purpose!
I have learned the value of mechanical pre-filtration and now have filter sponges wrapped around most of my intakes. Then the muck never gets to your biological pad and you just rinse the sponge and put it back as necessary.
ok i guess i dont see the point in putting the filter cartridge inside the bucket and swooshing it and not just running it under a drain? if im not putting the good bacteria back into the aquarium water? kinda confused, also what do you do about the intake as for cleaning that? so i dont kill good bacteria
If you rinse it in tap water, the chlorine will kill or remove the bacteria on contact pretty much. Then you've got an ammonia spike in your tank and you're starting the cycle all over again.
Most of the good bacteria will still be in the pad as long as you don't over-clean it.
Yes, you are throwing a little culture away with the muck, but it grows back in a day. The trick is to remove the leaves, turds etc. so that the bacteria still get aerated water and can do their thing.
Most of the good bacteria will still be in the pad as long as you don't over-clean it.
Yes, you are throwing a little culture away with the muck, but it grows back in a day. The trick is to remove the leaves, turds etc. so that the bacteria still get aerated water and can do their thing.
knifegill;4372508; said:
okay so a good swoosh or two in non colrinated water and then back in the filter they go, thanks got it.
The intake will vary. Just keep an eye on the output of the filter and when it shows signs of slowing, you know it's time to rinse that sponge. And you don't want to encourage bacterial growth in the sponge, so that's something you can rinse under tap so it stays super clean.
I gravel vac every week, except in my bare-bottomed tanks.
knifegill;4372532; said:
The intake will vary. Just keep an eye on the output of the filter and when it shows signs of slowing, you know it's time to rinse that sponge. And you don't want to encourage bacterial growth in the sponge, so that's something you can rinse under tap so it stays super clean.
I gravel vac every week, except in my bare-bottomed tanks.
im rly a noob to this stuff, i have the penguin 350 70 gal, i have no sponge it sucks water from the bottom into a propeller device then into filter cartridge, guess not rly sure what you mean can you explain more i guess for my filter?
I've got an old penguin 330, so I know what you're looking at for the most part. You'd have the mechanical sponge (an aquaclear sponge that's been drilled into or stabbed works fine and will last a very long time) at the bottom of the uptake tube, where water first enters. If there are other openings in the uptake tube, close them or sponge them, too.
So now the water has to go through the sponge and lose much of its debris to even get into the filter. Now that the water entering the actual box that contains your filter pads is cleaner, water will be able to flow more evenly across your pads and let bacteria do their thing without all the dead spots that would normally form as muck builds up.
The penguin filter is a decent design, but has combined mechanical and biological filtration into one media which makes things a little tricky. I use my penguin cartridges (modified) for mech only now, as a sort of HOB water polisher.
I still keep seashells and bio in those baskets that slide into the back of the filter chamber.
So now the water has to go through the sponge and lose much of its debris to even get into the filter. Now that the water entering the actual box that contains your filter pads is cleaner, water will be able to flow more evenly across your pads and let bacteria do their thing without all the dead spots that would normally form as muck builds up.
The penguin filter is a decent design, but has combined mechanical and biological filtration into one media which makes things a little tricky. I use my penguin cartridges (modified) for mech only now, as a sort of HOB water polisher.
I still keep seashells and bio in those baskets that slide into the back of the filter chamber.
knifegill;4372613; said:
i dont get ur sponge concept, are u saying i should pace a sponge on the bottom of my intake were the vent thing is?
