Heavy Sludge On Sponges

[DeathStalker]

Hello all!

I know that it's recommended to rinse your filtration sponges in tank water, but realistically the coarse sponges from my FX6 could never be done that way, as even after only a month of use, they are thick with sludge, algae, and detritus. I HAVE to rinse them in the sink and bang out all the gunk. Does anyone else experience this?

Thanks!

 

[JSpilo]

I'm not too entirely familiar with the FX6 but, maybe you could put a thin layer of poly fiber floss in between the sponges/pads and the tray that holds them in place? That way when the water flows through it'll trap all the big and finer crap and all you'd need to do is toss out the filthy floss. You'd be able to rinse the sponges off in tank water and not kill off the beneficial bacteria that's in the sponges. I dunno just a thought....

 

[DeathStalker]

I will think about that.

 

[duanes]

The long span of time between cleaning is one of the reasons I find the use of canister filters problematic.
Although water may look good, chemically (invisibly) it can be much less so
Because cans are so non-user friendly to clean, cleaning just isn't done enough.
I clean the sponges on my sumps every other day or so, schwishing them around and slightly squeezing them out in water change water, a 2-5 minute job.
Allowing so much time in-between cleanings allows nitrate and other metabolism by-products to build to excess, degrading the quality of tank water.

 

[FreshyFresh]

If they're getting that gunked up in a matter of weeks, I'd think you need to feed less or add more mechanical filtration to the tank.

I normally rinse in a bucket of dechlorinated water, but I've never had an issue rinsing right from the (chlorinated) tap either.

 

[esoxlucius]

As long as your bio side in your cannister houses enough BB to run your tank, then cleaning your sponges in tap water isn't an issue ime. My sponges in my sump get a thorough wash in hot water, once or twice a week, straight out of the tap. It takes seconds for the water to run clean. I have a bio side that houses all my BB so killing any BB in my sponges dosen't bother me one iota. If you rely on the BB from your sponges to run your tank as well then problems could arise.

I'm not that familiar with cannisters so I don't really know the deal with them. But for your sponges to be literally caked in sludge, to me, that sounds bad. Is it not just a simple case of upping your maintainance schedule or modding the can in some way, or are cannisters not meant to be cleaned that often, I don't know.

I know that having that amount of sludge sat in my system would be doing more bad than good and i'd try to come up with a solution.

 

[The Morning]

I clean my FX6 every three months. I have never had them caked to the level you are describing. Not sure what the cause is? Too heavy bioload? Too much feeding? I don’t think the issue is the filter but whatever is causing that much buildup.

 

[RD.]

I concur with The Morning . One shouldn't have that much build up on your sponges, in that small of time frame - unless your bio load is too much for the filtration system, or you are massively over feeding. My filters also generally go 3 months, sometimes longer, in between cleanings. I also use probiotic bacteria to assist in that regards.

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[TheWolfman]

I would always clean my fx foam with the garden hose straight out the tap ice cold. I have used a floss prefilter on my intakes to keep from having to service the filter as often. Generally I would clean them once every 6 weeks.

 

[The Morning]

Death stalker is this your 125? What else do you have in there other than the convict hybrids?