I cant keep my water clean, and its driving me crazy.

[12 Volt Man]

12 Volt - I rinse my sponges under the tap with hot water for as long as it takes to get all the crud out of them. Several minutes at least, up to 10 if it’s been a few weeks since I’ve cleaned them.

I am convinced that no problems occur because there is bacteria on all of the surfaces throughout the system, and even though I am killing off a small % when cleaning the sponge, their doubling time is so high they are replaced very quickly and no harm is done.

no doubt that IF you are indeed killing any beneficial bacteria, the rest of the populations in the tank handle the extra stress and you have no trouble.

but it may also be that your not really killing off any at all..its hard to say without doing some microbiology

 

[ChannelCat]

well whatever i did worked. Whether it was the WC or the clean filters or the siphon, or a combination of all the tank is clean. Its nice to see them again. They seem to be a lot more lively in the past 24 hours. There is another 20% WC scheduled for tomorrow afternoon and I will also clean the filter and vac the rocks. Thanks for the info.

Oh, and the charcoal has not been a problem yet. It has done better than that bio-tube media.

 

[C85D4x4]

From what I have read, there's been reports that the use of charcoal with Oscars has lead to HITH. It has something to do with the Charcoal taking out Thiamine (Vitamin B1) which is necessary to prevent HITH.

But I'm no expert.

 

[marauders30]

I use river sand as a substrate and it is MUCH easier to clean than gravel or rocks cuz the waste sits at the top. it to kinda sucks cuz its there for everyone to see, but theres more incentive to clean it i guess haha. the sand is heavy enough that it doesnt get sucked into the vac or my filters so thats not a problem.