maintaining BB on filter material

[JackEmerson]

Hi,

I have blue bonded filter material in my HOB. Every week or so I squeeze out the filter material in a bucket of tank water. My understanding is that this helps preserve the BB on the material.

My question is: does squeezing it out in tank water preserve most of the BB, or does the mechanical action deplete a good chunk of it? Is this something I can do often, or should I only do it on rare occasions in order to preserve the BB?

 

[esoxlucius]

The actual process of thoroughly squeezing out the sponge will probably dislodge a small % of healthy BB, I don't think anyone could argue with that.

The fact that very very few, if any, tanks actually crash, after squeezing said sponges out, tells you that the BB numbers which are lost are neglible and therefore don't have a detrimental impact on the cycle.

The most important aspect of cleaning your sponges isn't how you squeeze them out, but what you squeeze them out in.....ie tank water.....NEVER tap water.

 

[jjohnwm]

I don't know if the blue pad is your primary biological medium, or if it is there mainly for mechanical filtration and you have another filtration stage that is intended for biofiltration. Either way, you need not worry.

I remove and clean the first layer of Poret foam from my sumps on an almost daily basis. This involves squeezing the bejeezus out of it under strong running water, or in decent weather I will just lay it on the grass and the blast the crap out of it...figuratively and literally...with a high-pressure hose (well water) until the run-off water is mostly clean. The succeeding layers of foam, or the entire block of foam in those tanks which are filtered strictly with sponge filters, get the same treatment less often, maybe every couple weeks.

There must be significant numbers of bacteria on all that brown gunk that comes out, but much more will remain; bacterial generation time is so short, measured in hours usually, that you will be back to normal in no time. If you are concerned, maybe just skip a feeding after the cleaning, but I have never experienced any kind of ammonia or nitrite blip after doing this; I don't even bother testing anymore, just rinse/squeeze/replace. No issues.

Incidentally, using tank water or dechlorinated water is a good idea if the pad is your main biofilter, but if it is just a mechanical filter medium then feel free to use tap water, bleach, etc., whatever your heart desires, as long as you can rinse it completely away. Your biofiltration medium is the main home for your BB and that is the only one that requires special care.

 

[JackEmerson]

Incidentally, using tank water or dechlorinated water is a good idea if the pad is your main biofilter, but if it is just a mechanical filter medium

In the HOBs, the order of operations is: a coarse grain sponge, followed by light blue bonded material, followed by a filter cartridge with carbon.

I want to preserve the filter cartridges as long as I can (though I buy cheaper non-official cartridges ) . I recently added the blue-bonded to aid in that. So, I suppose it is mostly mechanical, but I hope the adds some BB to the mix.

 

[jjohnwm]

In the HOBs, the order of operations is: a coarse grain sponge, followed by light blue bonded material, followed by a filter cartridge with carbon.

I want to preserve the filter cartridges as long as I can (though I buy cheaper non-official cartridges ) . I recently added the blue-bonded to aid in that. So, I suppose it is mostly mechanical, but I hope the adds some BB to the mix.

Sounds like the primary mech filter is that coarse sponge; water should always flow through mech filtration first to remove particulate matter, delaying the rate at which the next stage (biofiltration) clogs up.

If I may make a suggestion...you can almost certainly do wonderfully with no carbon, no replaceable cartridges at all. If you fill the entire chamber with two or three layers of foam, making sure that the first layer is the coarsest, you will have perfect filtration and won't need to waste money on carbon cartridges. Clean the first layer most often, the succeeding ones less often, and enjoy your fish.

 

[duanes]

Because beneficial bacteria are aerobic, some of that gunk you are getting rid of, by squeezing it out and dumping it is doing your bio bacteria a favor.
Many people confuse gunk, with biofilm, it is not. If biofilm gets too clogged up, preventing oxygen exchange, the bio filtration can be compromized.

You may have heard of fluidized bed biofiltration, one of the reasons it works very well is that media is constantly moving, and pieces are constantly bumping into each other, keeping gunk from building up, and casting off old worn out bacteria, keeping the bacterial population robust.

I, similar to jjohnwm, us Porrett Foam, that i regularly hose off onto the ground, and have yet to notice any drop in cycle after one of these foam cleanings.

 

[JackEmerson]

does coarse sponge provide any BB, or is it mostly (exclusively) for mechanical?

 

[jjohnwm]

Everything provides a place for BB...but the first stage of mechanical filtration houses such a small percentage of your total population that you can safely consider them "expendable". But literally every surface in your tank gives them a place to grow. Your activated carbon is really only "activated" for a relatively short time, and after that it's just another place to grow bacteria. Odds are good that every time you throw away one of those god-awful cartridges that the filter manufacturers have conned people into believing they need, you are likely pitching way more BB than any cleaning of the mechanical filter...and yet nothing bad happens.

 

[dogofwar]

BB is all over everything in a mature tank. It's just fine - good in fact - to rinse and clean your filter fluff regularly. If it makes you feel better to rinse it in tank water, go ahead. But I rinse mine (and Poret) in the deep sink in my fishroom from the tap