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An aquarium filter sponge is an important addition that adds to the value of your water and the fish found in it. It works to filter out any debris and unwanted matter that may be harmful to the fish and make your water dirty.
Once the filter sponge has removed all the particles, it is important to ensure that you keep it clean. Cleaning it will allow it to work better and ensure that all the filtration is done right.
To do this, you need to understand how to clean your aquarium filter sponge. It involves a few things that you should do to ensure that it is clean and can be as efficient. These things come in steps including:
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The best way to ensure that the work you do to clean your filter sponge is efficient is by using the water from your tank. Most people would think that using fresh tap water would be the best fit.
However, this is not the case because using freshwater that the fish is not accustomed to may affect them. Although using the water from your tank won’t leave your sponge looking or smelling fresh, it will have a smell that is familiar to your fish.
This ensures that your fish is comfortable once the sponge filter is reintroduced. To get the water from your tank, all you need to do is siphon it into a bucket or a bowl. You could also consider scooping your water using a cup and emptying it into a bowl.
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This step is very important and should be done with a lot of care. Your sponge filter is connected to electricity and washing it while plugged in could send a shock through your body and maybe injure you.
To avoid this, it is best to ensure that you remove the filter beforehand. After unplugging it from electricity, you have the option of cleaning the sponge while in the tank or just removing it.
Removing your sponge is the best way to do this because it makes your work easier and you can do a better job.
However, remember to have somewhere you can transfer the sponge once you remove it. This will help you avoid making any unwanted mess on your floors or counters.
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Now that you have removed your sponge filter and have your water ready, it is now time to clean it. Cleaning your sponge should be done using your hand and the water you scooped out from your aquarium.
Try your best to get rid of all the junk that may have accumulated in your filter. As you clean it, you should also squeeze your sponge to ensure that you get all the dirt and water out. Doing this will not get rid of the useful bacteria found in the filter.
Conserving this bacteria is very important seeing as it adds the biological filtration ability to your sponge filter. To confirm that your sponge is clean, you need to run some water through the sponge.
If the water runs clear, then the sponge filter is clean and is ready to be used. Ensure that you clean your sponge in time to avoid leaving the fish without a filtration system.
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Your aquarium sponge filter comes as a system with other tubes and casings included. These tubes also need to be cleaned to ensure that all the dirt is removed and avoid reintroducing the dirt back into the aquarium.
Use the water that you got from your fish tank or get some more and get started on removing all the unwanted material. If you find that there are some hard to reach places as you clean your tubes, you should get a filter-cleaning brush.
This brush will help you do a better job at cleaning your tubes and casings and have them ready to be plugged back into the aquarium.
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The next and last step is to take your sponge filter and reassemble all the parts that you took apart to help clean them better. Once you are done reassembling the sponge filter, putting it back for it to continue working as it should is the next step.
However, before doing this, you need to be sure that your filtration system is clean to avoid adding any more dirt into your aquarium. Once your sponge filter is back, take the aquarium water you were using and pour it back into the aquarium.
This should however be done if the water you were using is clean. If it is crawling with gunk and dirt, you need to pour it out because it can no longer be used. After this, turn on your sponge filter to have it start the process of having your water clean and fish healthy.
Source: aquariumcoop.com
Cleaning your sponge filter is important which means you have to determine how often you’ll be doing this. This will help you stay on top of your aquaria’s cleanliness and ensure that your fish stay in a healthy environment.
When it comes to cleaning sponge filters, the duration you wait between cleaning sessions varies greatly. It is different depending on the setup and the use of your aquarium. For instance, if you have a large aquarium with a few fish, cleaning will not be as often compared to having the same aquarium with lots of messy fish.
To determine whether it’s time to clean your sponge filter, you need to observe your water’s flow rate. You should keep an eye on the water coming from the sponge and observe the rate at which it is being reintroduced.
If the flow rate slows down, this means that your sponge has a lot of gunk that is hindering its efficiency. This means that it’s time to clean your filter.
Source: fishlab.com
Now that you know how to clean your sponge filter, you need to ensure that you work toward maintaining it. Maintenance includes not washing the sponge too often. This will help you avoid losing the useful bacteria cultured since your last wash.
Clean your sponge during the days that you are changing out the water in your aquarium. You should also avoid using tap water to clean your sponge filter.
Tap water comes with a high quantity of chlorine that has been added to the water to clean it. If you wash your sponge under tap water, the chlorine will kill all the good bacteria that you need for biological filtration.
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When working with sponge filters, you’ll find that it comes a time when they shrink, disintegrate, or are not able to spring back into shape once squeezed. When this happens, they stop working accurately which means that you now need to replace your filter sponge.
The thing you need to pay attention to is how you’ll replace it without losing the good bacteria that has accumulated. To do this, you have two choices depending on the number of sponges in your filter system.
If you have one sponge, get a new one and cut it in half, and also cut the sponge that you want to replace in half. Use one half from the new sponge and the other from the old as your new filter sponge.
It will take about 6 weeks for the new sponge to fully mature then you can replace the old half with a new one. If you’re working with two sponges, the best thing to do is replace one at a time with an interval of 6 weeks.
Cleaning your aquarium filter sponge is an easy thing that you can do yourself provided you stick to what is advised. This will help ensure that the sponge filter works accurately to clean your aquarium.
Try your best to avoid doing anything that would damage the sponge or the good bacteria found in it.
If by any chance the sponge is no longer viable, replace it as instructed and your aquarium will be back to being clean.
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