# Washing my sponges in tap water, been doing this



## mashunter18 (Jan 2, 2004)

Yes thats right, this goes against the "rules", but why is that???

Several monthes ago I read a blurb from DonD, very knowledable water chemistry guy who frequints this message board. He mentioned something in a thread about washing your sponges in tap water wont hurt your cycle.

Years of being in this hobby, has always had me battling "brown algae", diatoms, never green algae just brown. I hear it all, low light , high light, no light, to much silicate, to much phosphates. Nothing ever worked tocorrect this, I dont overfeed, and do large water changes weekly.

Iv always just squeezed sponges out in tank water.

I took two tanks and started washing my sponges off in tap water, spraying with the hose sqeeuzing and vigourously rinsing the crap out of the sponges, after they get a quick dunk in tank water and dechlrinated water, and back into the filter they go. I did every sponge on every filter the same day, once a week, every weekend.

the results cut my nitrates in half, and brown algae is virtually gone, my other tanks same old same old, scrubbing the brown from the glass always. I can see the brown algae starting to disappear from my intake tubes, it doesnt show up on the glass anymore.

My thoughts, this must have eliminated more phosphate, this way, hence eliminating the food source for the diatoms.

Also my silicate based sinted glass rings in some of my filters must not have been the food source for the brown algae.

Waste, food waste collecting on my sponges must be filtering phosphate back into the tank, not chunks, but the water passing through .

So what bacteria does build up in my sponges must not be much, and bacteria levels must be good in all my bio media.......

Anyone disagree, and whats your thoughts??


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## AKSkirmish (Jun 24, 2005)

well lets just say that i do the same thing there guy.i rinse all my filters all 23 filter's this way and dont have a problem one in n e of my tanks.i like to go against the rules as well to see what happens and what the differences are between doing it correctly and not.


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## rchan11 (May 6, 2004)

I do the same.


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## Lewdog (Nov 14, 2005)

rchan11 said:


> I do the same.


i clean the sponges and rings in the sink. Been doing it for years-even filling the canister back up with tap water when done.The only time i had trouble with my water is when i changed to much media at one time.


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## mashunter18 (Jan 2, 2004)

I dont touch my biomedia with tap water, just tried the sponges.

Im pretty convinceds washing them with every water change wont hurt, but thoughrough scrubbing will help, now if you can do that in a bucket of tank water so be it, but the pressure from my hose gets the sponges much cleaner.....


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## elTwitcho (Jun 22, 2004)

mashunter18 said:


> Yes thats right, this goes against the "rules", but why is that???
> 
> Several monthes ago I read a blurb from DonD, very knowledable water chemistry guy who frequints this message board. He mentioned something in a thread about washing your sponges in tap water wont hurt your cycle.
> 
> ...


I don't disagree with it, I think the rings hold enough bacteria to keep a cycle going fine just like changing your sponges out when they get too clogged isn't going to do much harm either. I don't understand how rinsing it in tapwater is supposed to get any more stuff out of the sponges than squeezing the sponge in tankwater though.


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## sccavee (Feb 11, 2003)

I would be cautious doing that if someone is using something like a AC500 with just sponges for biomedia. IMO it all depends on what other media you have that contains bacteria. In your case Matt, you have a ton of other media besides what you are cleaning. You also have multiple filters on tanks.

I could easily clean my wet/dry drip tray sponge in tap and not have a issue since all my bacteria is in my bioballs. Just depends on your filter setup.


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## kingsnar (Nov 17, 2005)

i dont really see why this would be against the rules, but if it were the BIO MEDIA i hope you know why it would be against the rules........


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## mashunter18 (Jan 2, 2004)

> I don't understand how rinsing it in tapwater is supposed to get any more stuff out of the sponges than squeezing the sponge in tankwater though.


Well, Iv always just washed them and gave them a few squeezes in a bucket of tank water, Iv also been told and reccomended to others to not wash them all out at the same time( 3 filters running on one tank, only clean one sponge at a time).

The only benefit of tap water is having a hose hooked to my deep sink gave me pressure and water flow, all the dirt from the sponges is getting washed down the sink and new water being added, as oposed to a bucket, where the water can get dark brown after one squueze, a more thoughrough rinse of the sponge.

I also did every sponge in every filter at the same time, and more frequently. I feel this is better, from what Iv seen...


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## RB 32 (Mar 2, 2005)

I wash my sponges with high pressure tap water been doing it for a long time now with no problems.


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## harrykaa (Jan 10, 2005)

mashunter18 said:


> ...the results cut my nitrates in half, and brown algae is virtually gone...
> My thoughts, this must have eliminated more phosphate, this way, hence eliminating the food source for the diatoms.
> Also my silicate based sinted glass rings in some of my filters must not have been the food source for the brown algae.
> Waste, food waste collecting on my sponges must be filtering phosphate back into the tank, not chunks, but the water passing through .
> So what bacteria does build up in my sponges must not be much, and bacteria levels must be good in all my bio media...


Man you are so right in this.









Also rinsing bioballs in a container filled with tank water decreases silicates, phosphates and nitrates.

Regards,


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## Red Eyes (Nov 25, 2003)

I have always rinsed my filter media with tap water. When I do filter maintenance I take everything apart in the sink and rinse/scrub it off before I put it back together.


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## Bawb2u (May 27, 2004)

Essentially, EVERYTHING in your tank is biomedia, except the water, the bacteria grows on it all so as long as you don't empty and scub your tank when you do water changes you've still got pretty much all the bacteria you need.


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## mashunter18 (Jan 2, 2004)

Bawb2u said:


> Essentially, EVERYTHING in your tank is biomedia, except the water, the bacteria grows on it all so as long as you don't empty and scub your tank when you do water changes you've still got pretty much all the bacteria you need.


I agree 100%, but the sponges also trap and hold waste, and my belief is wash them often and dont be afraid to wash them with tap water at every water change..........................AS LONG as you have a good bacteria bed, like lots of bio media, bio balls...etc....


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## Dr. Giggles (Oct 18, 2003)

I think what's happening in your case is that your cinted glass contains enough bacteria to deal with the fish waste and you have lower nitrates because the bacteria died off on the sponges unless of course you have "well water" than you can ignore what i typed.


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## mashunter18 (Jan 2, 2004)

jerry_plakyda said:


> I think what's happening in your case is that your cinted glass contains enough bacteria to deal with the fish waste and you have lower nitrates because the bacteria died off on the sponges unless of course you have "well water" than you can ignore what i typed.


You may be right Jerry, I do have a city tap, I actually also have a well tap( though it is no longer running through the hot water tank)

good view point and thanks for sharing. My bio media consists of bio glass( azoo sinted glass rings), seachecm matrix, bio max rings, spread out amongst my various tanks and filters, and only sponges.

funny thing is seachem matrix, claims you can wash there product in tap water and it wont kill it off, the bacteria. Dont know if I buy that.

I think in my case, I could cut my water changes down to once weekly, allthough I will do large ones because i believe its better growth, and wash my sponges every week. Nitrate was never a problem, but doing this should control my brown algae, and though untested, Im gonna assume its cutting phosphates and silicate down.

Any other thoughts from anyone....


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## MLK (Jun 30, 2005)

thats the way my dads been doing it since i was a youngster. he would take all the sponges out and sprayed the hell outta them with the hose outside. he did it every weekend and there were no problems with the water chemistry. i figure that the gravel in the tank held plenty of bacteria to keep the tank going strong. makes sense since the size and surface area of the sponges were nothing compared to the surface area of the gravel.


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## doctorvtec (May 15, 2004)

MLK said:


> thats the way my dads been doing it since i was a youngster. he would take all the sponges out and sprayed the hell outta them with the hose outside. he did it every weekend and there were no problems with the water chemistry. i figure that the gravel in the tank held plenty of bacteria to keep the tank going strong. makes sense since the size and surface area of the sponges were nothing compared to the surface area of the gravel.


But the sponges are more porous and will hold more colonies then alot of gravel.


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## mashunter18 (Jan 2, 2004)

doctorvtec said:


> thats the way my dads been doing it since i was a youngster. he would take all the sponges out and sprayed the hell outta them with the hose outside. he did it every weekend and there were no problems with the water chemistry. i figure that the gravel in the tank held plenty of bacteria to keep the tank going strong. makes sense since the size and surface area of the sponges were nothing compared to the surface area of the gravel.


But the sponges are more porous and will hold more colonies then alot of gravel.
[/quote]

Thats always been my belief as well, but Im begining to belive the sponges are also holding phosphate, causing my problem of the brown algae, by washing them more throuroughly, as oposed to bucket dunking, I may lose bacteria, but Im losing phosphate as well, and the bacteria in my media, gravel...etc.. is suffeciant, and the pros of "washing ' out the phosphate, out weighs the cons of losing what bacteria develops in my sponges.

im not a big overfeeder, but man it only makes sense the sponge, the first layer is cathcing all the crap.....So far so good, Im beggining to see a change coming in my maintenence.

I have 21 fluvals, ac 500's, and eheim knock offs, thats alot of sponges for weekly cleaning, that doesnt even count my fry operation, but might be better for the tanks


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## Bawb2u (May 27, 2004)

mashunter18 said:


> Thats always been my belief as well, but Im begining to belive the sponges are also holding phosphate, causing my problem of the brown algae, by washing them more throuroughly, as oposed to bucket dunking, I may lose bacteria, but Im losing phosphate as well, and the bacteria in my media, gravel...etc.. is suffeciant, and the pros of "washing ' out the phosphate, out weighs the cons of losing what bacteria develops in my sponges.

















I had tons of problems with algaes in my planted tanks. I tried *everything *, Phosban, Renew, changing water conditioners and had no joy. I finally got fed up and started washing the sponges in my filters in tap water and got rid of the problem algae in a couple of months.


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## Judazzz (Jan 13, 2003)

elTwitcho said:


> I don't understand how rinsing it in tapwater is supposed to get any more stuff out of the sponges than squeezing the sponge in tankwater though.


Maybe washing part of the filter media with tap water instead of tank water removes extra nutrients from the water (as Matt said, if you rinse filter pads in tank water LOTS of stuff remains trapped), nutrients that would otherwise promote algae development in your tank?

I always wash out the filter pads in my canisters with tap water, but never the biomedia: as long as you keep enough media untouched or 'pure' (as in not washed with tap water), i don't think washing part of the media with tap water will affect the cycle and stability of the tank.

Unfortunately, despite doing so, and despite doing gravel vacs and water changes a number of times every week, my Redbelly tank still has a LOT of unwanted algae growth (brownish layers forming on top of submerged surfaces), but I guess it's something that is my own fault as well: although the amount of filtration is up to par, the tank has a HUGE bioload (5 adult Redbellies and 6 L-Number Pleco's), I guess my options are either to learn to live with it, or to invest in a heavier filtration system...


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## mauls (Mar 25, 2004)

could i do this with my breeder tanks? All i have for filter's is one sponge filter in each 40 gallon breeder. The tanks are bare, so i don't have any bacteria stored anywhere but in my sponge filters. I think if i washed mine off in the sink that would kill it all, and re-start a mini cycle?

Let me know if i can or can't do this, because i'd much rather wash them off in a sink than in dirty tank water.


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## Winkyee (Feb 17, 2003)

I've always washed mine in tap water .
I never had problems but I always used ceramic media in bags in my A/c 500 and 350.
I have fluvals on my tanks now and use tapwater there too.


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## mashunter18 (Jan 2, 2004)

mauls said:


> could i do this with my breeder tanks? All i have for filter's is one sponge filter in each 40 gallon breeder. The tanks are bare, so i don't have any bacteria stored anywhere but in my sponge filters. I think if i washed mine off in the sink that would kill it all, and re-start a mini cycle?
> 
> Let me know if i can or can't do this, because i'd much rather wash them off in a sink than in dirty tank water.


I WOULD NOT suggest this for breeder tanks, for the reasons you already stated. Defenitely keep squeezing those out in tank water.

I actually keep a special hang on filter on my parent tanks with all sponges for fry tanks, so they are always active, I dont wash these in tap water at all........


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## mauls (Mar 25, 2004)

mashunter18 said:


> could i do this with my breeder tanks? All i have for filter's is one sponge filter in each 40 gallon breeder. The tanks are bare, so i don't have any bacteria stored anywhere but in my sponge filters. I think if i washed mine off in the sink that would kill it all, and re-start a mini cycle?
> 
> Let me know if i can or can't do this, because i'd much rather wash them off in a sink than in dirty tank water.


I WOULD NOT suggest this for breeder tanks, for the reasons you already stated. Defenitely keep squeezing those out in tank water.

I actually keep a special hang on filter on my parent tanks with all sponges for fry tanks, so they are always active, I dont wash these in tap water at all........
[/quote]

ok thats what i figured, thanks for the info


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## Dr. Giggles (Oct 18, 2003)

mashunter18 said:


> Thats always been my belief as well, but Im begining to belive the sponges are also holding phosphate,


Do you have a phosphate tester ? This will confirm your beliefs and or problem.


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## Grosse Gurke (Jan 3, 2003)

I think the suggestion to not wash filter sponges applies to tanks that only have a power filter and no other form of bio-filtration. Someone like Matt with a lot of filtration..including canisters...I dont think you are risking anything by killing off the bacteria that may colonize on the sponge. I believe the bacteria can double every 24 hours so there is little risk of disrupting the cycle.
I also think you are right about the ability to get the sponges cleaner when washing out in clean water....you dont get those small particles getting sucked back into the filter.


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## Judazzz (Jan 13, 2003)

Grosse Gurke said:


> I think the suggestion to not wash filter sponges applies to tanks that only have a power filter and no other form of bio-filtration. Someone like Matt with a lot of filtration..including canisters...I dont think you are risking anything by killing off the bacteria that may colonize on the sponge. I believe the bacteria can double every 24 hours so there is little risk of disrupting the cycle.


You're right: I can confirm that theory, as I have sponge/internal filters running next to canisters on both my 50 and 80g tanks. I've cleaned out the internals with tap water since day one, but never experienced a spike afterwards. Same applies to the filter sponges in the canisters: I too rinse these with tap water, and never noticed any ill-effects.
The bio-media from the canisters however is cleaned carefully, and only with tank water.

Another thing is that with internal/sponge filters used for mechanical filtration, the sponges may get clogged up that bad that eventually the bacteria are completely covered in stuff, possibly suffocating, and thus annihilating the filter's potential as a bio-filter (which is the reason why in canisters bio-media should always come after a considerable amount of mechanical media, to prevent that very thing from happening).
So all in all you may not even kill as many bacteria as you might expect when rinsing filter pads from non bio-filters with tap water...


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## mashunter18 (Jan 2, 2004)

jerry_plakyda said:


> Thats always been my belief as well, but Im begining to belive the sponges are also holding phosphate,


Do you have a phosphate tester ? This will confirm your beliefs and or problem.
[/quote]

Yeah I have not done that, Next time I order supplies Im going to order a silicate and phosphate tester, really the whole purpose of this is to try and remove or lesson brown algae in the tank.


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## jamesdelanoche (Dec 15, 2004)

you've given me a glimmer of hope to solving my now months old algea bloom problem, i am going to wash my sponges and wet/dry sponge in tap water and scrub the hell out of them.


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## Sheppard (Jul 8, 2004)

jamesdelanoche said:


> you've given me a glimmer of hope to solving my now months old algea bloom problem, i am going to wash my sponges and wet/dry sponge in tap water and scrub the hell out of them.


Same here, seems like I have been battling brown algea forever now.
I will pick up some Phosphate and Silicate tests soon aswell...But does anyone know the levels of Phosphates and Silicates when algea starts to grow?
This way i'll know what level to keep them under.

If nobody knows, looks like it's trial and error time!


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