How to Clean a Sponge Filter

[@TazawaTanks]

If you would like to see where I bought my sponge filters, click on this link to Aquarium Co-op.Use the code "Tazawa10" for an additional discount: bit.ly/2NcdwkD

[@schopenhauer1962]

I always use sponge filters in my tanks, I love them. People underestimate those simple filters.

[@RLaquatics]

I'm getting one for my fish soon :)

[@MindFullCheeseburger]

That leftover water after cleaning fish tank really makes plants grow!

[@touchmyfanny]

Just don't use it on edibles

[@ItzMaia06]

touchmyfanny wish i woulda known this a few days ago

[@ujwalabhoyar9673]

So you are naruto lover

[@dylanhughes5944]

dang I didn't think of that. I have plants here that could use the old aquarium water I keep on hand for cleaning out my filter

[@Bloodhoundfostermom]

Oscar is such a chill guy!! Look at him sharing his tank!! He looks absolutely amazing!!....the sponge filter in the clear container so Oscar doesn't chew up the filter is genius idea!!

[@shesellsfish]

Good info. Sponge filters are great for folks that run multiple tanks, it's the most economic option and they work well.

[@CrowntailHalfmoon]

Thank you for sharing What types of sponge foam you recommend for making your own diy filters? I've noticed the one like yours become brittle after a few months of cleaning and dont hold the shape as before. Where can i get the better foam at a cheapest price? Also i would highly recommend that you use a blue siphon ball starter(one you hand squeeze) to initiate your siphon without having to suck on end. It can transfer bacteria etc to your mouth. Plz upgrade your siphon as it would be in your best interest plus cleaner also so not water in mouth. Hope this helps

[@jerrymartin4047]

Love the info. You cover so much great stuff from the complex to the simple. This is great as it addresses things that can be taken for granted.

[@HaYNFishKeeper]

Awesome video braddah!! Much love and aloha 🤙🏽🌺🐠🌺🤙🏽

[@TazawaTanks]

Mahalo my friend!

[@dennisruedel]

Hey Hulkster, great demo on sponge filter cleaning. The longer I am in the hobby, the more I am using them. I also get mine from Cory, except I run one Hydro coarse sponge and one Hikart fine sponge for polishing in my 75 gallon tanks. Thanks very much for sharing. Cory also sells some awesome weighted never clog air stones I have been using. 👍!

[@TazawaTanks]

Thanks Dennis! Yes, the air stones are great. I have a few of those as well.

[@briansfishtanks]

Sponges are the way to go with a fish room. I have over 35 tanks running on sponges. One API100 powers all of them. I like to over filter the tanks, that way I can clean half the filters one week under tap water and then not loose the good bacteria. Then I rinse the others the following week. Works like a charm. Great video!

[@CorvusOscen]

I just use my pressure washer. I spray and spray them, riiiiiiiiight into the trash. Ha ha! Great video and great option for folks to run a lot of tanks!

[@TazawaTanks]

Hahahahaha!

[@marthanewsome6375]

Yes, I'm sort of with you. I use sponge filters as prefilters to canisters and the rest of my tanks run off a 6 foot sump. As stand a lone filtration they are a lot of work on top of regular water changes, but have run tanks on sponge filters a lone, but found they do take up a lot of room in a nicely aquascaped planted tank.

[@UnconventionalAquatics]

This is great instruction brotha🤙🏻 awesome job on this video!

[@HalfManHalfCichlid]

I have found sponge material to be by far the best all around filter media. I use walls of different porosity Poret foam in my sump with great success. The only disadvantage I have found to sponges in the aquarium is that the gravel gets dirty faster, since the detritus is not being removed to a sump or HOB>

[@VMJM85]

How to know when to completely change to a new sponge filter? Is there any time you do want to use a new one?

[@daryanmunthree4403]

Thanks really simple informative video

[@learningtofishkeep665]

Great video man!

[@TazawaTanks]

Thank you, I appreciate that!

[@JadrenAquatics]

I've got a friend who has been running a fish room for over 25 years and he just pulls his sponges out washes them out at the water hose and never has any problems. He's a braver man than me. He swears there are so much bacteria on other parts of the tank that killing the bacteria on one sponge at a time makes little difference. I think I'll just play on the side of caution and use my aquarium water.

[@TazawaTanks]

Yeah, I’m with you. He’s walking on a tightrope!

[@Jeremyjustme]

I rinse mine out with the water hose too, but I'm on a well. I don't think I'd be brave enough to risk it on city water. Lol

[@JadrenAquatics]

@@Jeremyjustme lol Yea I agree. My chloramines in water is nuts

[@darrenjones3080]

I've heard people say it would take an hour or two of continuous rinsing under tap water for the chloramines to kill the bacteria on the sponges, and that a quick one minute rinse under the tap will not kill the good bacteria. I don't do it that way myself, but I've heard some experienced people do it that way without problems

[@dansufor5856]

Love this video! Sponge filters are wonderful for bio! Should I clean them weekly or bi-weekly? Thanks a million.

[@TazawaTanks]

I only clean mine every couple of months. Sometimes more, sometimes less depending on the fish and the tank.

[@genesisness1658]

Are those sponge filters the only filtration in your oscar tank? Im just wonderin if i can take care of oscars with just some sponge filters

[@TazawaTanks]

I have sponges and air-driven Ziss filters in my Oscar tank.

[@kppriest]

Just ordered the filter from Aquarium Co-op. Any advice on how to change out from old filter to preserve the good bacteria or do I need to worry about it?

[@TURKO2424]

Where can I get one of those buckets that you have your sponge filters in the tank?

[@gelmartygeorgegarcia5633]

Thankks

[@litoloco4fish]

Good vid bro Oscar is looking good

[@marthanewsome6375]

I have a big sponge filter on one my intakes to a canister filter and it keeps clogging with a slim type stuff. I clean it, which is difficult to remove the slime and put it back and a week later it's the same again. The tank ran for 12 months with monthly sponge filter cleans. Have heaps of tanks and this has never happened. Also the water is crystal clear with no to little algae. I'm to the point, I'm about to replace it and see if that fixes it. I will not have to worry about loosing a cycled tank, because the canister wont be cleaned. Do you have any ideas what this could be?

[@TazawaTanks]

What color is the slime? If it is brown, I would suggest some gravel vacuuming and a water change. If the slime is green, it may be BGA (cyanobacteria), which you will need to treat.

[@bullitlbc]

Great video, can I do the same to my sponge filters on my HOB system?

[@TazawaTanks]

Yes, same method can be used for cleaning any filter sponge.

[@ToddDolce]

I have been using a Penguin BioWheel for years. It does work but the cost and inconvenience of having to replace those charcoal filter pads every month adds up. Would a Sponge filter work just as well or should I just stay with what has worked and deal with the costs. It's a 20 Gallon freshwater tank.

[@TazawaTanks]

A sponge filter will house more beneficial bacteria than your HOB. However, the HOB does a better job at polishing the water. It is a matter of preference. I use both.

[@theresegilbert5735]

gréât vidéo. one question, do y,ou not lose much of your bb in the rinse process?

[@TazawaTanks]

No, the healthy bacteria remains.

[@theresegilbert5735]

Tazawa Tanks thank you

[@rdg_fingerboarding8103]

Do you put the water from cleaning back in the tank?

[@songbirdmedows]

Thanks

[@classyshoes8504]

Great video! I have a question, how can you tell that you have enough sponge filtration for a particular size tank?

[@TazawaTanks]

The package on the sponge usually will indicate the size of tank it can filter. However, this is subjective, as it doesn’t factor the bioload and airflow. The best way to know is to test for nitrates.

[@classyshoes8504]

Tazawa Tanks ok thanks, I have a bunch of sponge filters but no packaging but I get your point...

[@jimberence]

Can I use 1 sponge filter alone in an arowana tank?

[@Grintchish]

I use water with some Prime mixed in to clean my sponges, I haven't had any problems so can I assume it's allright to do it that way?

[@TazawaTanks]

Yes, this is perfectly fine. Maybe just a waste of Prime, but otherwise, no problems.

[@mrsunmaid]

Nic vid. People often mention the importance of cleaning the sponge in tank water. I think this is misleading. The important thing, as I think you mentioned in the video, is to use water without chlorine. If you have a clean bucket of water that has been sitting around for 24 hours that will work just fine, maybe even better than tank water.

[@TazawaTanks]

Thank you! You are correct, as long as the water doesn’t have chloramine. Chlorine can gas off.

[@ninarichards2046]

I know how to clean my sponges. But I have a few right now that have 0 flow, despite adjusting the flow. I believe them to be clogged. How can I unclog them?

[@Aquariumswithty]

Nice video! I made a similar one 👍👍👍

[@calijay9805]

I have two hang on back filters for my 55 gallon. Thinking about switching to two sponge filters.

[@ethanbakker5246]

RegularCal don’t

[@TURKO2424]

U should keep them and run two sponges

[@KlikAndSeuss]

Whay air pump would your recommendation for a 55 gallon. Ty

[@stormymonday757]

Hello friend. Thank you for intresting video. Whau you country and city living?

[@waltermidkiff3662]

When would you switch from air pumps on each tank to an air system? I’m up to 7 air lines with 3 small pumps right now.

[@TazawaTanks]

Well, if you have a dedicated room with at least 10-12 tanks, it’s a good time to think about possibly changing. I ran small air pumps until I got more than 12 tanks.

[@bigeizsupportgroup1427]

Thank you

[@FIRYX-]

Good video 👍🔔😄

[@abbasdot8645]

Can I clean my sponge with tap water that has something like API water conditioner added to the tap water?

[@TazawaTanks]

Yes

[@Lflower1Stars]

Do you need to clean them every weekly water change?

[@TazawaTanks]

It depends on what you have in the tank. I usually do them once every few weeks. Some more, some less.

[@scyllah4931]

I think it depends on the person, and also the tank bioload. Some people, like myself, rarely clean filter media/sponges. I have sponge filters in my betta tanks (5-10 gallons each, one lone betta fish), they don't really build up much gunk to justify cleaning them very often. Whereas clearly the tank shown in the video does get some good buildup on it. Brown and yucky isnt inherently bad, but too much buildup probably affects how well the filter is working. Hope that gives some insight on things. Its up to you really, just no more than every 3-4 weeks.

[@jasonmyneni5305]

can you put these behind plants and other decorations

[@TazawaTanks]

Absolutely.

[@ELCAPITRUCH0]

Everytime i remove the sponge filter to clean it it leaves some stuff floating around in the tank, is this ok or am i doing it wrong?

[@TURKO2424]

You notice the bucket sorta thing he had holding the sponge filter that thing held all that junk in it and not back in your tank wish he would've specified that in the video

[@chrisbraiske3162]

Why do my sponge filters not get full of muck like I see yours and others do?

[@akhileshthapa_fishbro86]

👍

[@Poteluz]

Aren't the ones in a canister with bio media better than these?

[@TURKO2424]

They go well with canisters

[@henryrobison5507]

I just scoop some water out into a bucket rather than draining. That's not neccessary unless you're doing a water change which you really shouldn't do the same time as a filter change / clean.

[@oliverbleza8563]

Wow

[@kankay0820]

mm, yes, I'm getting a sponge filter now.

[@parkerbenz]

Woah that sponge got THAT dirty in a few weeks? I guess those are big fish, still haha

[@TazawaTanks]

parker benz Hahaha!

[@NiX_aKi]

That one has smaller pores, right?

[@TazawaTanks]

The one I cleaned in the video does have smaller pores. The one on the other end is more coarse. I use both kinds.

[@charliemaddock3459]

Your very handsome and your teeth are perfect congrats . Cheers for the cleaning tips 👌

[@TheJoe89jan]

Can you imagine what his electricity bill looks like.

[@TazawaTanks]

Mine? Around $350 per month.

[@TheJoe89jan]

@@TazawaTanks I don't believe you.

[@TazawaTanks]

🤷🏾‍♂️ What’s not to believe??? I don’t use heaters in most of my tanks because the room is heated with the dehumidifier. I only have heaters in my upstairs tanks. I run one central air pump, so filtration is cheap. The room is insulated.

[@filiplaskovski9993]

Would anyone take a swig of that sponge water for 10k cash

[@TazawaTanks]

Yep!

[@JadeWinters02]

What a waste... You could scrape that onto a pasta salad.

[@TazawaTanks]

I use it as a sandwich spread. 😝

[@JadeWinters02]

@@TazawaTanks OOOO That sounds tasty.