How Often Do You Clean The Sponge In The Aquaclear

[KellyandDennisfish]

Hi,
How often do you clean the sponge in the Aquaclear filter?
I do water changes 2 maybe 3 times a week.
Bare bottom tank.

I also have a sponge filter that hangs on the wall of the tank.

How do you clean the sponge and when ,how?

The Aquaclear is used for mechanical filtertion.
The sponge in tank is bio filtertion

Thanks!!
Kelly and Dennis

 

[Pat Kelly]

This will depend on how crowded the tank is.
My tanks are crowded.
I rinse the sponge out about once a month. I never clean all the
way. Just get most of the dirt out. It will vary based on your
stocking density as well as how often you feed the fish.
The more you feed, the more waste.
Every one will have an opinion but this works for me.

 

[KellyandDennisfish]

Wow you are fast!!
Sounds good.

Thanks!
Kelly and Dennis

 

[tgrogan]

Although the sponge filter in the AC is technically for mechanical filtration, it also harbors the beneficial bacteria in your tank. Since you do water changes so often you could probably go quite a few without any problem.

I try to clean mine about once a month. It is best, if you want to save the bacteria, to simply rinse it out in some of the tank water (after you've removed it from the tank of course )