Tropical Fish Forums

[Serkan]

I have a large minireef filter, but I don

[Cinder]

First - disclaimer here ... I don't have a salt water tank so what I'm about to say may be completely wrong and I trust/hope someone will correct me if that's the case. I'm a fresh water fish person:
The sponges filter the water (taking poo and stuff out of it) and the black things build up beneficial bacteria. You want to keep the sponges clean by washing them in the tank water at your water changes. (Don't wash them under the faucet as that kills the good stuff in them and can, potentially, put your tank into a new cycle.) Never wash the black lego things unless they get really gunked up. I've only had my tank up for about 10 months and haven't needed to wash mine. Then, only wash a few (like half) at a time - again in tank water.
The biggest issue is to wash only in used tank water and to wash only half of each filter media at a time. Do one with one cleaning and then the other with the next and switch back and forth. Hope this helps. (To explain: if you have two sponges wash one one week and the other the next week, then go back to wash the first again the third week.)
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135 gln. freshwater tank
29 gln. freshwater tank

[unissuh]

What sort of saltwater tank is this? Reef? FOWLR? FO? Any other filtration (e.g. protein skimmer)?

The black bioballs will provide surface area for nitrifying bacteria to grow (ammonia -> nitrate). While this is fine for FOWLR and FO systems, in reef systems this can cause a buildup of nitrate which is undesirable. The goal is nutrient removal, not conversion. They shouldn't have to be touched as far as I know, pretty much set and forget. If this is a reef setup and you are having nitrate issues, consider removing them and utilizing a good protein skimmer or other means of nutrient control.

The filter wool is purely for mechanical filtration (removing particles/organic waste before conversion) - I suspect you will find it gets clogged up in a week and is ready to be changed. Changing it will also prevent nitrifying bacteria growing on it and causing the same issue as above.

With the sponge, generally this is purely for mechanical filtration only (same as the filter wool) and (if you read dale's article on filtration for the small saltwater tank) can be washed in tap water at least once a week to prevent bacterial growth and the same issue as above.

Cinder is correct for a freshwater tank - the procedure works slightly differently in saltwater.
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Fishing in the Rivers of Light

[Serkan]

The tank actually has koi, goldfish, silver dollars and oscars. My local aquarium guy says he doesn't believe these fish have lived like this for 24 months. But I want to get rid of everything but the silver dollars, to add some more colour to the tank.

The filter itself works fine, I just wanted to know how it worked for future reference incase a problem occured.

[unissuh]

My mistake, don't know where I summoned the idea that it was a saltwater tank.

Just ignore my rambling and read what Cinder wrote.
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Fishing in the Rivers of Light