Frustrated with the look of these sponges. Some green algae, not sure type, it's a soft, green fuzzy algae that also likes to coat my sword leaves, and is very difficult to remove. Feels sort of like velvet. It's coated the tops of my sponges, so makes the tank look neglected and gross, plus I don't want it spreading to my plants.
I don't really want to replace them if I can help it since while it's an established filter used for a long time, I only switched it to this tank recently and got nitrite levels back under control, so rather not switch them out one at a time for new ones if I can avoid it. But when I try brushing or plucking the algae off, most remains, or I end up plucking tiny bits of the sponge away. Are these saveable, or should I just suck it up and replace one, then the other later?
I don't really want to replace them if I can help it since while it's an established filter used for a long time, I only switched it to this tank recently and got nitrite levels back under control, so rather not switch them out one at a time for new ones if I can avoid it. But when I try brushing or plucking the algae off, most remains, or I end up plucking tiny bits of the sponge away. Are these saveable, or should I just suck it up and replace one, then the other later?