Sponge Filters

[FishGuest5123]

I was looking at a sponge filter for my shrimp tank and considered adding one to my goldie tank and tropical tank. I have a Penguin 350 on goldie but still get high nitrates. Always have. Anyone think adding a sponge filter would help? I have tried everything else. Params are always 0, 0, and over 80 be end of week when I clean again. It’s a 45G with 2 fancies in it. The tropical is a 20L with params 0, 0, and 50-60 by week ends. Have 3 guppies, 2 platy’s, 4 neon, 4 green neon, and 5 glow tetras. It has Penguin 200 on it.

 

[DrRob]

Sponge filter won't do anything much about nitrates. They're mainly ways of removing the toxic ammonia and nitrite, with nitrate being the end product, much like the penguins you already have.

Mainly those are removed by water changes. Plants will also take them out, otherwise you need somewhat complex anaerobic filters to efficiently take out any quantities of nitrates.

 

[FishGuest5123]

Sponge filter won't do anything much about nitrates. They're mainly ways of removing the toxic ammonia and nitrite, with nitrate being the end product, much like the penguins you already have.

Mainly those are removed by water changes. Plants will also take them out, otherwise you need somewhat complex anaerobic filters to efficiently take out any quantities of nitrates.

Thanks so much for the prompt reply. Would you use one on shrimp tanks or stick to HOB?

 

[Byron]

I would suggest you do something about the nitrates as nitrate as high as 60 or 80 ppm is without question harming the fish.

First, are there nitrates in the source water? If yes, that is one issue to resolve, but if not, then they are occurring solely within the aquarium and that should be easy to resolve. As already mentioned by DrRob, increased water changes (more volume), live plants (floating are especially useful as they use more nutrients including ammonia, which means less nitrite and less nitrate), not overfeeding or over stocking.

 

[FishGuest5123]

Thanks for the suggestions. I do appreciate them. I have pothos floating in top of the tanks. The tropical is heavily planted. A few plastic but most real. I can only keep plastic in the goldie as they eat and dig up everything. I do have a couple of amazon swords and pothos in there. I clean and vac every Monday. I do about 75% w/c. Wednesday Or Thursday I do another 50% water change. My tap water is fine so yes, it is something in my tank. Or was anyway. I just moved the goldies from a 29G to a 45G. I am hoping this will help some but doubt it. I have decreased feeding to no avail. I realize the goldies are big fish but 2 water changes a week should suffice. This has plagued me since the tanks first started up. Betta tanks are fine. I did just remove a panty hose from intake on tropical tank. Much better water flow. Hope this at least helps that one. I also cut a piece of sponge and placed on shrimp intake after removing panty hose. Like night and day so I think that tank is fine. I have even used Nitra Zorb which works for a few days and then has to be recharged. After a few recharges, it’s done.

 

[Byron]

Thanks for the suggestions. I do appreciate them. I have pothos floating in top of the tanks. The tropical is heavily planted. A few plastic but most real. I can only keep plastic in the goldie as they eat and dig up everything. I do have a couple of amazon swords and pothos in there. I clean and vac every Monday. I do about 75% w/c. Wednesday Or Thursday I do another 50% water change. My tap water is fine so yes, it is something in my tank. Or was anyway. I just moved the goldies from a 29G to a 45G. I am hoping this will help some but doubt it. I have decreased feeding to no avail. I realize the goldies are big fish but 2 water changes a week should suffice. This has plagued me since the tanks first started up. Betta tanks are fine. I did just remove a panty hose from intake on tropical tank. Much better water flow. Hope this at least helps that one. I also cut a piece of sponge and placed on shrimp intake after removing panty hose. Like night and day so I think that tank is fine. I have even used Nitra Zorb which works for a few days and then has to be recharged. After a few recharges, it’s done.

Goldfish are heavy waste producers, but unless they are largish fish it shouldn't be this severe given your water changes. Do you keep the filter well rinsed?

 

[AbbeysDad]

High tank nitrates and the source water is fine:

> Replace a gravel substrate with sand as gravel substrates are nitrate factories.

> Feed high quality foods. Lower quality foods are fish meal and gobs of grain/grain starch - carbs that fish can't process = excess waste, Excess waste = higher nitrates.

> Feed less. Goldfish will eat like they're always starving. Don't fall for the hungry fish routine. Even skip days here and there.

> Fast growing floating plants convert ammonia (and sometimes nitrate) into plant tissue that's eventually trimmed and removed.

> Clean filter sponges/floss often to remove detritus before it decomposes and produces nitrates.

> The use life of API Nitra-Zorb is dramatically reduced by detritus that coats the resin. Use it last in the filter behind fine filter floss. It may be possible to reclaim the resin using a chlorine bath (like the procedure for Seachem Purigen). HOWEVER, I have not tried this.

Tank on,
-Mike

 

[FishGuest5123]

High tank nitrates and the source water is fine:

> Replace a gravel substrate with sand as gravel substrates are nitrate factories.

> Feed high quality foods. Lower quality foods are fish meal and gobs of grain/grain starch - carbs that fish can't process = excess waste, Excess waste = higher nitrates.

> Feed less. Goldfish will eat like they're always starving. Don't fall for the hungry fish routine. Even skip days here and there.

> Fast growing floating plants convert ammonia (and sometimes nitrate) into plant tissue that's eventually trimmed and removed.

> Clean filter sponges/floss often to remove detritus before it decomposes and produces nitrates.

> The use life of API Nitra-Zorb is dramatically reduced by detritus that coats the resin. Use it last in the filter behind fine filter floss. It may be possible to reclaim the resin using a chlorine bath (like the procedure for Seachem Purigen). HOWEVER, I have not tried this.

Tank on,
-Mike

Thanks! My fish are about 4” in body and 7” tip to tail. I feed New Life Spectrum mainly with peas, zucchini, and bloodworms. I clean filter media every 2 weeks. Hornwort and anacharis last about / days. It’s their favorite salad. They have never been ill, ( knock on wood) but I do tire of fighting the nitrates. They were raised in gravel and then after almost a year, I switched them to sand. They totally freaked real hours, I gave up and out. I mean, seriously. They were glass surfing and trying to get out. After a day, I put the gravel back in. They settled down. Thought maybe something wrong with the sand but my tropical tank has same sand and just fine.

 

[AbbeysDad]

Then it would seem you'll need to step up the gravel vac routine. Perhaps a 50% gravel vac/water change twice per week.

 

[NickAu]

API Nitra-Zorb


To recharge API Nitra-Zorb add 80 grams of aquarium salt to 250 milliliters of warm water, once the salt is dissolved add the pouch of nitra zorb and soak it for 2 hours then rinse the nitra zorb and reuse.

Seachem Purigen

Soak in a 1:1 bleach:water solution for 24 hours in a non-metalic container in a well ventilated area and away from children. Rinse well, then soak for 8 hours with a solution containing 2 tablespoons of ChlorGuard™, Prime®, or equivalent dechlorinator per cup of water. Rinse well.

As long as you rinse the media well after the dechlorination step and there is no sign of residual chlorine/bleach, the Purigen should be ready for use. We are currently working on changing the instructions on the website and any labels printed in the future will have that step omitted.

https://www.seachem.com/support/forums/forum/general-discussion/1440-purigen-recharge-process

I am not a fan of purigen because you need bleach to clean it, Macropore is exactly the same but also uses salt to regenerate in fresh water tanks.


https://www.thetechden.com.au/Macropore_2_Liter_Aquarium_Water_Conditioner_p/mpw2.htm

 

[AbbeysDad]

Nitra-Zorb and Purigen are different resins.
Purigen has an affinity for organic (nitrogenous) waste (detritus), according to the marketing, it is retained before it breaks down to produce nitrites/nitrates. It does not adsorb ammonia, nitrites, nitrates like Nitra-Zorb does. I never found Purigen to reduce my tank nitrates!
(Polyester filter fiber also collects detritus, but nobody would suggest it reduces nitrates.)

I did some research and it appears that Macropore is a similar product to Purigen. Hobbyists report that it does NOT recharge with salt water and bleach is required. The bleach merely burns off the organics, renewing the product.

The use life of Nitra-Zorb is reduced as the pellets become coated with detritus film. the coating prevents the adsorption, and recharging with salt water does not remove the detritus film and so it becomes ineffective. I suspect that like Purigen and Macropore, Nitra-Zorb could be recovered with a similar bleach bath followed by water conditioner to neutralize the chlorine. However, I haven't done this.

 

[FishGuest5123]

Thanks for the suggestions, Gang. I suppose I’ll have to continue the 2 x’s Week water changes and vacs.