non-seeded sponge filter in QT

[zeebies]

If I put a never-used sponge filter into a brand new quarantine tank, will the sponge filter actually do anything helpful?

My thought is if I don't have a seeded sponge with good bacteria then a sponge filter won't actually do anything except provide some aeration. And I am better off just doing daily water changes for many weeks.

Is this correct?

I know how to seed the sponge, but cannot do it right now.

 

[b0bab0ey]

It will help collect uneaten food and fish waste, which ultimately leads to ammonia. Make sure you rinse the sponge out every day or two. You'll still need to do WCs but maybe not as frequently.

 

[wooden_reefer]

If I put a never-used sponge filter into a brand new quarantine tank, will the sponge filter actually do anything helpful?

My thought is if I don't have a seeded sponge with good bacteria then a sponge filter won't actually do anything except provide some aeration. And I am better off just doing daily water changes for many weeks.

Is this correct?

I know how to seed the sponge, but cannot do it right now.

You are very correct in saying that nitrification will be nil.

The answer is NOT planning on daily water change. It is to cycle the medium in advance before QT, or buying any fish.

Isn't this logic extremely simple?

Can an answer be simpler?

The word "seed" generally implies things yet to grow. So just "seeded" is not good enough. It has to be "seeded" and grown into mature active filter medium so that ammonia WILL be nil during long periods in QT.

Also simple is it not?

 

[wooden_reefer]

I know how to seed the sponge, but cannot do it right now.

So how do you seed a filter?

If you can't do it now, when could you have done it?

 

[b0bab0ey]

So how do you seed a filter?

If you can't do it now, when could you have done it?

Bacteria will take up residence in a porous sponge/foam, the same way it does porous rock. IME, it takes about a month in either a high flow area of your sump or behind the rocks to fully complete the process (just like cycling a tank). It stays "seeded" or "cycled" by absorbing uneaten food & fish waste in the QT. Processing the ammonia from such into nitrates. Just like bio-balls would.

 

[zeebies]

Thanks for the advice.

I think there are instances when new reefers (and I am still relatively new) start from scratch and do not have a sump or another set-up to use for "seeding" a QT sponge.

If quarantining is done properly, yes, a seeded filter or established quarantine
would be the first choice. Another choice, getting a filter seeded from someone else, can be risky unless you know their tank is healthy and disease free.

A third way, I guess, would just be to do lots of water changes and rinse out the sponge with each WC. Then after about a month the sponge will be seeded.

OK. Got it.

 

[b0bab0ey]

I think there are instances when new reefers (and I am still relatively new) start from scratch and do not have a sump or another set-up to use for "seeding" a QT sponge.

Before I upgraded, I had a 57 with no sump. So I would just toss a sponge behind the rocks for a month. Not trying to harp on this; Just letting you know you don't need a sump to seed a sponge.