Sponge Free Filtration???

[DavidG1966]

I took the sponges out yesterday... maybe its me??? but my skimmer seems to be much more productive.. much more. But I still don't know what to do long term. I would like to hear from people who have been running spongeless for an extended period of time.

 

[spoon671]

What else can I say.

 

[spoon671]

Told ya.

 

[KEstep]

I have seen solid chunks of food (brine and mysis) go into the collection cup of my skimmer. I ran a skimmer on my qt tank and any food that was pulled in was pushed up the foam into the cup.

 

[xtrstangx]

The only sponges I have in my tank are on the Phosban reactor because they are required to run.

 

[spoon671]

Nice dog.

 

[KEstep]

Thanks

 

[dga]

sponges are fine in a sump for removing particles quickly (especially after water changes when you blow off the live rock). and cleaned regularly when doing a water change wont have nitrates. quick rinse in warm to hot water is all that is needed. aquarium husbandry...

 

[Catharsis70]

Sponge free and loving it! No media at all for about a year now I think.

 

[Jarett]

i use felt material from the craft store.(or walmart) when i built my sump i put three trays in it that water has to go through. that way i can put whatever stuff in the trays i want, such as carbon, phosban, etc...
mainly i just use the white felt on each one. i will buy a couple of yards of the felt material and cut it into the sizes i need. then i change them once a week. you can rinse and reuse if you want, but the material is only a few bucks per yard.

 

[joelowrider]

i had a lot of probems with nitrats i took out my bio balls and am just running live rock and skimmer and have had no problem since