My AquaClear 110's sponge recently got brittle, lost its shape (after doing rinsings in removed tank water during changes) and breaking off into bits and crumbles when I dunked it in the removed tank water, so I got another replacement Hagen sponge for the 110 from my local PetSmart (this is after running this particular sponge for about three years or so, and so I think it was useful in terms of longetivity). I added the new one to the 110's media basket by placing the fresh one atop the old one and have been running it like that for a few weeks now to build up some BB colonies in the new foam block, but I'm wondering if I should yank out the old sponge at any time...or if it's alright to keep running the two sponges in there (with the BioMax pellets in sacks on top). Is there any consensus on this one? Does the old sponge have to be removed at some point, and if so when? Or could it keep running with the new one, acting as "more" mechanical filtration?
Also -- what are all you AquaClear filter owners running your flow control speeds at? Do you generally keep them "wide open" (max flow) or lower them to take advantage of the so-called "re-filtration" these units are supposed to exhibit when the flow control is pushed to the "-" flow speed?
Thanks in advance...
Also -- what are all you AquaClear filter owners running your flow control speeds at? Do you generally keep them "wide open" (max flow) or lower them to take advantage of the so-called "re-filtration" these units are supposed to exhibit when the flow control is pushed to the "-" flow speed?
Thanks in advance...