Sump biomedia question

[rockhoe14er]

Hey guys. I recently had a discussion with one of my friends that has been dealing with fish tanks for a long time.

Here is the debate. In my sump i used super absorbant sponges as the place for bacteria to settle. I got this because it was cheep. He seems to think that sponges aren't good to put in there because they catch all the lose food and over time will serve as a breeding ground for necrotising bacteria that will cause lots of problems further down for my fish.


What do you guys think? Does anyone have experience in this matter?

 

[cweg71]

I have been using a wet/dry with bio-balls for several years. I clean the bio-balls once or twice a year. I clean mine because of a fairly heavy fish and plant load. I find some organic material will end up getting past the drip plate sponges and into the bio-balls. Just keep an eye on how much mulm is collecting on your bio-material.

 

[WeedCali]

use a prefilter sock or a piece of batting/ foam before it hits the biomedia. do you use a HOB overflow? if so, those usually have a prefilter inside it so i do see how it could really be a problem :huh: