Co-Op (Nano) Coarse Sponge Filter issues

[KatTV]

Odd Duck don't you have to unhook the whole filter to do it that way?  I was thinking maybe I can cut the sponge down the side. That way I would just remove the sponge.

[nabokovfan87]

On 9/1/2022 at 3:55 PM, Sergio said:

Wish someome with a NANO sponge filter confirmed it.

They are all going to be designed this way. The pieces themselves are extremely similar and in terms of design, the goal is to use the most common ports.  The base measurements are different according to the store page, so there is some variation in diameter in some capacity.  The sponge differences is going to be the main difference in your variation between nano and large.

The cap will come off, just rock it back and forth.  There is a lip on the inside of the "top piece" that engages with the lower basket.  It might just be a bit tricky to get it off at first for some part runs, but it should come off with enough jiggling.  If you're having issues, try to record it and potentially email ACO support if you need to.

[Odd Duck]

On 9/4/2022 at 12:12 AM, KatTV said:

Odd Duck don't you have to unhook the whole filter to do it that way?  I was thinking maybe I can cut the sponge down the side. That way I would just remove the sponge.

If you cut the sponge down the side it will let water through the cut and bypass the sponge.  I wouldn’t be surprised if the sponge would gape open a bit at the cut.  It fits snug over the “cage” core and would have a little pressure from the inside that would spread the cut side open.

I usually pop the top off the core after I pop the whole filter into the bowl, then I let the top dangle in the tank while I clean the sponge and rinse the core and base.  It takes seconds to rinse the core and base, longer to rinse the sponge depending on dirty I let it get.

[rockfisher]

@KatTVDon’t cut it down the side. It won’t work properly. The top should come off and leave that in the tank. The sponge comes off the top and clean. 
@Sergioif you are still having issues call or email customer service maybe the piece was not placed on in manufacturing. If you have to much flow add a valve to decrease the Bubble size and the speed. The filter is Probably  more than needed anyway most are

[RockMongler]

Sadly, taking the whole thing out is one of the downsides of a sponge filter.  They are more annoying to clean than a hang on back.  But they are very effective for their cost/energy use outside of having to lift the whole thing out carefully when cleaning time comes around.  They are a pain to clean (more so than a hang on back, but much less than a canister filter), but it is extremely good at acting as biofiltration.  I have my nano sponge in a 10 gallon, where I also have a very small hang on back.  The hang on back gets cleaned a lot more than the sponge filter, but the sponge filter also fills up with gunk much more slowly.  

You pull up the whole sponge filter, with the airline, to take it out of the tank to clean it.  I usually lift it up by the airline, and get it into a ziplock bag carefully to reduce the amount of stuff that falls off when pulling it out.  Most of the time, I just squeeze the sponge portion of the sponge filter into my water change bucket, and don't bother pulling it off the plastic case.  The main goal is to remove the visible gunk while leaving as much of the beneficial bacteria in place as is possible/reasonable.

[KatTV]

@rockfisherso you're suggesting to detach the airline and remove sponge?  That would be ideal if getting the airline back on wasn't a wrestling match🤣

@RockMonglerI usually pull up by tube or top of filter.  I have a bigger bag that I dunk in tank water.  Then I just put bottom of the filter in there and squeeze a few times.  I think Cory has said to repeat the process until bag has clear water, but I usually only do it one or two times unless I'm having tank issues. It's not that difficult I just need 1)something to stand on and 2)a table to set my bucket on.  The bucket is where the bag of ick from the filter ends up.  Someone should have told me to see if I could reach the bottom of the tank before buying.  Didn't think about being up to my armpits in tank water on a regular basis🤣🤣🤣

 

@Odd Duckdoing it your way, does that mean I don't need to remove the hose? The hose is attached to the other part you remove, right?

[rockfisher]

I pop green top piece off. I could also disconnect the air line at the valve. I use the two types but the easiest one is the metal ones to co-op sells.you can screw the air line on and off at one end

then you can turn the air off and take everything out. I can show in a video tomorrow if you want @KatTV

[KatTV]

@rockfisherthat would be great

@Odd Duckdoing it your way, does that mean I don't need to remove the hose? The hose is attached to the other part you remove, right?

[Odd Duck]

On 9/7/2022 at 12:08 AM, KatTV said:

@rockfisherthat would be great

@Odd Duckdoing it your way, does that mean I don't need to remove the hose? The hose is attached to the other part you remove, right?

Yes, that’s correct.  I pop the top, disc part off, then hose and airstone hang in the tank, bubbling away while I clean the sponge.  Pop it back together once cleaned and drop it back down into position.

[KatTV]

@rockfisher @Odd Duck I think next time I will try removing the green part. Thanks.

[Bev C]

On 9/3/2022 at 6:53 AM, Sergio said:

Hello! This is the Coarse Sponge Filter I bought:

 

So I tried again to take off only the top part so I can insert the air stone and it doesn't seem like it is 2 different parts. Part 1 and 2 as seen in my pic, seems to be stuck together, like it isn't deattachable... I tried hard again, but was afraid to break part 1 which is like a cage.

 

I want to deattach the top part like Cory did here, so I can insert the air stone and also take out the sponge much easier for when I want to clean it.

@Sergio in your 2nd photo where it is marked 1 and  2  that part in the photo  looks like to me  you have bottom and top tube backwards  in the photo that looks like the bottom tube piece that attach to the bottom to round base weight  instead of being the  top 

on  mine when i clean the bottom piece  if you look at the bottom it is fused together and  inside   there is a little stub that looks like where the air  tubing goes 

do you have a extra round disc top   by itself or that is attach to the other  tube piece

I am trying to say i think you are trying to remove the bottom pice instead top piece maybe you have the top  piece attach to   base weight 

I hope all that made since 

i could be wrong someone can correct  me  or maybe they can  explain it better then me 

 

Edited September 10, 2022 by Bev C

[rockfisher]

On 9/9/2022 at 4:42 PM, KatTV said:

@rockfisher @Odd Duck I think next time I will try removing the green part. Thanks.

I am sorry I didn’t get the video done. Life happened.