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What kind of sponge should I use?

Keith

Vampyroteuthis
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Jun 5, 2008
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So i've heard a lot that I need to cover a lot of stuff with sponge so a ceph won't get caught in or tamper with it. What kind of sponge should I use? Would some standard blue bubble diffusing sponge (sump sponge) work ok? And if I cover powerheads with sponge, won't it severely reduce the water flow that they're there for? Any info would be much appreciated.

-Keith
 
Keith;125513 said:
And if I cover powerheads with sponge, won't it severely reduce the water flow that they're there for?

Actually wouldn't that cut down the flow of everything?
-Keith

Yes and Yes. Netting or some other cage that allows better waterflow is an on-going experiment. Until I switched to the Koralia, I had Octane's powerhead intake inside a PVC tube, connected to a makeshift undergravel filter. Unfortunately, eventually this setup (over 4 years or better) started putting a strain on the power head and eventually I switched methods.

One of the reasons for many of us being in love with the Hydor Koralia is the amount of water movement that can be accomplished without problems for fish and, so it appears, octopuses. Those of us that are using them do not have any additional screening and so far, no reported arm damage. Serendipity is very small (dwarf sized at the moment) and I have seen her climb on one of the two in her tank (and I held my breath until she moved away from it). No damage and no arm exploring in the dangerous parts. Octane (far larger) would occassionally position himself in front of his and enjoy the flow.

Initially, we tried sponges in Serendipity's overflow but opted to put a cage (used old filter intake strainers but there is a stainless steel sink drain strainer that would also work but need regular cleaning) around the bulkheads instead so that there would be better water exchange and debris removal. She could manage to climb into the overflow box but we have octo lids over their openings and decided the water improvement was better than worrying about her climbing inside as long as the overflow as not fully open and we could get to the box to extract her if necessary.
 
I was planning on using two of the Koralia 2s for my 75 gallon, so hopefully that shouldn't be a problem. I was also thinking of using some kind of plastic screen, but i'm not sure what i'd fasten it with. I could silicone it down, but that'd be a pain to remove if I ever needed to. There was another question I had, so I figure ill just ask now. What are UV Sterilizers used for? I mean, obviously its for sterilization, but what do they do? Is that something I should invest in?
 
UV sterilizers are supposed to knock out microalgae blooms, eliminate bugs in the water column, like Ich, etc.

I don't use one personally. Wouldn't mind having one on our 140. Used to run one on our first seahorse tank, seemed to help but it cracked.

I only use one Koralia #4 in Kalypso's tank. I redirect it every couple of days.
 

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