Best scrubbies to use in a skippy? and how much?

[pecan]

I call them Carl... LOL

Just kidding, they don't have a name. The just have a upc tag. They are about 12 inch in diameter circles you put on the bottom of a industrial flow cleaner. They rent the floor cleaners there so they were in the rental section. They had different colors and corsness, I got a few of each color for good measure. The were 5.97 each. I am going to cut them up maybe about 2"x4" peices and toss them in and see how far they go.

 

[taherrmann4]

You may want to check online, as it may be cheaper even with shipping. 5.97 per pad seems kinda high but do not know for sure.

Here is a common brand in the industrial cleaning business. You have to log in to get pricing but may be worth a shot.

http://www.hpproducts.com/CatalogPr...=1&ps=0&av=0&Category=C000183,C000181,C000004

 

[pondlover]

Tahermann I've tried creating an account on that website and it keeps saying that someone will contact me soon. Still have no login. I'll try again tomorrow.

 

[CountryEscape]

PL and Pecan: When they mentioned scrubbies, I looked at the floor cleaner ones, and Menards (I don't have a Home Depot close by) did not have but one of them, also in their rental section. Someone else said the scrubbies you use for cleaning dishes. They said they were cheap, but at Menards they were something like $5 for 10 of them. BUT, I looked one day, and that set of 10 was $1!!!! So, needless to say, I bought all that was on the shelf (23 packages) and then went back the next day and bought another 20 or so packages. I started out cutting them up and then said the heck with it and threw them in whole in a mesh bag. LOL I also had a mesh bag (I used one from potatoes that I had kept) and cut up a 100' roll of 1" clear tubing into 1-2" sections for my cheap "bio ball" type of media for the bacteria to attach to. Anything and everything will help. I thought I needed to take the stuff out and wash it and keep it clean and was told NOPE! The first year, just let the bacteria grow pretty much, or at least don't clean it all the time! I think I rinsed the stuff out just at the end of the year, but my pond didn't get going until June 1 last year. And, I must say, when I rinsed everything out at the end of the year (in December!), the scrubbies were dirty, but they were not full of mud like I really expected them to be. This second year may be different, so I will watch for that. I guess I DID backflush the DIY Skippy filter a few times during the year, but when not much dirty water came out, I figure it was good to go!
And, I might add, this is something I have learned with my aquariums in the house, too! Once they are balanced, good bacteria is present, no overfeeding, fish population is not overcrowded, I do very little in the way of rinsing my filters. I do "vacuum" the bottom about once every 2 months, replace with clean water, but other than that, they are pretty much carefree. I think I used to do too much in the past, and lost lots of fish because I was cleaning too much! At least, that's how it's working for me.

 

[pecan]

Country I can see why you gave up on cutting them up I have huge blisters on my fingers cutting so many... I bought 12 and that was enough for the 100 gallon. So I figure I need another 8 for the 75 gallon.

 

[brandonsdad02]

I went to a cleaning supply place and bought 3 boxes of floor scrubbing pads. I got 2 boxes of 18" pads and one box of 12" pads. Worked great for my 100 gal skippy

 

[koiguy1969]

if you use the ones for pots and pans (no sponge) SAMS CLUB has the 3Ms cheap....better deal than the dollar store ones. theyre twice the size. it comes out to like getting a free pack for every 5 you buy at the dollar store. they box says "not for aquarium use" but theyre fine...i had been using mine for 2 years when i found one of the boxes and read it....still using them now. and i have never cleaned them. outside of filter flushes, and they get used in my outdoor filter during the summer then brought inside for the basement pond filter during the winter. theyre used 24/7/365. i do have some air conditioning filters cut to fit the filter on my bottom media grid as well.
*** if you cant handle cutting up the media....google SKIPPY. the freindly folks at BEAUTIFUL PONDS AND GARDENS will send you some already cubed. they are the inventors of the skippy.