Shrimp tank and sponges! Is this ok??

[SteffeyJ]

Hello!
So. I have a 3.5 gallon tank with a sponge filter running that is currently housing about 12 cherry shrimp since I treated the tank that they were in with something that was not invert safe. It did solve the problem however , so I am happy!!
But, I've recently been putting a piece of my used sponge from my HOB filter that's in my other tank, and dropping that piece into the shrimp tank and they seem to LOOOOVE grazing on it! They will all swarm it! And then within like 3 or 4 days, the sponge is cleaned off! And so I throw it away and I'll drop another small piece in from the HOB....
Is this an ok thing to do???
Cant find anything of anyone ever doing this online..
Could it hurt my shrimp in anyway??
They REALLLLLLY seem to enjoy it!!
Thank you for ANY help!

[Autumnsky]

You can let them clean it and then put it back into the other tank it came from so you might keep the BB.

I have cut my large sponge in half before to share the BB with the newer tank (using an Aquaclear filter), and think something similar might work for you. Otherwise you are throwing out BB from your donor sponge tank.

Another thought is if you use a prefilter on the intake of your HOB... you can buy a few and rotate a couple through back and forth. Probably would need to gently rinse just a little bit or it would get muck in your shrimp tank.

They like plants to clean too btw.

[SteffeyJ]

Yes! Thank you!
I was SOOO hoping for a response, as I did not know if this was a safe thing to do.. but the shrimp just LOVE the dirty sponges! And after I take them from the shrimp, the whole outer edge is clean and only the center is still darker! Haha! It is sooo neat!! I have a sponge filter and a HOB in the bigger tank, and I take the sponge out of HOB, cut it in half, keep half with half of a new sponge and throw the other half in the shrimp tank. Then next time I do the filter, I chuck the sponge from shrimp tank, add the older sponge from HOB and add a new half of sponge.. honestly, seems to be working wonderful!
And it is nice to have the shrimp 'clean' the sponge, in case I ever really needed one in a pinch..
I also have a regular sponge filter in the shrimp tank, and they prefer the dirty sponges over the sponge filter.. (probably because it doesnt get as dirty as the ones from the larger tank?)
ALSO! found my first shrimplets tonight!! Could see atleast 5, and of 2 different sizes!! Very very happy!!
So I must be doing something right!!
Thank you so much for your response!!

[libertybelle]

I do that with intake tubing too from my HOB filters. Especially the ubend pieces that are tough to clean.

Had one that was so thick with algae and biofilm that it was nearly clogged. Few hours in the cherry tank and it was good to go!

[SteffeyJ]

That is awesome, Liberty!!!
Makes me feel better that I'm not the only one doing something like that! And glad to know that it is safe! The shrimp just love it so much that now I cant imagine not putting a peice of dirty sponge in there!
And, next time my intake one is bad, I will probably do the same thing! Hadn't even thought of doing it with the intake sponge! So thanks!!