The Woefully Underappreciated Sponge Filter
- Thread starter aclockworkorange
- Start date
after reading this, I'm thinking the sponge is the way to go for me.... was thinking about building a sump to add to my canister, but the sponge would be a hell of a lot cheaper and easier..... I already have the air pump so all I would need is the tube and the sponge, although the HV's are only 13 bucks so I might just buy two.....
This is exactly the first thing I came to this forum to find. Thank you sir! We'll see how this idea evolves for me and I'll post back results and pics.
Erm, I tried to quote this but fail. So, yeah, this is what I want to try to do...
this really does help .. but lots of rinsing of the PRE -FILTER sponge is required,,,
The biggest reducer in flowrate in my filter is the 30 ppi (fine media) mechanical stage getting clogged whereas the 30ppi (coarse media) doesn't have much to be rinsed out... I'll try it and see what results I get.
This is some good info. A sponge filter would be a great addition to my 75g. The xp3 willl get the job done , Im sure , but just in case something goes wrong ... the ponge filter would be a good back up.
Well, this thread has piqued my interest once again...and I have a few questions for you "sole" sponge guys. I am considering a switch over to solely sponges as I'm getting tired of expensive filtration units (not that I don't like them) in an effort to cut down costs, but still have highly effective filtration. I currently have a heavily stocked 72g malawi tank and a heavily stocked 55g tanganyika tank. Now say I was to go with just sponges on both tanks via air powered pumps (I've been looking at the Azoo ones that have battery backup that automatically switches on when power goes out) would flow be sufficient enough to satisfy my Malawi guys? I'm not real concerned about flow with my tang tank as they don't really care for much either way. My current maintenance schedule is both tanks get 75% water changes once a week so I don't think I would have quality problems. Also, how well would oxygenation go with just running said sponges on just an air pump vs say a spraybar from a canister etc? Reason being is I worry about surface scum building up as it is pretty unsightly.
Currently, my 72g malawi tank runs an AC110 paired with an Eheim 2075 also with 2 Koralia 750's...so you can see my concern with overall flow throughout the tank vs just sponges.
Any insight to my food for thought? Sorry for a long winded post.
Currently, my 72g malawi tank runs an AC110 paired with an Eheim 2075 also with 2 Koralia 750's...so you can see my concern with overall flow throughout the tank vs just sponges.
Any insight to my food for thought? Sorry for a long winded post.
I am a huge advocate for sponge filters. In my old fish room I had 20 tanks running off a DIY air manifold running around the room. The ONLY drawback with them is NOISE! I had a blower running the manifold, the noise made by that and the noise produced from all those sponge filters running was quite substantial. My room did not get the wife "seal of approval". You could literally hear the fish room in every corner of the house.
