Sponge Filters

I was in Canada recently and I as usual visit Big Al's tropical fish warehouse. I am always amazed at the amount of species they have and the shear numbers of them. Also I am always impressed with the products they carry. I wished I had a LFS that would carry even half the products they carry but not only carry what they have is top quality. Well long story put short. I bought a sponge filter rated to ten gallons. I must say I am impressed with the quality of it and second I have never used a sponge filter before. It seems as far as growing beneficial bacteria it would be great and it seems it would also be a great mechanical filter removing debree. Any one out there mind shedding some light on their experience with sponge filters and what that expericence has been and do they work well and are they a better filter for a planted tank than lets say a power filter with bio wheel. I have heard that the carbon in the filter inserets of power filter removes stuff from the water that the plants need. Thanks in advance for you help. I plan on using it on a ten that my daughter gave me for Christmas. Another thing I like about this brand of filter I bought is you can buy another sponge and insert and stack them thus making it double the capacity of filtration of the original. Thanks, Daniel

Can't quote the brand off the top of my head but the base is extreemly heavy and it sits on the bottom of the tank. Has a extension if you need to use it on the base to allow for gravel to be placed around it. I will check on the brand and share this. I just got in last night late and it is still in my suit-case.

I use them in the fry tank whenever I decide the world needs more goldfish.

Apparently lots of stuff grows on the surface of the sponge, gives the fry something to eat between feedings.

aufwufs, or something like that.

I use them in the fry tank whenever I decide the world needs more goldfish.

Apparently lots of stuff grows on the surface of the sponge, gives the fry something to eat between feedings.

aufwufs, or something like that.

Well that jogs my bad memory. I have heard that and I guess that is one positive on sponge filters. Have you ever used them for the main filtration on a tank in general. I can see why you would use them on a fry tank. I mean a power filter would suck on that job. "pun intended"

If you have lots of tanks, sponge filters are easy to make from old mayo jars and some foam from the craft shop.

I used to use some one gallon jars in my 90 gallon growout tank and put younger fry inside the jars, injecting their food into the jar with a turkey baster throguh a hole in the top. The foam acted as a lid and as a sponge filter. The babies had all the benefits of a high volume of water with the added benefits of being confined to a smaller space (with their prey).

If you have lots of tanks, sponge filters are easy to make from old mayo jars and some foam from the craft shop.

I used to use some one gallon jars in my 90 gallon growout tank and put younger fry inside the jars, injecting their food into the jar with a turkey baster throguh a hole in the top. The foam acted as a lid and as a sponge filter. The babies had all the benefits of a high volume of water with the added benefits of being confined to a smaller space (with their prey).

Please explain more how you make the filters. I'm always looking for ways to make things for the fishroom.

I really like sponge filters I have them most of my tanks. The only problem I have had is when I used one in a tank with very fine sand (sandblast sand) the filter became completely clogged very quickly and I could not clean it out. Other than that they work great.

I use nothing but sponge filters in all but my two largest tanks that house most of my larger lepomis sunfish and i have one central air pump (linear piston pump) that runs all the sponge filters in the 17 smaller tanks. I like this system because sponges are prety simple to clean out and they never brake down like power filters. It also saves on electricity being one central pump.

I use nothing but sponge filters in all but my two largest tanks that house most of my larger lepomis sunfish and i have one central air pump (linear piston pump) that runs all the sponge filters in the 17 smaller tanks. I like this system because sponges are prety simple to clean out and they never brake down like power filters. It also saves on electricity being one central pump.

Appart from saving electricity I can see the benifit of having sponge filters on multiple tanks for the simple fact of their inexpensive to purchase or make. So they do work very efficiently is what my main question was. But I assume since you use mostly sponge filters they must work good. Appreciate the response and info, Daniel

Please explain more how you make the filters. I'm always looking for ways to make things for the fishroom.

Well the idea wasn't mine... I got it on an angelfish forum when I was more actively involved in commercial-scale production of angelfish for the local pet shops.

The forum members collaborated on an ever improving series of designs, dubbed the "TLC". Ah, the wonders of the Internet.

http://www.angelfish...y;threadid=4127

The other major tip I picked up there that worked wonders for me was the use of Hydrogen Peroxide for preventing fungus on the eggs and newly hatched fry. And that worked quite effectively.

Every person here who breeds fish should take a good block of time and read that TLC thread.

IMO up to 30 gallons, there is no reason to use any other type of filter. Sponges are fantastic! And you can activate a new one by simple squeezing a cycled one into it. I use these primarily http://www.aquabid.c...c...

IMO up to 30 gallons, there is no reason to use any other type of filter. Sponges are fantastic! And you can activate a new one by simple squeezing a cycled one into it. I use these primarily http://www.aquabid.c...c...

This link ended. Are these the Ultimate SPonge Filters by the username Regina....?

I have always used hydrosponges since I can easily get replacement parts and they come in multiple sizes, but I have been considering these for a while.

BTW, I agree that sponges are pretty much the only filtration needed for maintenance of native. I use sponges almost exclusively, on fish from pygmy sunfishes to riffle-dwelling darters. Now, breeding attempts are another situation altogether.

I got some of the Ultimate sponge filters over a year ago they work quite well. I'll be getting more. Love that TLC jar idea.

Yes Dustin that is what I was referring to.

I only use an external filter if there is a lot of waste that I want to remove. Otherwise, I use only sponge filters on powerheads. I use craft shop cushion foam, cut a block of it, and use the scissors to snip a slit in the center to accommodate the power filter intake. One on each side of a 55-gallon and I'm good to go. If it seems like the water flow is too strong from the powerhead for a particular setup, it can be split and directed into different areas of tank.

I only use an external filter if there is a lot of waste that I want to remove. Otherwise, I use only sponge filters on powerheads. I use craft shop cushion foam, cut a block of it, and use the scissors to snip a slit in the center to accommodate the power filter intake. One on each side of a 55-gallon and I'm good to go. If it seems like the water flow is too strong from the powerhead for a particular setup, it can be split and directed into different areas of tank.

Now this sounds interesting. How many sunfish could you keep in a tank with such filtration?

Now this sounds interesting. How many sunfish could you keep in a tank with such filtration?

How many jelly beans are in that jar....

I have no idea. I see two trains of thought: 1) unlimited number of sunfish (Lepomis, I assume), if you're willing to put in a lot of sponges, rinse them a lot, and do water changes. Rather impractical to me, but I suppose possible. 2) A combo of sponges and a HOB or similar filter to remove some of the solid waste that sunfish seem to put out with wild abandon. This setup would at least help remove some filtration dead spots and polish the water better than just an HOB.

Now this sounds interesting. How many sunfish could you keep in a tank with such filtration?

I keep upstairs and downstairs tanks. I run undergravel and two HOB filters on the upstairs tanks. I like the HOB/undergravel combination here since the coils on my HOB don't contact the water thus keeping it as cool as possible. I power the UG (udergravel) with air also keeping the water as cool. The UG helps with the enormous bioload in these tanks and with two HOB's I can clean the filters in alternating fashion. In a 55 gallon tank I keep a eight Killifish, two tadpole madtoms, two OSS, 6 Bluespotted sunfish, one blackbanded sunfish, one central mudminnow and six darters. All of these fish are adults and I'll bet I'm leaving some out. I believe I could house more fish in this tank as well. I change the water every two weeks but going a month isn't an issue. I think it's almost impossible to crash the bio-system on this type of set-up (as long as you don't use meds to crash the system). I should also add that I have a pretty high rate of flow on this tank and the temps run only .5 to 1 degree above ambient.

I look at filtration in two ways. A vehicle for keeping a biological filter healthy and a way of keeping particulate from water. I think HOB's do a fair job with the bio side and a good job for removing particulate. Even though I've never crashed a system with a single HOB, I like to run two if I load the tank with a lot of fish along with UG. I think it makes up for any mistakes I might make.

I'm now running sponge in place of HOB's in the downstairs tanks.

Found this on a crayfish forum. Said no permission needed to borrow the photo so here it is. Scotch pads and sponge foam filter. Heavier waste trapped first and then the bio filter can remain intact when cleaned. "the sponge"