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Mattenfilter saves my fry

Z

zendog

Active Member
A couple of weeks ago my Wallaceochromis Signatus were getting ready to spawn again and getting annoyed with their last brood in the tank. When I saw the male go from being a great parent to attacking the fry, I knew I had to do something quick or they'd be gone.

I had a 20 long and a piece of foam from SwissTropicals, but no jet lifters or a spare air pump. So I decided to use a cheap powerhead I had on hand. I filled the tank with half new water and half from the parent's tank, squeezed out a sponge from another tank to jump start the cycle and the little guys never blinked. No ammonia or nitrite issues. The tank is almost completely silent and the powerhead gives me flow in the tank.

I know plenty of people use these and enjoy the longterm stability and ease of maintenance, but just thought I'd mention how well it seems to work for a quick temporary setup. I should probably push the sponge back closer to the pump and syphon out the mulm from the sponge squeezings that worked through the matten and settled behind it.

If I was going to use Mattenfilters in my regular tanks I would definitely go with the corner filters as a more attractive option, but from a shear utility point of view this is a great option for instant fry tanks.

 
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captmicha

captmicha

Members
Does it do a good job mechanically? Or about the same as sponge filters?

Wouldn't look bad hidden by a 3D background or a plant screen
 
Andrewtfw

Andrewtfw

Global Moderators
I just set up another corner filter on a tank today. Now, all but one of my tanks has a mattenfilter on it. Most run with powerheads.
 
Becca

Becca

Members
I did an air driven one with a DIY jetlifter a few months back because I had some foam sheeting and airlines, but was out of sponge filters and didn't want to wait for one to arrive. It is still running great - well enough that I considered re-doing all of my fishroom tanks with them, but that'd mean breaking down tanks to do it.
 
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