American Cichlid Association

Switching to sponge filters...

CSnyder00

CSnyder00

Bearded Wonder
So I know many of you have fish rooms with large air systems and run sponge/foam filters on your tanks. Some of you combine those with HOB's or canisters.

My question is this.

As a small time hobbiest at the moment due to space, if I wanted to switch over to sponge/foam filters on my 30, 40, and 75 gallon tanks, could I go straight sponge/foam filters and still have relatively clean water? Or am I wasting valuable floor space by doing so? I love the idea of being able to run on quiet air pumps under the stands and not hearing my semi-noisy HOB's, but I want a filter sufficient enough to filter the water properly and help keep it clean. I hate the maintenance associated with canisters (so much media), so I'm out on those. Anyone have any thoughts?
 
jonclark96

jonclark96

Past CCA President
Use old school box filters in addition to sponges for mechanical filtration. High air flow will pull in particulates in the water column. Not the prettiest thing in the world, but they work.
 
Beanie Seagus

Beanie Seagus

Members
Between the noise from the bubbles on sponge filters, plus whatever noise you get from the air pumps you are using, i'm not sure you are going to get too much quieter than the HOB filters... unless you've got a noisy old one running.

In terms of water clarity, i think you might once again be better off with the HOBs. As I understand it, sponge filters are great for biological filtration, but HOBs have them beat for straight up mechanical (or particulate) filtration. I know in my tanks with sponge filters at least, a lot of particulate matter ends up settling on the bottom of the tanks. I think the reason so many folks go with sponges are a) for bigger fish rooms they are more economical energy wise, and b) they don't pose a threat to fry.

With your current set up, (especially since you have those marina breeding boxes to take care of fry) I think you might be better off sticking with the HOBs.
 
CSnyder00

CSnyder00

Bearded Wonder
While I don't mind the HOBs, I don't think they have enough surface area to handle the biological filtration my tanks need. I'm having to change filter pads a lot because the cheap floss material comes apart after a few rinses and it is always jam packed full of nitrifying bacteria that clogs them, and then the water simply runs over top of them.

I think I would benefit from replacing these filter pads with foam, but I would need to find some I can cut to fit. I would also still need mechanical filtration. Maybe I should consider canisters again??? I would want something with s strong gph flow rate, as my HOBs are all rated for 400 gph, and they put out some water.

In any case, I may still be further ahead by adding a second biological filter, such as a sponge filter. I can see the benefit. I love the foam filter Stephan was showing. Maybe I should try one in my 30 and 40 gallon tanks.
 
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jonclark96

jonclark96

Past CCA President
finzz said:
Wow! I didn't know anyone even still made those things. I still have a couple in use (so old I have to hold the tops on with rubber bands), but most have been replaced with air-driven sponge filters. And I thought I was old-school!

What do you use for filter media?
Click to expand...
I use a little bit of bio media (matrix or ceramics or the like) and filter floss. Works great.
 
Frank Cowherd

Frank Cowherd

Global Moderators
Staff member
For my HOBs I have Poret Sponges cut to fit them. They are easy to clean and seem to do better than any floss or other media I have used in them.
 
Frank Cowherd

Frank Cowherd

Global Moderators
Staff member
If you use a linear piston air pump which basically produces no noise and sponge filters, the only noise you hear in the fish room is bubbling.
 
jonclark96

jonclark96

Past CCA President
+1 on the linear piston pump being almost silent. You can also cut back on the bubbling noises by using air stones to create smaller bubbles, but that adds another thing to maintain. You also cannot use air stones with jet lifters.
 
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Frank Cowherd

Frank Cowherd

Global Moderators
Staff member
A tank with sponge filtration is and should be crystal clear in normal use. If you are feeding hte fish heavily then the water can be a bit cloudy since the sponge filter does not really move the water as fast as a HOB or canister filter, unless of course you have the tube lifters. Most of my tanks are quite clear with sponge filtration. When I notice appreciable cloudiness or excess particulate matter in the water column, I know the sponge filter is loaded with mulm, stuff, whatever you call it, and the sponge needs to be cleaned. Cleaning the sponge filter by squeezing it out in a bucket of water or under the tap does a good job in restoring the sponge filter to proper use and leaves a residual AOA (or AOB) layer that maintains the bioactivity of the sponge filter when put back in use. Even if you rinse the sponge filter in hot or cold water the AOAs will still be there and start working as soon as you put the sponge filter back in the tank.
 
CSnyder00

CSnyder00

Bearded Wonder
So linear is pretty much out of the question since my tanks are in different rooms and I can't drill holes in the ceiling to drop down. At most I'm only ever running 4 tanks. I will be using individual air pumps.

I am probably going to order a 1" sheet of poret to cut for my HOBs and then a couple of his cube filters to add additional biofiltration.

I have been thinking about doing something like this for a while. I just haven't gotten around to actually doing it until now. Plus, I finally have 2 out of the 3 air pumps I need.
 
CSnyder00

CSnyder00

Bearded Wonder
Does anyone have any of his cube filters? I won't be using jetlifters because I want the tube fully submerged. Do I need air stones to fit or are his cube filters plug and play?
 
jonclark96

jonclark96

Past CCA President
I have cube filters in most of my tanks with sponges. you need the jet lifter to make them work. It still works being fully submerged, if I understand your concern correctly. They are plug and play with the jet lifter.
 
dogofwar

dogofwar

CCA Members
I use a combination of air-driven sponges and boxes on nearly all of my tanks. Some of the sponges are the old-school circular kind and others are Poret foam. I also use Poret as dividers and backgrounds on several tanks.

I weight the box filters down with gravel...and use pillow stuffing from Michael's as mechanical media (works great and easy to change). Using a box (with lots of flow) will greatly cut down on the amount of stuff that clogs the sponge filter (and necessitate its more frequent and messy cleaning). I switch out the dirty fluff on my box filters as a re-fill tanks during water changes (or more often if its dirty).

I don't mind the humming and bubbling of air pumps and air. But it's also not in my bedroom or living room...

Matt
 
CSnyder00

CSnyder00

Bearded Wonder
Okay, so tell me if I'm on point here. You all agree cube/sponge filters are a good idea as well as replacing my filter pads with poret foam.

You also are saying with a strong pump, you can use just sponge and box filters if I want in replacement of the HOBs, especially on smaller tanks.

Right?
 
dogofwar

dogofwar

CCA Members
Yes - I use no HOBs in my fishroom...only sponges and boxes and a few "dump" filters for large tanks.

Matt

CSnyder00 said:
Okay, so tell me if I'm on point here. You all agree cube/sponge filters are a good idea as well as replacing my filter pads with poret foam.

You also are saying with a strong pump, you can use just sponge and box filters if I want in replacement of the HOBs, especially on smaller tanks.

Right?
Click to expand...
 
jonclark96

jonclark96

Past CCA President
Correct. In my fish room, all my 10s and 20s are filtered only using air driven devices (sponges and box filters). I probably have enough sponges in the other tanks to shut down the HOBs with no issues, but just haven't gotten around to doing it.
 
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