sponge filter - need info

[Gundy]

Well I have been doing research on sponge filters for a couple of days now and was wondering if they would work for a couple 10 gallon crayfish homes?

I bought two more tanks the other day off a friend for really cheap and needed the room for some blue alleni. However I don't have any filters or anything. I was thinking about a sponge filter because of the sand bottom and bubble aeration. I've got a perfilter over the intake on one of the hob filter on an established 10 gallon and it works the same as a sponge filter as it doesn't suck the filth into the hob unit. Which would make sense to just get a sponge filter instead of finding more perfilter material to go over each hob intake.

Would the sponge filter be alright to use? They are really cheap, and my lfs uses them in all of there tanks which means they've got to do decent.

Any input or information?


I've started my own thread even though there is a similar topic in the breeding section. I didn't want to steal the original posters thread.

 

[BillD]

What type of crayfish are you keeping? I have Red Claws, and they love sponge filters, to the point where they have grazed half the sponge off of one. The smaller American varieties (Red Claws get to 10") may not do this, but mine do, as I was warned they would.

 

[QTOFFER]

Sponge filters work great! Because they provide lots of surface area for a healthy biofilter, they do a fantastic job at removing ammonia and nitrite. However, they don't remove large particles and they tend to get clogged with fine particles over time. For these reasons, you have to vac the gravel frequently and rinse the sponge filter thoroughly in tank water at least once a month.

When I had crayfish, they too grazed on the sponge filter! They didn't eat the sponge material - it eventually came up in the gravel vac. I think they were eating algae and tiny food particles that were stuck on the surface.