Nylons or sponges over HOB intake?!?!

[fish_4_all]

How many of you use either one over the intake of your HOB, canister or any other filter type? I have snails in my HOB, I get tons of plant matter in there and it really makes a mess out of the sponges and I have to clean thwen twice a week to keep them working right.

Is it ok to put a nylon or a sponge over the intake to catch the larger debri since my filter is mainly for biological and smaller particles anyway?

 

[rich311k]

Yes a prefilter is a great idea on a filter intake.

 

[maxwell1295]

I put a prefilter on the HOB's in my fry tank. It's basically a cut up Aquaclear sponge with a hole in it that slips over the intake, held in place with a rubber band. It's very simple and it works.

 

[Skyrmir]

I prefer sponges myself, but that's just for my fry tanks. The thing I've noticed is that if you use a sponge, all the bacteria in your filter will starve because it all grows on the sponge. With a nylon, the bacteria can't eat all the food before it reaches your filter, wich keeps your filter bacteria alive and healthy.

The only other thing to think of is a thick sponge will slow down your filter a little.

 

[rkilling1]

The thing I've noticed is that if you use a sponge, all the bacteria in your filter will starve because it all grows on the sponge.

That's not a real problem if you are med- heavy planted. The plants are the biological filtration. The only thing you need a filter for is water movement and mechanical filtration.

 

[7Enigma]

The thing I've noticed is that if you use a sponge, all the bacteria in your filter will starve because it all grows on the sponge.

That's not a real problem if you are med- heavy planted. The plants are the biological filtration. The only thing you need a filter for is water movement and mechanical filtration.

I don't think even in a lightly planted tank (or no plants) that the bacteria in the main filter compartment would "starve". Doesn't make any sense to me personally.

 

[Burks]

I put a prefilter on the HOB's in my fry tank. It's basically a cut up Aquaclear sponge with a hole in it that slips over the intake, held in place with a rubber band. It's very simple and it works.

That's what I used on my planted/shrimp tank. They are what, three for $2? My filter uses those anyways and I needed a new one. Very simple to do and effective. It has a nice amount of algae growing on it that my shrimp absolutely love!

 

[hashbaz]

Nylons seem to clog up (or get runs lol). I prefer using a sponge.

JMHO

 

[JustOneMore20]

I use a sponge over the intake of my cannister filter because the slots are a bit bigger and I don't want plant matter rotting in the filter. Also I don't want any snails in there either. I get snails in my HOB filters, but they are easy to remove so I don't bother with a sponge. Also they are pretty small.

Big Als online has their own sponges that are made to fit AC filters. They are cheaper than the Hagen brand though. The smallest ones would fit nicely over an intake.

edit: Well they only end up being about 0.30 cents cheaper than the Hagen brand. I forgot how cheap the 3 packs were....haven't bought them in awhile. Either one would do. I've just been buying the Big Als brand for awhile....

http://www.bigalsonline.com/BigAlsUS/ctl3684/cp18430/si1383276/cl0/bigalsfoaminsert15x225x25

 

[Toirtis]

Big Als online has their own sponges that are made to fit AC filters. They are cheaper than the Hagen brand though. The smallest ones would fit nicely over an intake.

Man, you guys must pay a lot for Hagen media....up here I can get two 3-packs of mini sponges for about $4.

 

[fish_4_all]

Well don't just throw us a rope, what brand are they? Or are they just simple sponges?

I tried nylons on both intakes and one works ok but the other completely stopped the flow from simple plant matter. Then I pulled some plants and it clogged again, not worth it in the long run. I think I will look for a sponge or maybe I will start using biochem stars or ceramic rings for my biological filtering and use the sponges for mechanical. They are cheap enough after all and I have to replace them every 2 months anyway. I have considered the biochem stars for a long time anyway so maybe it is time to change. I see ones for canister filters that are thin enough and long enough I culd make 20 or so from them for about $5 so lots of options.

What kind of sponge should I look for that isn't going to reduce my flow very much to put over the intake?

 

[JRagg]

I use an AC filter and I just take a knife and cut straight into an extra sponge (the long way if that makes sense). That leaves a long slit that goes to near the bottom of the sponge and I slip that over the AC filter intake. i had to do that due to fry in the tank, and it took about a month before I noticed enough of a flow decrease to warrant cleaning the prefilter. It's helped keep some of the snails out of the filter as well. Cheap, easy, and effective.

 

[crazyred]

I cut a piece of sponge off of a sponge filter that I wasn't using and stabbed a hole in the middle of it and put it over the intake of my Aqua Tech HOB on my GBR fry growout tank. It reduced the outflow quite a bit, but that made it easier on the babies.