Opinion on the primitive filters

[quinnmquinn]

I know that canisters and hob filters have stole the spot light from the older filter options, and most on here use them, but what's your take on the older ones such as under gravel or sponge filters?

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[RightTurnClyde]

Sponge Filters remain a very effective option for biological filtration and are often overlooked nowadays. But you might want something else for good mechanical filtration. Don't know much about under gravel filters.

 

[Slade]

Sponge filters are good secondary filters. Many use them as the only filter in fry tanks or hospital tanks.
Under gravel are not that effective, and you need to tear your tank apart to clean them.

 

[PNWaquarist]

Under gravel are not that effective, and you need to tear your tank apart to clean them.

Yep. I used one back in the 1980s, and you pretty much have to move your fish to another tank while cleaning. When you remove the substrate, all kinds of junk gets unearthed and is now suspended in the water. At that point, you'll want to do a ~100% water change.

 

[quinnmquinn]

What are other alternative or uncommon filtering systems for freshwater?

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[Dallascowboys16]

What are other alternative or uncommon filtering systems for freshwater?

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Diatom filters were popular back in the day but I can't attest either way on their effectiveness. Look up Matten filter as well. They are really popular in Europe but never really seemed to catch on in the states.

 

[Britty]

As an experiment in curiosity I homemade a 'moving bed' filter with Seachem Matrix (instead of K1 media) as the bio media and two grades of sponge for mechanical filtration. I started it clean and cycled it. 4 months later, I'm still using it. Using a 4L / min air pump to drive it.

There's lots of videos on you tube on how to make one and how they work. It's very low tech. Just an expansion on the simple sponge filter, but pretty effective.

It has gentle flow but provides a little bit of underwater current. I can see my plant leaves move about slowly. Great for my neons. The air bubbles also double to help break the surface tension. The sponge traps lots of debris, but keeps the bio media completely clean.

 

[quinnmquinn]

Where would I find more information on this filter?

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[Britty]

Where would I find more information on this filter?

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Google search and you tube. Look for Aquarium Moving Bed Filter.

 

[quinnmquinn]

Yeah because I'm looking for alterative options

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[quinnmquinn]

Did you use this as a primary filter? Is it easy to hide?

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[Fresh2o]

Yeah because I'm looking for alterative options

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Another type of moving bed filter uses sand instead of the larger media mentioned above. It is supposed to be compact and very efficient because of the high surface area sand affords.
There's the trickle or wet-dry filter which usually comes with a sump. Water coming from an over flow from the display tank drips/trickles over plastic or ceramic media. The air-water ratio allows for good gas exchange. With a sump you could setup a vegetable filter or algae scrubber. These are filters that grow plant material; the plants draw nutrients from the water.
A deep sand bed filter (DSB) is often seen in the SW community although it has been used in FW as well. As the name implies, a DSB has low oxygen regions with anaerobic bacteria which reduce nitrates to their gas form.

 

[quinnmquinn]

What do you mean comes with a sump? In location of the tank where is it set up?

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[quinnmquinn]

Also how would a moving bed filter work with something as heavy as sand?

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[Fresh2o]

What do you mean comes with a sump? In location of the tank where is it set up?

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The wet-dry or trickle filter is typically located UNDER the display tank (usually in a cabinet) on top of or within a sump.

 

[Fresh2o]

Also how would a moving bed filter work with something as heavy as sand?

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A jet of water in a confined space is capable of moving things. Yes, sand collectively can be heavy but once the grains are not packed so tightly it becomes very lightweight. Think of a gravel vacuum in action. The rising water suspends and tumbles the grains of gravel. Now run the same gravel vacuum over sand and you will have to reduce the flow significantly or it will simply suck up the sand grains. The filter works by pushing water vertically through a sand filled chamber. The sand is partially suspended and this is where the BB live. With decent flow, the grains are kept in motion and no dead spots should occur in the filter. Another thing I understand about these filters is that they need to be supplied with pre filtered water. The filter is not intended to be used a mechanical filter (as in a pool sand filter).

 

[quinnmquinn]

Ah I see, where should I find such a set up

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[MICEY]

have always used a sponge in the fry tank
I use it as a prefilter when there are no fry so it is always cycled and ready to go it just slips on the intake tube for my canister

 

[Britty]

Did you use this as a primary filter? Is it easy to hide?

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In my 6G betta tank it's my primary mechanical and bio filter, and it's hidden within a resin tank decoration which inherently came with lots of big openings. Completely inconspicuous.

In my 20G main tank it's my main biological filter and I deliberately left it out where I can see it. I just find it cathartic seeing the bio media jiggling about doing its work, although I could have hidden it if I wanted to. From time to time I also run a small power head with sponge intake to displace and catch the mechanical debris that's missed by the moving bed. Its not in there all the time. I deploy it for about 1-2 days, each month.

Moving beds are exceptional bio filters, but just ok mechanical filters.

 

[Crazyhermitcrab]

In my 10 gallon I use an internal filter
It's just a little box. It has a pump, and media. It's like a HOB that's on the inside. It's very unattractive, and certainly doesn't do as good a job as my HOB on the other 10 gallon. Why don't you want a hob? Some are very cheap.
On my 36 gallon I have a HOB and a canister.