Sponges over intakes...where to get?

[Alchemy129]

I've heard of people putting "sponges" on/over there filter intakes so baby fish/small fish and sand doesn't go in there intake etc. I been looking around for them and haven't seen anything commercial, i would prefer to buy "pre-made ones". But are these all do it yourself deals? and if so tell me if theres something specific i need to use? This isn't going to affect the performance of my filter will it, i beleive it will add to its life actually. By the way it would be mainly for a eclipse system 6 and 12 if u need to know that.

 

[Fishyfanatic]

Look in the "parts" section of your lfs. I used to use a "sponge" on my intake that was actually part of a filter. It was round and about 6 inches long. I just cut it shorter and widened the hole in the center. But, you can also use panty hose or a mesh bag from the lfs. We no longer worry about sand being picked up but we do put the mesh bag over the intake of the fry tank. It will reduce the flow of the filter, so be prepared for that.

 

[willowthepoet]

when i need to protect my intake, i just disassemble the intake tube and stuff some bulk filter fiber (the stuff that comes in big sheets) in the bottom so there's no chance it can fall off.

 

[esaone]

What I did was get a filter sponge from an Aquaclear filter. They are rectangular.
I moistened it and put it in the freezer. Then when it was frozen I took some sharp scissors and cut a hole downward in the sponge and then I just slid it over the intake of my filter. It has no negative affect of the intake of my filter. The motor takes care of business.

 

[Pufferpunk]

There are sponges that are made to go over the ends of powerheads. Look by themn in your LFS.

 

[Fubie]

What I did was get a filter sponge from an Aquaclear filter. They are rectangular.
I moistened it and put it in the freezer. Then when it was frozen I took some sharp scissors and cut a hole downward in the sponge and then I just slid it over the intake of my filter. It has no negative affect of the intake of my filter. The motor takes care of business.

I did something similar with my AC sponge w/o freezing it. I just used a sharp knife and cut the spong in half using a light sawing motion. And then in one end just push the tip of the knife half way through the sponge (centered of course) and slowly twist the blade until you have opened the sponge enough to allow you to insert your filter inlet tip.

 

[BrianNY]

This place sells sponge prefilters with a fairly universal housing at a very reasonable price. I use them on all of my filters (cannister or HOB),

www.jehmco.com

 

[Jchillin]

...and in case you cannot find the page...

Sponge Pre-filters

 

[Fubie]

Oh I forgot to mention that the 3 pack of AC30 sponges is $2.50 at my local Petsmart. Petsmart online has them for $2.29 so you can price match it locally. That's $0.42 per pre-filter plus labor...

 

[mattrox]

I just bought a spare spange for a Rena internal power filter and slid it over the intake. The diameter ia about right to cover the fluval uptake tube. (104 and 404).

 

[crazycat]

just be aware that you will have to rinse the sponges out fairly frequently. i've noticed that in just a week (i do a weekly water change), my prefilters can get so gummed up with sludge that it cuts my filter flow in half. granted i have a lot of plants, and a lot of messy fish, but the sponges do tend to collect particles and end up reducing the power of the intake, thus the outflow is lessened.

 

[BrianNY]

Very true crazycat. Just imagine if the sponge filter didn't collect it. All of that debris would be clogging the hoses and impeller. It's so much easier to rinse a sponge than have to go into the cannister, or clean hoses.