air pump sponge filters

[sharle66]

Hello everyone.

I just wondered what anyones experience are with these. I know they are primarily designed for very small or fry tanks, but i have a spare outlet on my air pump and was thinking (if they are any good) why not have some extra filtration - even if it is minimal?

All comments/thoughts/experiences welcome.

 

[Laser]

I use them on my 2 betta tanks and I have one hooked up to power head in my goldfish tank. The biological filtration is great and I'm surprised by the amount of debris that is actually picked up by the sponges. They are perfect for bettas as well because they don't disrupt the water too much.

 

[pankelephant]

I disagree that they are primarily designed for fry. They're excellent bio filters and do a much better job with physical waste than you might think. Some people swear by them and use them exclusively.

I love them because they're easy to DIY and as such they're very cheap (seriously - sponge, tube with holes punched into it, airline - that's it). They're effective, they're versatile and with no moving parts, they're much easier to maintain. I'm not sure it's possible to actually "break" one. They're perfect for low/no current tanks if you use an airstone rather than a powerhead - you can keep the lift tube high - just low enough to stay below the water line.

I'm a big fan of over-filtration, especially in a small tank. I keep an extra sponge filter seeded so if I need to move a fish right away, I don't have to worry about a cycle. Also, awesome for shrimp. When I had them, there were always 5 or 6 on the sponge, sometimes the thing was covered with them. And since I have a magnet in mine and keep it attached to the glass and raised off the sand, the bottom of the sponge was a perfect spot for the fry.

So yay sponge filters, IMO.

 

[armymp327]

id say go for it, extra filtration is always a good thing.

 

[vanimal]

Yeah, more water actually flows through them than you would think.

 

[Sharpchick]

I have sponge filters in all my tanks except my two Evolve 4s. I like the extra biological filtration, and in case of power failure, I can have at least one filter going in each of those tanks for some period of time using battery operated air pumps.

 

[sharle66]

Thanks for all the help guys. I shall order one today. They always seemed to look a bit naff to me. Lol. I had fears concerning anything purely driven by an air stone, wondering how effecient such a devise could be.