Is A sponge filter sufficent for a 20 gallon tank?

[Henri]

Hi everyone
I just finally set up my 20 gallon drited, heavily planted tank. I had an internal filter thas I purchased it about 1,5 years ago. Anyways, this filter suddenly decided to stop working . Fortunately, Im still cycling this tank (this is the first day), so there are no fish in it.
I've ordered this filter from Ebay:

http://bit.ly/xS13jt

Is it sufficent for my 20 gallon? Or is it about time to save some money to buy a new filter?
Thanks

 

[mohican]

My first thought is how many fish are in the tank? If its lightly stocked with min waste, I say go for it. Sponge filters are great for their biological ability. You can always upgrade later if your water gets out of wack. Also, keep up with water changes too.

 

[Henri]

Well this is what I'm planning to stock:
- 6 cardinal tetras
- 6 harlequin rasboras
- a GBR
- 6 cories

 

[jetajockey]

As long as you are willing to do the maintenance to keep the filter clean it'll be fine, I run sponge filters in several tanks from 2g to 40g.

 

[Henri]

As long as you are willing to do the maintenance to keep the filter clean it'll be fine, I run sponge filters in several tanks from 2g to 40g.

Really? Phew, thanks I was kinda starting to worry. The tank is HEAVILY planted so I mostly needed a place for the bacteria to grow. The plants will feed on fish waste.
Do you think the filter in the link will provide a sufficent cirulation to help the plants get nutrients from the water column? Although all of the plants are root feeders and stem plants, they're planted in the substrate which contains dirt. What do you think?

 

[jetajockey]

I've never used that one but flow is really dependent on how much air you are pumping into it.

As long as there's some circulation the ferts will mix in fine.