I saw the stickied post up above about the Super simple 5 minute sponge filter and I was wondering how well it worked. I have fiddlercrabs and my intank filter makes alot of noise(it is not the filter it is the water splashing), I am also changing to sand substrate and would like to have a smaller filter that doesn't suck up sand. My tank doesn't have much water in it and the deep end usually is no more than 2 inches of water. I can change this when I switch to sand, and make the water level deeper.

How deep does the water have to be for the Super simple 5 minute sponge filter to work if I used a small can thingee of fish food?

Will this filter keep 2 gallons of water clean for my crabs. (they aren't as messy as other fish).

If this isnt a viable option could you guys suggest another filter that won't suck up sand, won't exert enough pressure to disturb the substrate and can still keep the water clean?

I used to have a Whisper Intake 3i

The water in the tank wasn't high enough to build enough pressure to force water up the clear tube. The water would just go up half way into the tube and then go back down. Now I have the
but it is way to powerful for the amount of water currently in my tank.
Thanks guys!!!

You could make a shorter version by using a smaller can, or cutting down a larger can. One inch of can with two inches of tube sticking up will still run in 2" of water, and should filter a 2 gallon tank just fine. I saw a fishroom with racks of 40's filtered with the same sort of thing with the filter made out of large margarine tubs. They worked out fine, and were cheap as dirt.

These sort of filters would more correctly be termed an open top box filter, as the media is boxed in by the food container. A true sponge filter is an open sponge, with a tube running down the middle. I run combinations of both in most of my tanks, sponges alone work best for really young fry, as I've had angel & apisto fry get stuck in box filters. Terminology aside, the homemade sponge filter in the sticky should perform well in a small tank with sand substrate, with minimal disturbance of the sand.

Nice thing about these DIY sponge type filters is that you can make them as large or small as you want. I made a bigger one for my 10 gallon tank, and a small one for my girlfriend's crab tank, since it will only have about 3 to 4 gallons of water in a 10 gallon tank.

We were using that smae filter you have, and it's just too much for the tank, the sand gets sucked up in the filter, and it makes a lot of noise.

I'm still testing the one I made for her, but the sound is less, for sure. And I'm not using a sponge, I packed it full of fiber floss, since you can get 12 oz package from a craft store cheaper than you can from a pet store.