Air Pump Sponge Filters

[australia]

i have just seen a room full of tanks around 20 and the owner is only using air pump sponge filters, Would this be easy to maintain and would the sponge filters do the job ? i use power filter like external filters ect though i am thinking of starting to setup my tanks with air pump sponge filters, is this a good idea? it works out realy cheap thats the main reason i want to do it..

 

[CFC]

Of course air powered sponges work, before power filters were invented they were all that people had.

What an air powered sponge wont do is remove debries from the tank, very small particals will be stuck to the outside of the sponge but you will need to remove larger wastes manually with a syphon at least once a week. The filters themselves may need cleaning more regularly than power filters too as they have less suction to keep drawing water through them when dirty but biologically providing they are kept clean and have enough air ran through them they are just as good as any power filter of the same size.

I am just switching my tanks over to using air powered filters ran by a big 75lph koi pump instead of power filters so that i can reduce my electricity bills, the only exception to this are my tanks over 150g which will have the air filters but will also be plumbed into a sumped centralised system to provide better water circulation and some mechanical filtration as well as superior water volume.

 

[australia]

okay great sounds like you have the same plans

how many sponge filters would u use for 160 liter tanks? i know they range in size so please tell me if you reccomend small,medium,large. thanks alot

 

[CFC]

Well i have some Huey Hung filters that will do 1000 litres each if you pump enough air through them but i dont know how available they are on your side of the world, it took me months to track them down here in the UK and they weren't particularly cheap.

It also depends on what your stocking levels are, if its a solitary species tank like a lot of my tanks are then just a couple of medium sized twin sponge filters is fine for 160 litres but if its a heavily stocked fry raising tank with several hundred fish in it then obviously you need something a lot bigger. Most of the commercially bought air filters will have information on the packaging telling you how much volume the filter is recomended for.

 

[australia]

Well i have some Huey Hung filters that will do 1000 litres each if you pump enough air through them but i dont know how available they are on your side of the world, it took me months to track them down here in the UK and they weren't particularly cheap.

It also depends on what your stocking levels are, if its a solitary species tank like a lot of my tanks are then just a couple of medium sized twin sponge filters is fine for 160 litres but if its a heavily stocked fry raising tank with several hundred fish in it then obviously you need something a lot bigger. Most of the commercially bought air filters will have information on the packaging telling you how much volume the filter is recomended for.

okay thanks alot CFC

 

[australia]

i realy think i should use some sort of carbon filter aswell, to get rid of meds ect, or will doing weekly water changes fix that problem?

 

[CFC]

What i would do is keep a small internal power filter as a spare and should the occasion arise that you need to remove a chemical from the tank you can fill the power filter with carbon and run it on the tank for a few days, its not like you are going to be medicating all the time and weekly water changes remove/dilute any residual chemicals transfered from your hands or the air.

 

[australia]

What i would do is keep a small internal power filter as a spare and should the occasion arise that you need to remove a chemical from the tank you can fill the power filter with carbon and run it on the tank for a few days, its not like you are going to be medicating all the time and weekly water changes remove/dilute any residual chemicals transfered from your hands or the air.

your been the best help mate, thanks alot cheers

 

[Tolak]

If you run box filters along with the sponge filters you will have bio & mechanical filtration covered. If you ever need to run carbon put some under the floss in the box filters. This is how I filter my fishroom, with the exception of a couple of cannisters still running in a 55.

I build my own sponge filters, 1/2" pvc pipe with cut down sponge pond filters. I'll dig up some pics if you like.

 

[grimmy]

a good cobination would be a udergravel filter and sponge filter just get a air pump i perfer vibiflo and a valve and extra tubing

 

[grimmy]

also corner filters work just as good

 

[kribensis12]

I make sponge filters and they work wonders( the tank does get dirty)

 

[Tolak]

Corner filters are a type of box filter, triangular in shape, and designed to fit better in the corners. When I swiched my fishroom over to a centralized air system a while back I ordered a couple dozen box filters from Jehmco; http/www.jehmco.com/PRODUCTS_/FILTRATION...ox_filters.html I'm running the LJRBF's in my tanks. Add a few small rocks for weight in the bottom, and load them with poly floss.

Here's a few sponge filter pics, Pepsi can is for size reference;

For around $8 you have more mechanical media and more bio media than a large hob filter, closer to the media in a small canister filter. Granted, you have to add in the cost of the air pump, but for multiple tank setups, especially a fishroom, this is one of the best ways to go. I've got a $200 linear pump running 60 outlets atm, and still bleeding off air. This comes to a little less than $3.50 per outlet, or $7 per box & sponge combo, $15 total per combo, pump and filters.

I replaced a bunch of hob filters with this setup, it filters better and is cheaper to run. It has a much more adjustable flow rate than anything short of a canister, especially with a large pump. I can shut down the mechanical filtration, and have the sponge maintain bio filtration at a rate of one bubble every 2 or 3 seconds for spawning fish. This helps with the male fertilizing eggs. For conditioning potential breeders who get fed heavily I get the mechanical filtration rocking, with a solid plastic top, as the flow will knock the water out of the tank.

I stole a lot of ideas from other guy's fishrooms, you are all welcome to steal mine.

 

[Chrispixx]

I have sponge filters in four of my tanks the 30, 29, 20 and 5 gal. Similar to these..Lee's Sponge Filter a different brand though essentially the same.

I have two in the 30, one in the 29 and 20 and one in the 5 gal. They work great.. i put them in the corners and hide them under the gravel. I also use HOB filters for the bigger debris.

 

[australia]

okay sounds good