Whats your favorite sponge filter?

[Aquaria Pro Aquatics]

Please give recommendations, and I will try them out. I usually just use what's cheap but want to see what you guys prefer.

Dominick
Aquaria Pro Aquatics

 

[gimme30]

Most helpful answer #1....the ones that stay on the store shelves.
But don't worry, Sponge Lovers United will be along shortly to advise you with all of the, erm, less helpful answers.

 

[GaryE]

There's a brand of reasonably wide pored, number 8 shaped car wash sponges here, that I cut in half and build sponge filters with. They're brown rather than black, but as with all sponges, you can hide them.
Making your own is easy.

 

[Aquaria Pro Aquatics]

Most helpful answer #1....the ones that stay on the store shelves.
But don't worry, Sponge Lovers United will be along shortly to advise you with all of the, erm, less helpful answers.

Some livestock do best with low flow sponge filters:

Small Fish:
Betta fish – gentle filtration prevents stress and fin damage.

Guppies, Endler’s livebearers – tiny fish that prefer calm water.

Neon tetras, Cardinal tetras, Rasboras – small schooling fish that can be overwhelmed by strong flow.

Dwarf cichlids (Apistogramma, Rams) – shy species that like slow-moving water.

Fry (Baby Fish):
Sponge filters are ideal for breeding tanks because tiny fry cannot get sucked into the filter.

Works for most small tropical fish fry (tetras, livebearers, cichlids).

Invertebrates:
Shrimp (Cherry, Amano, Ghost shrimp) – gentle flow with protected intake keeps them safe.

Snails (Nerite, Mystery, Malaysian Trumpet) – low flow prevents them from being stressed or stuck in strong currents.


Small Aquatic Amphibians:
Axolotls (juveniles) – prefer very low current, so sponge filters work, but as they grow, flow still needs to be gentle.

Newts and small salamanders – can tolerate sponge filters well if the flow is slow.

Dwarf Frogs:
These frogs are small, delicate, and slow-moving, so they can get stressed or trapped by strong currents.

The sponge holes are large enough for water flow but small enough to prevent the frog from getting stuck im the intake.

Dominick
Aquaria Pro Aquatics

 

[Magnum Man]

these are the ones I'm using... note they have many sizes rated by the gallon... I don't hold those numbers as fact, I'd rather see them rated by inch of fish... but I have many of these in several sizes of tanks, I normally buy twice the size rating of the intended tanks I've had the bigger ones in Tilapia farm tanks, and the 20 gallon size , in my 10 gallon shrimp / live bearer tanks... I find these easier to hide than the stick on back double sponge units...

Amazon.com

 

[emeraldking]

I mainly use sponge filters no matter the brand. And I'm very positive about them all...

 

[GaryE]

@Aquaria Pro Aquatics - Dominik, are you using AI to write?

 

[Aquaria Pro Aquatics]

@Aquaria Pro Aquatics - Dominik, are you using AI to write?

I use QuillBot grammar checker. This is a list of aquatic livestock I personally use sponge filters for in my rack systems.

Dominick
Aquaria Pro Aquatics