Sponge/foam filter

[Findlay]

I'm looking into switching to a sponge (or foam) filter.
My fishies can't stand the current caused by my (heavily baffled!) filters.

I'm not sure what brand is best?
Anyone use the one shown in the attachment..... ?

I have two ten gallon tanks with live plants, would a sponge filter be a good idea?
I wonder if having a sponge filter will affect the WC schedule?

Any info would be awesome, thanks!!

[Draug Isilme]

I've never seen that kind of sponge filter before >.> but yeah, I've been working on making my own, and I came across this site which has a bit of info about sponge filters. It explains how they work, the pros and cons (not much) of having a sponge filter, it gives a bit of info on how to lessen the agitation in the water if its still too much, and so on and so forth. They also sell them in various sizes for various tanks, so you should be able to find one for your 10g. Although, I haven't really browsed around for prices, so you might wanna do that to see if you can get one for cheaper if you're wanting to save a little money... but usually sponge filters are cheap, so I don't think you'll have anything to worry about.

http://www.americanaquariumproducts....iltration.html

[Findlay]

Thanks for the link!

I think I'll be making the switch soon

[Draug Isilme]

No prob! I'm glad to help ^.^

[Thunderloon]

The triangular filter there is good for about 3 inches of fish, so two of them would do fine in a stocked 5g tank. They're designed for fairly small tanks and to work right you need to be able to control the flow to very low rates, having one to two bubbles in the pipe at a time is perfect.

I have two small round Lee's sponges and they DO work well for single fish tanks.

[smellsfishie]

neat, I was considering a sponge filter myself because one of my poor guys started biting his fins. I think it was due to the stress of the filter (which is baffled, like yours), so I just turned it off for now. I don't want him to bite his pretty fins off!

[smellsfishie]

draug, that was a really nice article you posted. Thanks! That helps me understand sponge filters much better.

[Draug Isilme]

Originally Posted by smellsfishie

draug, that was a really nice article you posted. Thanks! That helps me understand sponge filters much better.

Welcome ^.^ I know it helped me out alot.. One thing, though, if you need to slow the air flow of the filter, you might want to get a gang valve. That way there won't be any added pressure building up on the pump like those air valve control things the article talked about, and you'll still get the results you want.


http://www.petsmart.com/product/inde...uctId=11147137

[smellsfishie]

Have any of you looked into a drip system type thing for divided betta tanks? Could that work with a sponge filter or would it have to be another type?

[Draug Isilme]

Oh, no sorry... I've yet to even buy this 5g I've been planning on getting for the past week or so.. I think the best information I had to offer were about the sponge filters >.>;;;