I've never actually replaced the sponge. You don't need to. It will destroy the colony of good bacteria on it.
Because I have a small tank like you do, I used a little squatty bottle. I honestly don't know how to describe it any better. It's like half-size, and I found it at the grocery store. I wish I could remember the brand. I had to use a dramel tool to drill the holes, and I got it wrong a few times. My best piece of advice is to get a lot of bottles because accidents happen.
Getting a lot of bottles is no big deal haha and just to make sure a standard water bottle should be ok for a 5gal right? For the middle though, what is that stuff? Could I get it at petsmart? And any sponge is ok to use right, or should I get an aquarium sponge?
Like mentioned above, its not necessary but if you want to clean it rinse it in the aquarium water (the one you will be cleaning), and not with fresh water to help keep the bio load in it.
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when do I need to replace the sponge? And what should I use in my bottle?
Rocks work pretty well. I like the fine rocks. I also modify it a little with Plastic Canvas (Michaels), to keep the sponge in and also add one of the million hole air stones to make for a nicer quitter bubble. You can add packets, (moms panty hose stuff) of carbon if you'd like too, but its not necessary.
Like mentioned above, its not necessary but if you want to clean it rinse it in the aquarium water (the one you will be cleaning), and not with fresh water to help keep the bio load in it.
Rocks work pretty well. I like the fine rocks. I also modify it a little with Plastic Canvas (Michaels), to keep the sponge in and also add one of the million hole air stones to make for a nicer quitter bubble. You can add packets, (moms panty hose stuff) of carbon if you'd like too, but its not necessary.
Getting a lot of bottles is no big deal haha and just to make sure a standard water bottle should be ok for a 5gal right? For the middle though, what is that stuff? Could I get it at petsmart? And any sponge is ok to use right, or should I get an aquarium sponge?
A standard water bottle might be a little tall. I have the shorter water bottles in my 10 gal. The stuff in the middle of mine is AquaClear bio-media. The sponge I bought was the Aquaclear sponge that I cut in half. I found all of that stuff at Petsmart. Make sure you use an aquarium-safe sponge. Most kitchen sponges already have some kinds of soap in them that's why you should never use them inside your aquariums.
I do have one quick question though, my sister had a betta but after he passed away she decided that she didn't want the tank anymore. It came with an air pump for an air stone; its a 3 gallon tank. Do you think that the air pump would be ok to use for the filter for my 5 gallon?
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