The Woefully Underappreciated Sponge Filter

Jer

Gambusia
MFK Member
Dec 5, 2010
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Colorado, USA
...Oh, I should also add that after my research I think I've decided I want to do away with the Power Heads entirely anyway. Reason being is I had the one Power Head crap out recently so I bought to Aqua-Tech power heads from Walmart to try out and I kept the receipt so I can return them. The reason I'm currently restocking my tank was due to a power issue and all it took was overnight to make my tank deadly. I wanted to look into power outage protection and while I have an APC I can run I like the idea of running little battery backup pumps instead. They're quieter and use less energy plus their easier to keep running w/o power for an extended period of time if it comes down to that. So, I don't think I need the PRO version since I think I've decided to do away with the power heads from the setup. Sounds like power heads make the sponge more of a mechanical filter and a pump makes them more of a biological filter and I can also add my Fluval 305 and set it up for more of the mechanical aspect that way if I do lose power and am unable to get the media into the tank it will be less likely to be toxic when it does come back on. This is important because we travel and sometimes are gone for a couple weeks at a time. If I'm not there I want my tank to be as stable as possible and I think choosing this path will accomplish that w/o excess $ spending. Like I said before, the more I read about this simple filtration the more excited I become to start running it. Thanks again for all of the information contained within this thread. It's very useful.
 

Morledzep

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Apr 26, 2007
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where my cichla are
i only know one place to buy them.. i'm sure there are others. but i buy mine from American Aquarium Products in OR. they ship right away. i get my orders within just a few days.

i have searched all the LFS around here, even asked if they could order some for me. and they all look at me like i've got 3 eyes. "what's a sponge filter?" DUH..
 

Jer

Gambusia
MFK Member
Dec 5, 2010
390
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Colorado, USA
Morledzep;4876592; said:
i only know one place to buy them.. i'm sure there are others. but i buy mine from American Aquarium Products in OR. they ship right away. i get my orders within just a few days.
That's the place I was looking to order from as they seem to have everything I'm looking for and at a decent price. I went to my area LFS today and none of them had what I was looking for so as much as I wanted to support a LFS, help the local economy and get something in my hands today it looks like it's just not going to happen. So, I'll be ordering and AAP seems to be the best place to go so that's probably what I'll do.

Morledzep;4876592; said:
i have searched all the LFS around here, even asked if they could order some for me. and they all look at me like i've got 3 eyes. "what's a sponge filter?" DUH..
Yeah, kind of what I got. From small ma and pa shops to the big company brand name ones. One guy had some generic rip off of the nice sponge filters but I didn't really like them as much and he didn't have the rest of the stuff so I didn't feel like buying a generic version when I had use for them until the rest showed up anyway so I guess I'll just order it all. I was shocked to see he had anything at all really.
 

Industrial

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Jan 22, 2010
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Buffalo, NY
I just thought I should add that almost all of my tanks are run by sponge filters. The only tanks with mechanical filters as well as sponge are my largest 165 gallon aquarium which needs a ton of current, my community aquarium (only because I haven't switched over to 100% sponge filters yet) and the goldfish tank in my room (because pumps are loud).

I do not really believe that mechanical filtration is really all too effective, as I have never seen a HOB filter remove large particles from a tank noticeably and even with power filters, you still have to clean the substrate as well as the filter on a regular basis. I have seen neglected tanks with sponge filters as well as power, and there was no real difference, and in both cases nothing is truly removed mechanically.
 

Jer

Gambusia
MFK Member
Dec 5, 2010
390
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Colorado, USA
aclockworkorange;4897551; said:
Industrial, post some pics for the thread! Sounds cool.
+1

I placed an order with American Aquarium Products the other day and it's scheduled to be delivered tomorrow so I'm excited to get these up and running. The sooner I get them running and get a good base of BB in them I can move all my fish and filters over to the new larger tank I bought last week. :headbang2
 

aclockworkorange

Polypterus
MFK Member
Jun 24, 2010
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Rose City
They only consume as much power as your air pump uses. ;)

Some brands, I'm sure, are better than others in that regard. Havent actually thought about it.
 

Dan F

Fire Eel
MFK Member
Dec 10, 2007
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Oregon
Morledzep;4876592; said:
i only know one place to buy them.. i'm sure there are others. but i buy mine from American Aquarium Products in OR. they ship right away. i get my orders within just a few days.

i have searched all the LFS around here, even asked if they could order some for me. and they all look at me like i've got 3 eyes. "what's a sponge filter?" DUH..
I've seen that website, it looks like they have some good deals, but...

Read the guy's bio, he seems like he is an "interesting character". :nilly:
 
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