Appropriate sized air pump for sponge filter.

[Michiba54]

Hello, I have a 55 gallon future fry tank with a Hydro-sponge V filter, which is rated up 125 Gallons. At first I had a Whisper 60 hooked up to it, but it was rather noisy and the bubbles from the sponge tube almost blasted water out of the tank

I tossed the Whisper aside an got a Rena 50 rated for 18Gal/hour, its quite only I was wondering if it was efficient enough?

Also the main filter is a h.o.b, the sponge is just there for fry to nibble on whatever it grows and just incase the h.o.b starts sucking them up.


Any input would be much appreciated.

Thanks.

 

[pjsmetana]

18gph on a 50g tank is not enough. I would have at least a 2x turnover rate even on a live bearer breeder tank. I have a 325gph pump on a sponge filter in a 26g tank... my Molly fry have no problem handling the current and do not get sucked into the sponge of doom. Its also a planted tank.

 

[gomezladdams]

If you dont like the bubbling from the air pump you can use a powerhead to run the sponge.Or extend the tube to nearly the water surface and see if thats better for you.

 

[Michiba54]

Ok, thank you both.

Pjsmetana, just so I understand you correctly are you saying I should exchange this for a pump of at 100 gph? or at least 50gph, like I said its not the main filter.

Thanks again.

 

[Industrial]

At petsmart you can get a pump rated up to 170 gallons for 24.99.

IMO a sponge filter on each side tends to look nice too if you are going with hydor.

You might need to buy a little "T" connector so you can connect two of the four outlets to one line for the sponge filter. Also, if you get an airstone the bubbles will be smaller and more constant creating more of a current and less of a splash.