Has anyone ever used sponge filters as a main filter? For example...if I put twin hydro v with 550gph powerheads on a 125 (4-2-2) tank what kind of filtration would this provide. Low stock, 3 fish, 2 festae and a pleco.
sponge filter question
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With a light bio load, it should work well. You would have enough biological filtration. As far as mechanical goes, you would probably have to rinse the sponges more often. I use a hydro pond sponge filter with a powerhead in a 150 gallon rubbermaid stock tank outside in the warmer months. It works fine.
hello; Fine for biological filtration and aeriation, mine are air driven. The detritis was not removed and had to be siphoned out. I used sponge only often as a short term setup in some cases. As temp filtration for bare tanks when quarantine, medication or grow out.
I would usually throw some floating live plants such as hornwort.
With water changes they can be run for a long while.
Much of the time I had an air driven hang on back (hob) filters available and would run them in addition. When I started keeping fish around 1959 the undergravel filters and the air driven type were the most common. I did not start using the powered hob filters untill around the early 1970's. The first reasonably priced magnetic/impeller type were weak and unreliable compared to todays models. I still have the bits of a hob filter from the 70's that had a fairly large electric motor, about grape fruit size, that sat on the top of the filter with an impeller assembly mounted directly on the shaft of the motor. It had about a half gallon filter tank and moved a lot of water. I used it on a 125 gallon for a number of years.