Lets talk sponge filters

[brewmaster15]

Whats your favorite air driven sponge filter? I have tried many here. These are a great way to add mechanical and biological filtration to a tank all while oxygenating the water. I use them alone in my breeder tanks and young fry tanks and I also use them with hang on the back (HOB) aquaclears.

My favorite brand is the ATI hydrosponges. I use the fine pore ones not their proline with the larger pores. I usually buy mine at Jehmco.com or Kensfish. What I don't like about them is their cages crack too easily and what ever metal is the base leaves rust marks if it cracks. They have also gotten way more expensive than a hunk of plastic should be. What I like about them is they are raised off the tank bottom enough so food and waste doesnt hide
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I have made my own from ceramic tiles and sponge with a pvc lift tube as well. These work okay.

I tried the cheap knock off hydrosponges at Amazon and Ebay. They work okay but the base sits too close the tank bottom and theres too much crude that builds up there. I like the price and plastic is very durable. I dont really like their sponges.They are more stiff than hydrosponges and harder to clean. They also have a slightly different air delivery. These are sold under many brands.

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Search Amazon for "hydrosponge" and you will see what I mean.

So whats in your tanks?


May as well ask what you use to drive the sponges? I use a jehmco linear piston pump (LPH60) that I bought quite a few years ago. QUIET and powerful.I also use a bunch of whisper pumps and pumps I got on Amazon under the name "pawfly" that come with a 4 gang manifold. Really a decent pump for the price.

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Al

[Charlyc11]

I use the same sponge filters (ATI) and I am waiting for my order from Kens fish. I ordered a bunch of replacement sponges since I had my Marlboro female sick (white poop) and always hiding, the meds killed the cycle twice so those sponges went to the garbage. Finely after 2 1/2 weeks she was ready to join her partner. So far eating and doing well.

ALITA AL-15A Linear Air Pump and I have a noisy backup incase of failure. This thing will drive many sponges I had 12 plus my water barrels and BB hatchery at one point and I probably could have added more. Worth every penny and super quiet, picked it up at Kens Fish.

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[brewmaster15]

Chuck, not sure if you or others know this but...

meds killed the cycle twice so those sponges went to the garbage

these Ati sponges are able to be boiled. I take mine and rinse it under the tap until clean. Then place in a gallon zip lock bag half full of water. . Place in bowl in the Microwave. leave the bag open a little to let the steam out...full boil 2 minutes. .. flip sponge boil 2 minutes. Take the sponge out and let cool. LIght rinse and you are ready to go. Nothing of concern to us will survive that . Good for starting a clean tank if you have any doubts about the sponges.

[wsantia1]

I use the ATI sponges and I also don't like that the cages crack so easily. I get mine from Jehmco.

[Second Hand Pat]

Al, would placing the sponges in a microwave serve the same purpose?
Pat

[Charlyc11]

Chuck, not sure if you or others know this but...

these Ati sponges are able to be boiled. I take mine and rinse it under the tap until clean. Then place in a gallon zip lock bag half full of water. . Place in bowl. leave the bag open a little to let the steam out...full boil 2 minutes. .. flip sponge boil 2 minutes. Take the sponge out and let cool. LIght rinse and you are ready to go. Nothing of concern to us will survive that . Good for starting a clean tank if you have any doubts about the sponges.

Al they were ready to go anyway old and clogged and for the price of the replacement not worth boiling these.

[AquaticNerd]

I've only ever had one or two tanks (plus aging barrel) running at the same time, so I've never had the need for a beefy pump like the ones shown above, so I've always just bought what was on sale at the LFS - usually a Tetra brand pump. If I ever get to the point where I'm travelling less for work and leisure, I've considered creating a small fish-room setup where I would need to run things off a larger pump.

The thing that gives me pause about the larger pumps is - how do you know what the limit of said pump is? I see the notes on Jehmco's website for example where they state: "Our #LPH45 with similar specifications will realistically handle 25-35 outlets with diffusers at a high volume flow rate. Unless of course a majority of your tanks are very small, as Killifish Breeders use, then you will realize much more than 35 outlets. In any case, we don't recommend over sizing by too much since you are just paying for unused capacity and the extra electricity usage as well as risking damage to the pump."

How are you measuring whether you're operating within the limits of said large pump?

As far as sponge filters are concerned - I've only really bought whatever was available locally. They look closer to the Aquapapa sponge than they do the ATI sponges, but seemed to hold up okay. For the price, I'd be willing to give these Aquarium co-op ones a try, but they're very coarse sponges from the looks of it.

[brewmaster15]

Al, would placing the sponges in a microwave serve the same purpose?
Pat

Lol Pat.. I thought I had said in my post to microwave them but It got editted out when I added "bowl".. Yes microwave them.. but in water to boil. Thanks!
Al

[brewmaster15]

Al they were ready to go anyway old and clogged and for the price of the replacement not worth boiling these.

Gotcha, just mentioning it for general knowledge.

[holderman19]

I use a mix of Aquarium Co-op with their coarse sponges and their bases with fine sponges off Amazon. Run with a Pawfly 6 outlet cheap pump.

[brewmaster15]

I've only ever had one or two tanks (plus aging barrel) running at the same time, so I've never had the need for a beefy pump like the ones shown above, so I've always just bought what was on sale at the LFS - usually a Tetra brand pump. If I ever get to the point where I'm travelling less for work and leisure, I've considered creating a small fish-room setup where I would need to run things off a larger pump.

The thing that gives me pause about the larger pumps is - how do you know what the limit of said pump is? I see the notes on Jehmco's website for example where they state: "Our #LPH45 with similar specifications will realistically handle 25-35 outlets with diffusers at a high volume flow rate. Unless of course a majority of your tanks are very small, as Killifish Breeders use, then you will realize much more than 35 outlets. In any case, we don't recommend over sizing by too much since you are just paying for unused capacity and the extra electricity usage as well as risking damage to the pump."

How are you measuring whether you're operating within the limits of said large pump?

As far as sponge filters are concerned - I've only really bought whatever was available locally. They look closer to the Aquapapa sponge than they do the ATI sponges, but seemed to hold up okay. For the price, I'd be willing to give these Aquarium co-op ones a try, but they're very coarse sponges from the looks of it.

Jake,
Its alot of guesswork honestly. My idea of ideal air flow is going to be alot different than someone else. When I bought my pump from Jehmco I picked the LPH 60 based on their general recommendations and it ran my whole fishroom..which is meaningless I know since it depends on alot of factors.. I thought I was up sizing my needs and just figured any excess would be awesome to aerate water storage tanks. It worked out great. Flash forward the 6 years I have not had a "fishroom" I have a laundry room with a washer /drier/Furnace and 9 breeders 29 gal tanks and a 55 gal . I am running these on my LPH60..Thats 20 sponges and an additional 2 sponges in an adjoining room..so 22 outlets and a water storage barrel 23 outlets. Its over kill. But its what I had so I am using it.. what ever doesn't get pushed to the tanks, goes to storage barrels. The amount of electricity used in nothing compared to our heaters and you can always vent excess to the storage barrels or room. I think Jehmco's disclaimer there makes alot of sense, but I also think its better to plan for a little expansion if you have multiple tanks.

Al

[Charlyc11]

I've only ever had one or two tanks (plus aging barrel) running at the same time, so I've never had the need for a beefy pump like the ones shown above, so I've always just bought what was on sale at the LFS - usually a Tetra brand pump. If I ever get to the point where I'm travelling less for work and leisure, I've considered creating a small fish-room setup where I would need to run things off a larger pump.
.

When I was at full steam breeding Pitch Black Rams I had a lot of small tanks and long runs from my water room to my fish room that was spread throw-out the Basement. So the need was there for a pump that was up to the task. Plus the two aging barrels that take a lot of air. I also have a manifold on my bar where I had at leas 4 cubes with passible pairs to mate before shipping.

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[brewmaster15]

For my Fishroom when I had it..I ran 2 inch PVC along the ceiling around the room and drilled and tapped the outlets. Now I have a lazyman Manifold I got from Jehmco which works fine for the small room I am using.


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al

[seanyuki]

I been using both API hydro sponges fine and coarse but I find the coarse ones easily suck up all the tiny flakes food and pain to rinse them out. Most of my aquarium supplies are from Ken Mendard @ Kentish.com.
The hassle for me with Jehmco is paying long distance call from Canada to order stuffs, they have many nice linear air pumps.

[Charlyc11]

This rack was a little busy with pairs with fry and some artificially hatched with tiny sponge filters and some # 1 ATI sponge filters.

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