Are sponges enough ?

[reaper7534]

Currently have a 55g setup ( no fish ) with two hydro iv sponges driven by a air pump and airstones. Getting a lot of surface agitation with this do I'm happy about that.

One Eheim 200w heater controlled by a Ranco set at 85 F. May add a second since it seems to run pretty constant, I've tried offsets of 1 and 2. Ambient temp is around 75 F.

This is a barebottom Discus only tank. Thus leads me to my main question. Do I need a powerhead for circulation or are the sponges enough ? If so, what is recommended ?

[Keith Perkins]

Sponge filters alone are just fine. I've got everything from 29s to a 72 running with nothing but sponges in all of them.

[John_Nicholson]

Sponges are all I use.

-john

[Willie]

My 75 grow out tank for adult discus has two double stacked Hydro V's with airstones. That's all the filtration for this tank. As long as you're doing lots of water changes, there's no reason for mechanical filtration.

[LizStreithorst]

Sponges are enough.