Is it possible to have too many sponge filters in a tank?

[ssevasta]

This may seem like a stupid question but ive always thought that the worst question was the one that went unasked. I currently have a 55 gallon tank with 1x 5 inch Eruption Leopard, 2x 4inch Yellow Diamonds, 1x 3 inch unknown Albino Strain, 1x 4inch Common Pleco, 1x 3 inch Bristlenose Pleco. I also have 4x potted Amazon swords ranging from medium to large size. As far as equipment goes I have 2x 200 watt heaters, Emperor 400 HOB Filter, and a Whisper 60 air pump driving 2x 11 inch airstone strips. Now after reading several different threads on the forum i've decided to remove the substrate from my tank (1 inch deep smooth rock gravel) in order to make it easier to clean my tank but im worried that in doing so I will get hit with a nasty nitrate spike due to the loss of bio colonies in the substrate. So I was considering various ways to turbo charge my bio colonies in the tank. One idea I had was to add a prefilter sponge to the intake on my emperor and then take out the plastic cartridge and just fill the whole filter with bio-floss.(to those unfamiliar with the emperor it has 2x Biowheels where the water pours back into the tank) I am going to add the prefilter sponge regardless though because I dont use the carbon cartridges in my filter and I dont want decaying food,ect... building up in the HOB compartment. Another idea that I had was to purchase another air pump from Kensfish.com and add two or three sponge filters to my tank. The idea of adding the additional sponge filters doesnt bother me if it will increase aeration and bio-colonies. I could always hide the sponge filters behind a few pieces of driftwood i have in the tank or the sword plants. On a side note my WC routine is 2 to 3 85-90% per week time and energy permitting but at least 2 a week. I age my water for 24hrs, dose with prime, and preheat it to 86 F.
1) Which sponge filters would be the best to use?
2) Which would be the best biomedia to stuff my HOB?
3) Is there any downside to having so much filtration in my tank?

Thanks,
Sean

[ssevasta]

Any ideas?

[Dkarc@Aol.com]

Your plan is a sound one IMO. Your gravel does hold a lot of bacteria, mostly heterotrophic though. I dont think you'll experience any kind of water quality issue considering your large, frequent water changes. I would go ahead with the sponge filter idea. I would use another sponge type material in your HOB's as well (stay away from the ceramic rings though). And there is no downside to having that much filtration.

-Ryan

[William Palumbo]

I run a BUNCH of them in my 125g, a minimum of 8. I don't think you can have too many if a bare bottom(plantless)tank. I run a lot of them because I have a central air-pump, so the more I run off of it, the more efficient it is, the more it pays for itself, also, with all the sponges I have going in my 125 and other tanks, it's a no-brainer when I want to start up a new tank. PLENTY of seeded sponges to choose from, in different sizes...Bill

[tdiscusman]

I think your idea is a sound one too. However, IMHO, you will still get an initial ammonia/nitrite spike. But it will recover quickly.

The number of bacteria in the filters/sponge filters will only equal to their food source (equilibrium). There are no extra build up of bacteria as there are no food to sustain it. You can put a whole bunch of sponge filters in the tank and that same number/amount of bacteria will be divided into the number of sponge filters you have. So when you remove your substrate, its will still need some time for the bacteria to multiply and re-gain the equilibrium point. I hope I am making sense :D

Tony

[ssevasta]

I found this really interesting page on how to optimize my Emperor 400 HOB http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/power_filter_tricks_v.php Thanks for the ideas guys.

[diamond_discus]

I am using two Emperor 400 for my 90 gallon barebottom tank. I also add two #4 Hydro Sponge filter. For the emperor intake, I added two #3 Sponge as the prefilter. I don't use the plastic media tray. It's too small to put anything in it, except carbon or ammonia chip. I simply replace the media tray with another blue filter pad, or a chemi-pure pad.

For your tank, I would use the Whisper 60 to drive two #4 sponge filters. But if you want to keep the two air strips, then I guess you need to use another air pump because I don't think the Whisper 60 is powerful enough to drive 4 outlet. If you are concern with any spike, you can incrementally remove those substrate with each new water change. That's what I did a few years ago with my 55 gallon tank (that has two inches of gravel rocks). It took me two weeks to remove all the gravel.

I saw that link last month, but I decided not to do it.. Too much custom work for me .. Besides, I am doing 90% WC every other day. I figure I have plenty enough filteration already with my setup.

I think it's important to use a prefilter for your Emperor 400.

[Jhhnn]

I like the #3 ATI sponge filters because they're small enough to easily maneuver out of the tanks when I want to clean 'em. I also use small airstones under the bullseyes to keep 'em quiet, pitch the clear chimneys. They don't want to sink at first, no matter how well I squeeze 'em out in the tank, so I load the interior with ball bearings or marbles at first to hold 'em down...

I'd switch out the air wands for sponge filters, leave it like that for a month, then remove the substrate.

They only way to have too many is to not leave room for fish...

[underwaterforest]

Try the pro sponges John they sink great on the first try and don't float up at every 100% water change. Plus they last much longer than the regular variety.