from canisters to sponge filters

Andrewtfw

Andrewtfw

Global Moderators
I am considering swapping out all of my canister filters (except those on my planted tank) for sponge filters such as those made by Hydro. I like the simplicity of the sponges and reducing electricity is not a bad thing either. My questions are:

1) Are any of you currently using sponges as the only filtration on tanks >75 gallons (not including Poret type filtration)?

2) If I leave the canisters running to give the sponges time to colonize with bacteria, when I remove the canisters, will I still run a risk of ammonia/nitrite issues?

3) I do not have a fish room. My tanks are scattered around my home. What brand air pump do you suggest I invest in? I will need one or more per tank.

Thanks for your time and input.
-Andrew
 
dogofwar

dogofwar

CCA Members
Hi Andrew,

I prefer to couple sponges with boxes. The boxes (especially with a good flow of air) do the bulk of the mechanical filtration (and do it better and easier to clean than the sponges).

I won some of the large green boxes in the raffle at the last PVAS auction and would love to find more...they're perfect for larger tanks. The regular ones work great as well (I fill them part of the way with gravel to weight them down).

I'd recommend the Hurricane 5 air pump. It has two outlets and can run several air devices. What's great is that it has a rechargable battery that kicks on when the power goes out. Runs on D batteries too...

Matt
 
Leffler817

Leffler817

CCA Members
dogofwar said:
I'd recommend the Hurricane 5 air pump. It has two outlets and can run several air devices. What's great is that it has a rechargable battery that kicks on when the power goes out. Runs on D batteries too...

Matt
Click to expand...

I was just looking at the Hurricane 5! I stumbled upon it at house of tropicals and went home to research it. My search turned up vey little and the Deep Blue website leaves a lot to be desired, but the product looks brilliant! Does it work for your fish room Matt? I'm thinking of getting one. Sorry to be off track.



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dogofwar

dogofwar

CCA Members
I actually use Coralife Luft air pumps for most of my fishroom but supplement with the Hurricanes for my larger tanks (most needy of air in case of power outage).

They're good pumps (both) but the Hurricanes are much quieter...

Matt
 
N

Nathan

Members
dogofwar said:
Hi Andrew,

I prefer to couple sponges with boxes. The boxes (especially with a good flow of air) do the bulk of the mechanical filtration (and do it better and easier to clean than the sponges).

I won some of the large green boxes in the raffle at the last PVAS auction and would love to find more...they're perfect for larger tanks. The regular ones work great as well (I fill them part of the way with gravel to weight them down).

I'd recommend the Hurricane 5 air pump. It has two outlets and can run several air devices. What's great is that it has a rechargable battery that kicks on when the power goes out. Runs on D batteries too...

Matt
Click to expand...

This is spot on, I've noticed my tanks are much cleaner since adding boxes to the tanks with only sponge filters
 
turfboss

turfboss

Members
Really apropo topic at this point since I have 4 new 75's and two new 150's and did not want to buy the HOBs or cannisters for all of them and have also been thinking about using just sponge's - BUT - worried about the mechanical filtration part - so - what are the "large green boxes" you all are referring to that handle the mechanical portion of the filtration??
 
turfboss

turfboss

Members
Sorry Andrew for the butt-in questions here - but seems this is all in line with your original question.

Thanks Matt - so where do you get the bigger ones and have you used carbon in the box filter as a part of the first stage?

I am guessing you hook this in series with the sponge - sucking through this box filter first?
 
Andrewtfw

Andrewtfw

Global Moderators
turfboss said:
Or do you use two airlines with the output of the first stage feeding into the second stage?
Click to expand...

You're not butting in. Your questions and the responses of others are directly in line with my questioning.

On a related note, does anyone make their own box filters? Is there a way to combine the box and sponge so I only would need one air line?

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FishInMaryland

FishInMaryland

Members
If I could find it again, I'd post the link, but I came across a YouTube video yesterday showing how to make your own "box filter" out of a water/soda bottle. Pretty ingenious, including the pre-filter. The other thing that I liked about it was the hole in the side of the bottle, into which you insert a suction cup (one with a lip, so that it stays in). I made one last night, and was able to drill the cap of the bottle to fit one of the ends to a FilterMax 3 prefilter, so that the bottle was mounted, via the suction cup, in the back of the tank, and the pre filter came off the bottom at 90 degrees. If I were to make another one, I'd use a square bottle, if possible, made out of sturdier plastic than what I had. Only one air line required.
 
dogofwar

dogofwar

CCA Members
I have some of the larger ones from auctions and back in the day but would like to find a source for some new ones.

I use a gang valve to split air from a pump to multiple boxes and sponges... I run boxes a lot stronger than sponges (and don't generally use carbon).

Matt
 
dogofwar

dogofwar

CCA Members
I'd still couple a box filter with one of those...or better yet fill a box halfway with bio material (I just use gravel) - it keeps it weighted down and adds bio capacity. Filling with gravel from an established tank is a great way to introduce beneficial bacteria as well.

Since I have like 50 tanks, I clean the boxes when I'm refilling during water changes. So simple to just grab the box, throw away the dirty fluff, dump out the dirty water, refill and go on to the next.

I'm a fan of DIY but I could see those falling apart in not-too-long a time.

Matt

PS For filtering larger tanks (especially in a fish room), search "dump filter" and some of my musings on those will show up... Basically an above the tank sump except more efficient.

turfboss said:
I think the u-tube video Ruth is referring to is the following -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DXDzgM9x3tc

If you are just a little creative you could add some bottles in series with different media and a larger filter on the bottom and have a really inexpensive filter system -
Click to expand...
 
Andrewtfw

Andrewtfw

Global Moderators
[QUOTE If you are just a little creative you could add some bottles in series with different media and a larger filter on the bottom and have a really inexpensive filter system -[/QUOTE]

True but all of that would be in the tank taking up space and rather unsightly imo.


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Andrewtfw

Andrewtfw

Global Moderators
Would box filters result in a lot of bubbling noise? If so, is there a way to reduce the noise such as diffuse the air through a stone to make smaller bubbles?

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