# Are sponge filters sufficient.. ?



## DFishFox (Sep 27, 2011)

*A sponge filter is sufficient to support...*​
5 Gallon tank15.26%10 Gallon tank15.26%20 Gallon tank1789.47%Nothing without added filtration00.00%


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## DFishFox (Sep 27, 2011)

Are sponge filters good enough to sustain a small tank lets say between 5 - 20 gal...?


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## GaFishMan1181 (Dec 17, 2008)

They could support a 1,000 gallon tank with large enough and multiple sponge filters.

The only thing I would recommend is a small powerhead to move the water around and give a little current (not crucial but just what i would do).


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## prov356 (Sep 20, 2006)

DFishFox said:


> Are sponge filters good enough to sustain a small tank lets say between 5 - 20 gal...?


No doubt. Combine with water changes and vacuuming and that's all the filtration you need.


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## k19smith (Sep 6, 2005)

I voted 20 but I run them on all my tanks, my 55g's have nothing but sponges.


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## DFishFox (Sep 27, 2011)

I just am having a hard time grasping the idea that sponge filters move much water..



> I voted 20 but I run them on all my tanks, my 55g's have nothing but sponges.


So with a 55 gal only filtered with Sponges, how many sponges would you have? Does the water stay clear?


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## prov356 (Sep 20, 2006)

It's all about what you power them with. There just needs to be a good flow regardless of whether you use air or power heads. Two would be minimum for a 55, three is better. They do circulate a surprising amount of water and draw in floaties pretty well, yes. So well, that you'll have to take them out and rinse them fairly often.


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## DFishFox (Sep 27, 2011)

Guess I should've specified I intended to use Air. But if you're saying Air works just as good then I'm happy. :thumb:

Makes me wanna put sponges on the intakes of my canisters for the 125 and 56 if they make that much of a difference


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## The King Crabb (Jun 28, 2011)

I voted 20G tank because I'd say that's about the max that can be supported by air. If you have power heads those things will support darn near anything!


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## prov356 (Sep 20, 2006)

> I voted 20G tank because I'd say that's about the max that can be supported by air.


It's the depth of the tank that matters, not the volume. The deeper the tank, the more air pressure is needed. They can work on their own for large tanks if sized and powered adequately. I set mine up on rocks, etc in deeper tanks so they work better. I also went with a central air pump because of the number of tanks and sponges. Working with the small diaphragm air pumps can be frustrating and expensive to repair. That's one drawback to air pumps and one advantage to using power heads.



> Makes me wanna put sponges on the intakes of my canisters for the 125 and 56 if they make that much of a difference


They can provide bio on their own, but no reason to add them to a canister that's already providing bio. Nothing to gain really. It's sometimes done to act aa a prefilter to extend the cleaning interval times of canisters.


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## DFishFox (Sep 27, 2011)

> Working with the small diaphragm air pumps can be frustrating and expensive to repair.


I've never had to replace an Air pump, just bought more. The repairing.. what kinda things should I expect to fail or wear on them? Central Air pump? Gimme a model to google to learn more on those please..



> It's sometimes done to act aa a prefilter to extend the cleaning interval times of canisters.


Given how cheap these sponge filters are.. that's Exactly what I had in mind. Plus a lil extra BIO couldn't hurt..


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## prov356 (Sep 20, 2006)

> The repairing.. what kinda things should I expect to fail or wear on them?


The rubber diaphragm tears. I ran whisper 100's for a while and it was about $10 for the repair kit and not easy to find. I felt like I was constantly repairing them, but I had quite a few.



> Central Air pump? Gimme a model to google to learn more on those please..


Google 'aquarium central air pump'. I went with a model LPH60.


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## DFishFox (Sep 27, 2011)

@prov356..... "quite a few" huh that's why you upgraded to a pump that supports 40 - 55 outlets?????????????????????????????

Wow I'd like to see all your fish.

Don't think I'll need that unless I use it for my future 1500gal cement monster tank on a single sponge the size of a garbage can.. lol

!!Light Bulb!!


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## Number6 (Mar 13, 2003)

I used to filter a 110g tank with nothing but two sponge filters with very tall water lift tubes. I added drops of methylene blue dye to test the amount of water flow and was shocked to see that the entire tank was blue within seconds... only used two large sponge filters with a decent air pump sitting on top of the tank.


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## DFishFox (Sep 27, 2011)

Number6 said:


> I used to filter a 110g tank with nothing but two sponge filters with very tall water lift tubes. I added drops of methylene blue dye to test the amount of water flow and was shocked to see that the entire tank was blue within seconds... only used two large sponge filters with a decent air pump sitting on top of the tank.


Thats awesome. Air lift tubes? I noticed some sponges have them and some don't..


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## k19smith (Sep 6, 2005)

I run 2 sponges in my 55, I also run at least one or two sizes bigger on my sponges than there rated tank size. I've had a horrible time finding descent air pumps but if your running multiple tanks or 100+ the whisper 150 is amazing and has a lifetime warranty. I will say every other whisper I've used has crapped out on me.


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## lp85253 (Sep 27, 2011)

sponge filters are the best bang for the buck in freshwater filtration. add a powerhead to2-3 hydro 5 filters and you can support a well stocked 125.


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## brinkles (Jan 30, 2011)

Lots of stuff falls back into the tank when you take them out to clean them. Not a biggie on a bare tank, not good if it ends up in the rock pile. I suppose I could slip them in a pail to lift them out. I have 2 in a 75 with penguin 1140s on them, and nothing but sand, fry, and some anubias in the tank.


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## BillD (May 17, 2005)

DFishFox said:


> Number6 said:
> 
> 
> > I used to filter a 110g tank with nothing but two sponge filters with very tall water lift tubes. I added drops of methylene blue dye to test the amount of water flow and was shocked to see that the entire tank was blue within seconds... only used two large sponge filters with a decent air pump sitting on top of the tank.
> ...


Sponge filters with lift tubes work much better than those without. A lift tube, ideally, should come to just below the surface to maximize flow. The taller the water column inside the tube the better they work, because of the greater pressure differential between where the water goes in and the water comes out. Contrary to popular belief the air does not "lift" the water. What happens is that the air bubbles in the tube make that water column less dense than the water in the tank. Gravity on the water forces the denser water at the bottom of the tank to enter the area of lower density, thereby creating flow.


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## brinkles (Jan 30, 2011)

You're giving me fluid dynamics nightmares!


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## prov356 (Sep 20, 2006)

brinkles said:


> You're giving me fluid dynamics nightmares!


I have sponges with different length tubes and they all do fine. One may provide for more water flow, but both do biofiltration just fine. It's more about keeping a decent amount of air flowing through them. You can put powerheads on them, but I'm not one to try to get them to do mechanical filtration also. I prefer to get just enough flow to do bio.


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