Do I need a hang on back filter?

[mebteda1]

I bought the top fin 5.5 gallon tank to upgrade my betta in and it comes with the hang on back filter. I am planning on using a sponge filter with air pump instead. Can I take the hang on back filter off the tank or do i need to use it?

 

[MoshJosh]

The short answer is no. But it sort of depends, you will need some sort of cycled filtration, if you already have a cycled sponge filter great use that, but if all you have is media that will fit in the HOB filter then I would use it until your sponge is cycled. . . that is assuming you aren't doing a "fish in cycle", if you are doing a fish in cycle then you could skip the HOB and just use the sponge.

 

[BigManAquatics]

I vote for the sponge as well. I would just store the HOB, never know when you might have a use for it in the future!

 

[mebteda1]

The short answer is no. But it sort of depends, you will need some sort of cycled filtration, if you already have a cycled sponge filter great use that, but if all you have is media that will fit in the HOB filter then I would use it until your sponge is cycled. . . that is assuming you aren't doing a "fish in cycle", if you are doing a fish in cycle then you could skip the HOB and just use the sponge.

I am doing a fishless cycle. So when I'm cycling, I should use the sponge filter with the tube and air pump while the hob filter is on? Then when am done cycling I can take the hob filter off and just use sponge filter

I vote for the sponge as well. I would just store the HOB, never know when you might have a use for it in the future!

So I can just cycle with sponge filter and put the HOB filter back in box if I ever need it? I don't need it hanging on my tank then right?

 

[Lebeeze]

Just use the sponge filter. Don't need the hang on back

 

[bogmummy]

I am doing a fishless cycle. So when I'm cycling, I should use the sponge filter with the tube and air pump while the hob filter is on? Then when am done cycling I can take the hob filter off and just use sponge filter

So I can just cycle with sponge filter and put the HOB filter back in box if I ever need it? I don't need it hanging on my tank then right?

The filter you are going to use long-term is the only one that needs to be used during the cycling process, as that is where the beneficial bacteria is stored. If you use both filters and take one out half of your bacteria will be gone with it.
if you have already been cycling with the hob filter though, taking it straight out will cause you to lose any bacteria you already have, so you could run both for a while or you could squeeze out the filter media in the tank to release some of the bacteria and hope it sticks to the sponge filter.

 

[Islandvic]

Welcome to the forum.

Is this a Top Fin 5.5g kit ?

I ask because we ran a 5.5g Top Fin kit for about a year.

If so, the included Silenstream HOB filter has an adjustable knob, and you can turn down the flow a lot to where there is very minimal flow.

Having a 2nd filter running never hurts.

If you ran both and needed to set up a quick instantly cycled quarantine /hospital tank, you can remove the sponge filter and drop it in a 5 gallon bucket. I've done that before and works great.

Also, what is your betta in now ?

If the current tank has a filter, consider removing that filter's media and place it into the HOB filter. Then transfer the betta over to new tank.

Id you went that route, keep up with some extra water changes and it should cycle fine.

A Betta doesn't really have a large bio-load, and it's sometimes harder to cycle a small tank versus a large tank.