Slowing Sponge filter flow

[kelm23]

New to the forum, but have had a 10 gallon tank set up for about 18 months. Long story short I messed up and over cleaned the tank/filter media about 3 weeks ago and caused a crash in my cycle. Thanks to some great advice I read on here while lurking it seems it’s finally under control without any fish loss (knocks on wood)! Anyway I decided to add a sponge filter to the tank as a backup for the future, but my ember tetras hate the extra flow. I did add an air stone to the sponge filter, but I feel like it’s still too much. Any advise to weaken the flow without compromising the filtration?

 

[Salem]

Your air pump might have a dial on it to decrease the output. If it doesn't you can make or buy a bleed valve to lower it yourself. You could also just tie a loose knot in the tubing as a temporary fix but long term it can cause damage to the pump itself.

 

[kelm23]

Thank you! No dial so I guess I’ll be looking into a bleed valve. In the meantime the knot seems to be helping

 

[Andyfischer]

That’s interesting. I had just used a valve off amazon to throttle flow. You are saying if I use two valves with one going to atmosphere it will be easier on the diaphragm pump. They make those gang valves you could use I suppose. Interesting

 

[Mongo75]

That’s interesting. I had just used a valve off amazon to throttle flow. You are saying if I use two valves with one going to atmosphere it will be easier on the diaphragm pump. They make those gang valves you could use I suppose. Interesting

You really should vent excess air into the atmosphere, as you put it

The back pressure from using one of the needle valves can put stress on the diaphragm of the pump and shorten it's life. Depending on how much air you vent, you may want to put an air stone on the vent side to help baffle the hissing too. I use a 4 port gang valve to my tank with the 4th port used to vent excess air. I open the valves all the way then adjust each one to the desired flow, leaving the 4th all the way open.