Sponge filter reviews

My current secondary filter is the Pennplax go in tank that I pop out and dispose of once a week. At $7 for every 2 cartridges I feel it is not budget friendly economical or ecological.

Since I've been running a second airline, I'm leaning towards a sponge filter. Does anyone have an experience with the Lee's Sponge Filters? There are no reviews, but with my Amazon Prime membership will have one in my hands for under $20 in 2 days. OR should I sell out the extra money and just start with something better?

My Aquaclear handles the big stuff. I just want a secondary to keep my water clearer and make me less obsessive about checking my readings daily.

 

My secondary filter is the Hydro III Sponge Filter rated for up to 40 gallons, and it is a great filter, which I highly recommend.

 

That's the other one I was looking at. Do you run it on it's own air pump? I was worried about the power requiremente.


Sent from my Kindle Fire using Tapatalk 2

 

My secondary filter is the Hydro III Sponge Filter rated for up to 40 gallons, and it is a great filter, which I highly recommend.

I have one of those but haven't used it yet, it is being saved for my future tank. However, I have a question for you Joanna, can you hear it? Is it noisy? That is my main concern since this tank will go in my bedroom.

 

That's the other one I was looking at. Do you run it on it's own air pump? I was worried about the power requiremente.

My sponge filter shares an air pump with an airstone. I am not technical enough though to know exactly about power requirements. My current configuration seems to work fine. I have an airpump with tubing, a splitter to reach the airstone and sponge filter, and on the filter side of the tubing I have one of those connectors with knobs that allows me to control how much air flows to the sponge filter versus to the airstone, but I based that mainly on aesthetics since I do not have enough of a clue to really know what the division ought to ideally be. However, I must be doing it well enough, since the sponge filter is clearly working as designed - when I swish it it is clearly dirty enough so it did accumulate stuff.

I have one of those but haven't used it yet, it is being saved for my future tank. However, I have a question for you Joanna, can you hear it? Is it noisy? That is my main concern since this tank will go in my bedroom.

The noise level depends on the air pump you choose, not the filter. You buy the airpump separately. In my experience, the main issue with noise is how much vibration the air pump makes against whatever surface it is on. I used to have my airpump on top of my hood, which was a really bad idea because the hood vibrated a lot. I tried putting a sponge under the airpump to dampen vibration, and that helped. Nowadays I have the airpump on the carpet near the aquarium, and there it makes almost no noise at all. Also when I put it on a sofa cushion sometimes that was effective too. Alternatively, one could somehow suspend the airpump in the air with string, and then it would be quiet. So as long as you do not have it on a surface where the vibrations cause noise, it can be a very quiet filter. But if you do not place it right, it can be quite loud.

 

You don't actually have to change your filter every week... There really is no reason for it. Fusion makes some very quiet air pumps.

You can also make your own sponge filter. This is one that I made

 

Btw, I have one of those Tetra Whisper pumps. I do not know how it compares to the Fusion pumps. Tetra Whisper can be very quiet as long as it is not placed on a surface that causes vibrations. I think the same would be true of a Fusion pump.

 

thank you...

 

You don't actually have to change your filter every week... There really is no reason for it. Fusion makes some very quiet air pumps.

You can also make your own sponge filter. This is one that I made

What went in to making that one? I can totally fashion one with parts and an exacto knife. . I stocked up on sponges last time they were on sale. Plus Loses is only 2 blocks away.

Sent from my Kindle Fire using Tapatalk 2

 

1" PVC, drilled holes in one and and put a capped that end. Put an elbow on the top end and drilled a hole on the top of the elbow, so that I could run a rigid airline tubing down to the bottom. Just put sponges around the bottom end that has the holes drilled. Jetajockey has a good thread on how to do it https://www.fishlore.com/aquariumfishforum/threads/diy-sponge-filter.75193/

I just use a suction cup to hold it in place, works well.

 

I see a new project if I can't find a filter locally.

Sent from my Kindle Fire using Tapatalk 2