Lets talk filters

DMD123

DMD123

Administrator
Staff member
Contributing Member Level III
I tend to run a lot of large powered filters like 3 Fluval FX6's on my 300 gallon tank. Aquaclear 110's on my 65B with one of those have an additional Ehiem 2217 canister on it and my 20L having an Aquaclear 50 on it. I tend to way over filter!

Was doing some reading recently from something from the Co-Op taking about the lowly sponge filter. I really had not considered ever using one, but could see how it might work out well for me in an growout.

Anyway just wanted to open up the topic to filters, what do you use, what you like/dislike about and I would love to hear about the humble sponge filter from those using them.
 
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Betty

Betty

Well-Known Member
Staff member
I run Rena XP canisters of varying sizes. Easy to clean and quiet. I have Aquaclears, but have never liked mine. Every one I've ever had rattled or hummed loudly. I used sponge filters in growout tanks and pleco tanks. They are great for not sucking up babies and shrimp. I don't know how sponge filters with bigger fish that produce a lot of waste would work.

Another type of filter that I used to use back in the old days was the air-driven box filter. It would sit at the bottom corner of the tank, a layer of carbon, a layer of floss and airline tubing running to an air pump, like you do with sponge filters. I still have a few of those, but the baby plecos and shrimp would get inside so switched to sponge filters. Oh, and the undergravel filters!
 
FishBeast

FishBeast

Well-Known Member
2x 29G with sponge filter
210G with 55G sump
75G with 40G sump
75G + 75G (linked) with 40G sump
120G + 55G (linked) with 20G sump

I use sumps now in most of my tanks for filtration, which I like for the increased water volume and stability. I generally have a barrier of sponge (Poret foam from Swiss Tropicals) of varying densities in them. Also on my bichir tank I actually have a moving bed biofilter in its 55 gallon sump plus an FX6. I do like sponge filters in both my 29 gallon tanks which are a little too small/inconvenient to have sumps on.

I used to use hang-on-back filters but got a little annoyed at how the sponges would lift up over time out of the filter tub (AC110 seems to be the worst offender) plus I had to refill them with water as they are unable to self-prime if I drained water below the intake in the main tank.

I have never used carbon unless clearing meds out of the water although I have dabbled in Purigen (which gets messy).
 
FishBeast

FishBeast

Well-Known Member
DMD123 said:
I tend to run a lot of large powered filters like 3 Fluval FX6's on my 300 gallon tank. Aquaclear 110's on my 65B with one of those have an additional Ehiem 2217 canister on it and my 20L having an Aquaclear 50 on it. I tend to way over filter!

Was doing some reading recently from something from the Co-Op taking about the lowly sponge filter. I really had not considered ever using one, but could see how it might work out well for me in an growout.

Anyway just wanted to open up the topic to filters, what do you use, what you like/dislike about and I would love to hear about he humble sponge filter from those using them.
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Wow that is a LOT of filtration! Your water has always been impressively crystal clear, makes sense!
 
FishBeast

FishBeast

Well-Known Member
Betty said:
I run Rena XP canisters of varying sizes. Easy to clean and quiet. I have Aquaclears, but have never liked mine. Every one I've ever had rattled or hummed loudly. I used sponge filters in growout tanks and pleco tanks. They are great for not sucking up babies and shrimp. I don't know how sponge filters with bigger fish that produce a lot of waste would work.

Another type of filter that I used to use back in the old days was the air-driven box filter. It would sit at the bottom corner of the tank, a layer of carbon, a layer of floss and airline tubing running to an air pump, like you do with sponge filters. I still have a few of those, but the baby plecos and shrimp would get inside so switched to sponge filters. Oh, and the undergravel filters!
Click to expand...
Our LFS when I was a kid had those box filters in all their tanks. They always reminded me of little in-tank canister filters!
 
sir_keith

sir_keith

Legendary Member
Contributing Member Level III
Betty said:
Another type of filter that I used to use back in the old days was the air-driven box filter. It would sit at the bottom corner of the tank, a layer of carbon, a layer of floss and airline tubing running to an air pump...
Click to expand...

Man oh man, did that bring back memories! I had those, too, decades ago, before power heads or power filters of any kind! It's amazing the fishes survived with what was really token filtration.

Speaking of which, I have a collection of old aquarium hobby magazines from the 30's and 40's, and some of the advice, especially about filtration, is priceless. Anyone remember the goal of having 'tea-brown water' in your tank? Yikes! I'll try to pick out some of the better gems, and post them later. :eek:
 
FishBeast

FishBeast

Well-Known Member
sir_keith said:
Man oh man, did that bring back memories! I had those, too, decades ago, before power heads or power filters of any kind! It's amazing the fishes survived with what was really token filtration.

Speaking of which, I have a collection of old aquarium hobby magazines from the 30's and 40's, and some of the advice, especially about filtration, is priceless. Anyone remember the goal of having 'tea-brown water' in your tank? Yikes! I'll try to pick out some of the better gems, and post them later. :eek:
Click to expand...
That's awesome!! The hobby certainly has come a long way! I used to have old TFH magazines from the 70s that my dad kept. Everything was about Herbert Axelrod and his expeditions to Brazil and the Amazon. There were awesome ads for Diatom filters and also mail order ads for Jungle products etc.
 
DMD123

DMD123

Administrator
Staff member
Contributing Member Level III
I did fish as a teenager and then continued for a bit after I moved out of the house but something about that magic age of 21 and being able to drink... lol. Anyway 20 years away from the hobby and I come back to no one using under gravel filters and all the cool fish shops have closed and now these Petco & Petsmart places have popped up. I remember seeing pics of flowerhorns for the first time and trying to figure where they were caught in the wild, lol.

I do remember having an old Aquaclear even back then. They were a brown colored case if I remember right and the way the media laid out was different too.
 
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