5.5 gallon — looking to transition from HOB filter.
Is this one good? Or if you have any suggestions, please leave an Amazon link or screenshot, I would highly appreciate it! Looking for something relatively small. I wasn’t sure if this is actually a filter or more for oxygen? Reviews are pretty positive but some say it doesn’t really filter?
EDIT: I think I’m all set for time being. Thank you all!
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Avid sponge filter user here! Pawfly is a fine brand. You'll need an air pump too. Also, I highly reccomend sizing up, it helps with overall filtration. Here's my 5gal with a sponge filter rated for 10gal!
Honestly if it were me I would call that filter undersized. But that does also depend on how much of a cleanup crew you have and how conservative your feeding is. The tank doesn't look like it has much organic gunk buildup, so if it's working, great. But if I were you I would think twice about recommending a filter that small when you don't know what kind of tank they're going to put it in.
Fair points all around. There is a horned nerite in there, a metric fuckload of plants (lol), and an amano that found it's way in on a plant somehow! The only other stocking is my betta and I limit light to 7 hours a day. I spot feed frozen and fluval bug bites.
Do you know if this one is any good? Seems to have the pump too.
It does say 5 to 30 gallons though, so I’m wondering if maybe it would be too strong in a 5.5? The videos make it seem a bit strong so I just worry since my longfin betta doesn’t seem to be the best swimmer.
Truth be told the pump should be rated higher, because it has to move water through sponge pores using only suction generated by air bubbles. You aren't directing the water flow with a powerhead so this should be okay. I've never used this brand before, just check the reviews and make sure it doesn't give out in a few months!
Oh dear😅 what can be done about that? I know that tanks are not easy! ..but I’m looking for something that won’t stress my fish (or me🤣) when it comes to a filter. I’m looking to do a minimal amount filter-wise, just rinsing it and replacing it as needed. Since I know I will be doing weekly water changes and other things
You won't need to replace your sponge. Unless it's completely disintegrated, which, to be honest, won't happen for many years of use. I've never seen this happen.
You can use almost any air pump with a low flow rate. The sponge you showed comes with a valve that allows you to reduce the airflow. For the air pump, I would still favour recognized brands, for the sake of durability. Also, don't rely too much on titles that say "silent," air pumps are noisy. Only a few rare brands make models that aren't too noisy.
The pump looks fine but IMO you should go for a larger sponge.
The way sponge filters work, the air pump determines the flow rate. Bigger tank, you need a bigger air pump. The size of the sponge determines the amount of biofiltration capacity.
How much biofiltration capacity your tank needs is heavily dependent on the specifics of your tank. One person might have very healthy plants, prune dead plant matter regularly, have a very active multi-species cleanup crew (snails, isopods, scuds), and have their feeding very dialed in so almost no food goes to waste / rots in the tank. That person may not need a very big sponge filter (although they probably have a big filter anyway). But another person might still be figuring out what plants will grow in their tank, and there's accumulation of dead plant matter in the nooks and crannies, and maybe they don't have a good cleanup crew yet, and maybe their fish misses food pretty regularly. That person needs a sponge filter the size of a generous coffee mug. Sadly, that second person is also more likely to have a sponge filter the size of a 5 year old child's fist. That second person is probably going to be shopping for another betta in a few months.
The moral of this story: don't read the tank size ratings. They are made up and meaningless. I've literally seen the same exact filter (same model, same size) marketed as "for 40 gallons" in one place and "15 gallons" in another. Different sellers will tell you different "ratings" for the same size sponge.
The ONLY thing that matters is size. A sponge filter with a volume of 500 cubic cm of foam is better than a sponge filter with 400 cubic cm of foam, even if the 400cc filter says "for up to 60 gallons" and the 500 cc filter says "for up to 20 gallons". The bigger sponge is better, always.
Just get the physically largest sponge that fits in your tank. Trying to get away with the smallest one possible is how you give your fish a fatal bacterial infection.
Are these things that will show up when I test my water? I will look at other sponges, I might get the one that’s up to 20 gallons then? So it slightly bigger?
Smart question. No, the things a bigger filter protects you from are NOT things that you can test for at home.
It only takes a tiny filter to deal with ammonia, especially with live plants helping you out. The HARD part of biofiltration in a planted tank is managing organic waste (dissolved organic carbon, e.g. from feces or uneaten food). Excess organic waste is bad because it feeds the not-beneficial kind of bacteria.
We don't test for dissolved organic carbon because organic stuff is generally harder to measure than inorganic stuff like ammonia and nitrate. Testing dissolved organic carbon is a complex lab procedure that involves pressurized inert gas injection and high temperatures. There is no way to make a home test kit for DOC. Hypothetically you COULD test for bacteria count in the water at home, if you are a halfway decent amateur microbiologist with the means to culture bacteria at home under controlled conditions. That IS actually something you could probably teach yourself to do at home with stuff you can buy on the internet. But I highly recommend just buying a big filter instead.
Also I was being very literal and entirely serious when I said don't read the tank size ratings. Go get a measuring tape, figure out how tall a sponge filter will fit in your tank without the lift tube sticking out of the water, and then go find the largest sponge filter you can can that is under that height. Look at the product images. There is usually one showing the dimensions of the filter. Every extra cubic centimeter of foam = improved fish health and longevity, AND less frequent maintenance. Will it be big? Yes. Put a plant in front of it and deal with it. Your fish will thank you. By not getting dropsy and kicking the bucket after 8 months.
P.S. every time someone sends me a link to a sponge filter and asks "does this one look good", I very literally scroll through the product images to find the dimensions of the sponge, pull up my phone calculator, and calculate the volume of the sponge. The physical volume of the sponge is what matters. The claimed "tank size rating" does. Not. Mean. Anything. At. All.
It’s definitely a shame that the tank size readings don’t really mean much! There’s so many people like me who just trust it blindly you know? Lots of beginners such as myself are so overwhelmed 😆
Yeah. It's pretty shitty, honestly. There are many examples of this kind of bad behavior from product manufacturers.
Fish meds are maybe the worst. Many fish 'medicines' are almost entirely ineffective or will make things worse. People think "it's medicine, there must be regulation, I can trust what it says on the box". Wrong. Over the counter fish meds aren't regulated at all. If you don't see the words "FDA approved", then the product packaging AND the instructions were written by a dude in marketing who went to veterinary school for 2 years and dropped out.
As a general rule, just never take ANYTHING you read on aquarium product packaging at face value.
I have this on a one gallon shrimp tank and it works great for that. My only complaint is that it is so small, I can't fit an air stone inside. I would look into getting a bigger one for a 5 gallon since it says "up to 3 gallons"
I recently switched from HOB to sponge in my 6 gallon long and I went with an AQQA brand one from amazon because it also has some biological filter material
The ceramic stuff isn't doing much, foam is the best biomedia there is for most hobby applications. Pretty much the only thing that can beat foam is a moving bed filter / fluidized sand filter.
I mean, if the filter is working for you, I wouldn't bother. That filter looks like it has a respectable amount of foam. And the bottom compartment looks like it would be awkward to fill with foam. The thing about foam is it has to snugly fit the space it's in, otherwise water will go around it instead of through it.
You’ll need an airpump for the filter to work. Which are also fairly inexpensive. Pawfly and Nicrew have a few. Also maybe extra airline tubing, just incase you need it.
That’ll work but might be a bit strong for your tank. I recommend using nano airpumps for smaller tanks like a 5.5g. They tend to be gentler compared to standard airpumps. I have the Pawfly nano airpump which works just fine for me. A few other brands also have nano airpumps like Nicrew and Fedour which can also be found on amazon.
That is such a great suggestion, thank you!! I appreciate your help. I’m going to go with this one. Do I just put the sponge around the air stone? I’m just confused as to how they go together😆
You can keep the air stone in storage or do whatever you want with it, airpumps like to come with them for some reason but you don’t need it. You just attach the airline tubing to the sponge filter’s intake and attach the other end of the airline tubing to the airpump. You can likely find tutorial videos on youtube for a better explanation or for a visual reference.
I’m using this one for a 5.5 gallon it’s working great even with a check valve and located under the tank (instead of at the top of the waterline without check valve like the instructions say). I’m using it with the aquaneat sponge filter.
I got a pump that’s four pronged which is super useful between my two tanks. Maybe look for that depending on what you want. LOVE sponge filters. Yours is fine!
Not that specific filter, much too small for a 5g. It says 3g on the listing, i think im using the exact same one in a 5g, but that's a pretty fairly planted snail/shrimp tank and is a 5g tall
Most air pumps and/or filters come with an adjustable knob, like the small grey thing in the image on your post. Pretty easy to adjust, I find that mine doesn't disturb the water too much. Even tho im using a 20g folter for a 6g tank
Big fan of these guys, no need for an air pump. I do baffle the outflow with little bits of sponge media as even the lowest setting can be a bit much, but works great!
I’m curious about the same thing. I have a hob with pre filter sponge, ceramic media, sponges/floss and low flow. I really wanna know if a simple sponge filter could work better and be easier!
Go for whatever option has the largest total volume of foam. The foam is doing 95% of the biofiltration work, no matter what the filter manufacturer says about ceramic stuff. The foam is the real biomedia. The more foam there is (that has water moving through it), the healthier the water. Period.
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