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Bad idea to change sponge filters?


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I'm currently using a sponge filter as the only filter in 5 gallon tank. I'm wondering if it would be a bad idea to change it to a new one.

 

Right now I'm using one that is in this style

 

http://i.imgur.com/o9TcoR3.jpg

 

I've been thinking of changing it for one that looks like this

 

http://i.imgur.com/jEA8i0n.jpg

 

Reason being is I think it might be quieter and maybe work better because it has two sponges.

 

But I realize I'd lose the beneficial bacteria.

 

 

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I just got one of those double sponge ones.  I have it in my tank along with the older sponge filter. 

Just leave it in there for a while it won't do any harm and the shrimps will pick over it.  Once you're other one has been seeded enough (as chibikaie mentioned, then you can take the old one out)

 

I usually keep my sponges in a cycled tank all the time, so I can start up any new tank with ease.  Once the sponge is out of water the bacteria die off, so keeping in water, keeps them alive.

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Maylee, I'll be honest with ya.  I have 60+ tanks set up and almost every one of them has a double sponge filter.  I love them for multiple reasons, BUT they can be a pain in the a$$ because almost every week I have some popping off the glass and rising to the surface.

 

I think what I am going to do soon is silicone a clip or the filter itself upright on a piece of ceramic tile, and place that in the tank.  Then that challenge will be over.

 

As far as seeding your filter, you can also take a small bucket of water, set up your double sponge in it, and squeeze out the mulm from your current sponge into the bucket.  Squeeze the sponges on the double filter in the water to get them good and "dirty."  Let it run for a day, and that will allow the bacteria to impregnate the double sponges.

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I'm kind of surprised you never made the switch to Hamburg mattenfilters. Of course, if you already OWN 60+ sponge filters, no reason to buy new filters for every tank.

The Swisstropical cube filters have a ceramic tile siliconed onto the bottom, which is perfect. I'm never going back to the stick-on suction cups! I imagine as a worst case scenario, you could even use anything heavy and inert to weigh down the filter. (I use chipped mugs and bowls all the time as makeshift caves.)

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I've thought about mattenfilters, but they just take up too much space for me.

 

I'm kind of surprised you never made the switch to Hamburg mattenfilters. Of course, if you already OWN 60+ sponge filters, no reason to buy new filters for every tank.

The Swisstropical cube filters have a ceramic tile siliconed onto the bottom, which is perfect. I'm never going back to the stick-on suction cups! I imagine as a worst case scenario, you could even use anything heavy and inert to weigh down the filter. (I use chipped mugs and bowls all the time as makeshift caves.)

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I'm kind of surprised you never made the switch to Hamburg mattenfilters. Of course, if you already OWN 60+ sponge filters, no reason to buy new filters for every tank.

The Swisstropical cube filters have a ceramic tile siliconed onto the bottom, which is perfect. I'm never going back to the stick-on suction cups! I imagine as a worst case scenario, you could even use anything heavy and inert to weigh down the filter. (I use chipped mugs and bowls all the time as makeshift caves.)

Take up space and the poret foam is overpriced
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I have mattenfilters on all 9 tanks. What I lose in space I gain in grazing area for the shrimp.  The shrimplets are all over the foam from soon after hatching. Perhaps the best thing about them is siphoning the tank without worry about shrimplets or shrimp getting caught in the siphon.  The grazing feature is such a benefit IMO that I've started converting tanks to two sponges - one on each side. I use a $5 sun sun water pump rather than air driven - so I pump from behind one matten across the tank and in behind the second.  I'm about to do an experiment (when the foam arrives) in which I'm going to blend riccia and paint over the surface of a matten and leave it horizontal under bright light for a month to see if I can get a rich growth of riccia on it, and then place as a backdrop.  

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