sponge filter

Subject: sponge filter Sat Nov 07, 2009 4:29 pm

i saw somewhere someone buried a sponge filter under the gravel? can i do this and if so whats the advantage

Subject: Re: sponge filter Sat Nov 07, 2009 5:01 pm

The advantage I see is that you can hide the filter and also possibly get some additional surface area on which to grow beneficial bacteria. The problem is I suspect you will be cutting down on the efficiency of the filter by blocking the filter media. So the filter would have to be oversized even more. I'm not sure it's a great idea but if you decide to try it let us know what you find out.

Subject: Re: sponge filter Sat Nov 07, 2009 5:53 pm

i thought maybe it was common practice to bury the sponge kinda like an undergravel filter

The Turtle Whisperer Posts: 1902

I don't do it with sponge filters, but for hatchling aquatic turtle tanks, I use Whisper 10i (the internal kind) half buried down into the gravel, to where the gravel covers up the thin vents, so no small turtle limbs get stuck in.

I've never seriously tested it, but it *seems* like it works better that way when I have it hanging out. It should make for a lot more area for bacteria to grow.

With sponge filters being so low powered I think it would entirely depend on the gravel you had. Something big and chunky (or maybe even something like marbles) may work far better than a very fine gravel.

Subject: Re: sponge filter Sun Nov 08, 2009 8:43 am

It is not common practice to bury them in my experience. I think they will be just as efficient not buried besides it will be more of a PITA when you want to take em out to clean them.

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The Turtle Whisperer Posts: 1902

I was thinking about it from a technical standpoint, but yea. I think your right MC.

All I've ever seen sponge filters being used for now a days are in bare bottom tanks for fry.

Subject: Re: sponge filter Mon Nov 09, 2009 6:44 am

dirtydawg10 wrote:

The advantage I see is that you can hide the filter and also possibly get some additional surface area on which to grow beneficial bacteria. The problem is I suspect you will be cutting down on the efficiency of the filter by blocking the filter media. So the filter would have to be oversized even more. I'm not sure it's a great idea but if you decide to try it let us know what you find out.

saint_felony wrote:

...With sponge filters being so low powered I think it would entirely depend on the gravel you had. Something big and chunky (or maybe even something like marbles) may work far better than a very fine gravel.

I played around with this years ago, for the exact reasons dawg mentioned. I always ended up plugging the substrate against the sponge filter as well as the sponge. It was a PITA as MC mentioned. I decided that if I ever wanted to use the substrate as a bio filter, I'd just use a u/g filter.

I always tried it with smaller gravel that clogged easily, it may work better with large pebbles or marbles, but with the gaps between the pebbles or marbles I seriously doubt that there would be a significant benefit. The main purpose of pulling water through a substrate is to maximize/optimize contact between water high in dissolved oxygen with the surface area colonized with nitrifying bacteria. I suspect the extra contact if large chunks were used would be negligible in the overall scheme of things.

WYite

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