A Complete Aquarium Sponge Filter Guide – Functions & Merits
A sponge filter is highly known for it’s durable and easy to be used in nature. It is a filter that assures you that it can never suck up any tiny fishes from your aquarium tank. They choose all the possible alternatives in order to keep the little fishes healthy, happy and safe.
It is also considered a perfect aquarium filter for quarantine and breeding as it allows us to experience a gentle flow rate. Its design and model is extremely advanced and creates using high technology.
Although sponge filter are simply designed and can easily get accustomed to cheap dirt, they are highly known for its well to do a performance in keeping your aquarium tanks clean in both mechanical and biological ways.
Contents
- 1 How does a Sponge Filter Work
- 2 Functions of the Sponge Filters
- 3 Advantages of the Aquarium Filters
- 4 Smooth Functioning of the Sponge Filter
- 5 The aquarium filter is Highly and Inexpensive
- 6 Cleaning of the Aquarium Sponge Filter Becomes Easy
- 7 Helpful in the Case of Overfeeding
- 8 Type of Fish Tanks Which Can Use the Aquarium Sponge Filter
- 9 Inbreeding and Fry Aquarium Tanks
- 10 Aquarium Sponge Filter for the Guppy Tank
- 11 Aquarium Sponge Filters for Another Fish Tank of Relatively Smaller Size
How does a Sponge Filter Work
Its mechanism of working is very simple. It requires power with the help of an aquarium air pump which must be bought separately.
The sponge filters are so constructed that ain air tube is fitted in the mid of the sponge which helps in blowing the air out with the help of the air pump. The air pump functions by creating a high pressure which eventually pulls water out of the sponge.
With the help of the even, the teeny tiny debris can be sucked by the filter with no other problems arising. This makes the aquarium look great and beautifully clean.
The working of these filters, being simple and easy, is highly convenient for anyone to imply in their aquarium tanks.
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Many solid and irresistible waste products are tracked and stopped by the sponge which is later allowed to be removed manually when the water is changed by us. Some of these water food can also be used to treat as food requirements for the bacterias present in the water of the aquarium.
Here the bacterias talked about are the bacterias which are beneficial to be kept in the aquarium as they help in making the nitrogen cycle work properly. These beneficial bacterias help in producing toxins by use of waste products.
Also, these filters help in converting the dead and decaying materials into less dangerous nitrates which can easily be taken out of the tank once we change the water of the tank.
Functions of the Sponge Filters
The sponge filters provide us with a number of features and advantages. One of the most crucial feature of this filter being the aeration provided by the air pump.
This aeration along with the water flow not only provides air to the fishes and other living creatures in the aquarium but also helps in highly quick growth of the beneficial bacterias over its surface.
The process is termed as the maturation of the filter. When the filter gets matured, we can observe the beneficial bacterias present over its surface.
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Any aquarium sponge filters can be considered to be perfect in its functionalities until and unless it doesn’t get old for at least 6 weeks or more. But if you have a fresh new one, then you can place it inside the gravel of a very old fish aquarium.
After that squeeze it and leave it inside the gravel for about twenty-four hours. This will eventually help it in increasing its maturity as the sponge fish tank filter will get all the beneficial bacterias from the gravel of an old and acquainted fish tank and will benefit us in a better way.
One Sponge filters feature that the filters lack is the feature of chemical filtration. By the use of chemical filtration, the organic matter gets trapped inside and eventually, clean water comes out.
Keeping in mind that the chemical filtration isn’t that needed for small fish aquariums which are facilitated with regular changes in the water of the tank. Also, people don’t prefer to have chemical filtration methods in their aquarium tanks, instead they use biological methods to clean their filters.
Advantages of the Aquarium Filters
Smooth Functioning of the Sponge Filter
The sponge filters works on the principle of working slowly and swiftly but giving more than the desired results. Most of the brands of the aquarium sponge filters of various brands work on a similar principle.
When the water passes through the sponge it gets cleaned up in all the possible ways. The working of all the filters is both mechanical as well as biological. The steady functioning of this filter makes it work efficiently and give the best possible outcomes to us.
The aquarium filter is Highly and Inexpensive
These are available in the market of almost all the popular brands are known for their highly cheap rates. When compared with the price, the specifications and advantages provided by these filters are great in numbers.
Also, these are made up of good quality materials and are highly unbreakable. Although appearance-wise they are not that good to look at no doubt they are highly durable to use and can be anytime relied on.
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Sponge filters are super easy and comfortable to use. They are considered to be one of the most convenient filters to be fixed in your fish aquarium tanks.
We can anytime connect them to our air pumps and get benefitted from them. Because of the high economic rates of these kinds of filters, they are one of the most rated filters used in the air pumps of the aquarium tanks.
Powered with Air
The highly advanced and most comfortable products to use the filter is powered by high tech air pumps which provide us with high benefits as they can do the work of two products in a single product.
With the help of this air pump, along with sucking up the water through the sponge, it can also be used for aerating the water in order to keep it moving for twenty-four hours continuously.
In other words, we can say that these filters do the work of both the air pumps as well as filters. The air-powered aquarium can be considered to be the most efficient and widely used sponge aquarium filter of all times.
The functions and specifications of these filters make them highly popular and one of the most recommended filters in the field of aquarium cleaning.
Preferred for Small Fish Tanks
The filters which are larger in size are in many ways harmful for the fishes of the aquarium. These big filters can harm the small fry fishes and can even get them killed. They can be sucked anytime into the propellers of the filtering machines.
But if a person is using a sponge filtration machine, then there are no chances of any harm caused to the small fry fishes or other fishes too because these filters come with the facilities of being air powered.
Apart from not causing any trouble to the fry fishes, the aquarium filters also get facilitated with a food banquet which helps in feeding the fry fishes.
Also, the beneficial bacterias growing on the surface of the filter help in increasing the growth of the microorganisms which eventually provides food to the small fishes as these organisms are regarded as the best food for these small fishes.
Cleaning of the Aquarium Sponge Filter Becomes Easy
If you want to clean the sponge filter, all you need to do is take the sponge out and squeeze it a number of times in any utensil which is filled with the water which was earlier filled in any old aquarium for a longer time.
Try not to use the tap water as it will not help in providing any beneficial bacteria to the sponge. The process is highly profitable in removing the debris without even killing the beneficial bacterias.
Thus we can say that the cleaning process of the sponge filters is extremely easy and can be done in no time and can also affect us with many benefits.
Helpful in the Case of Overfeeding
It is very common for anyone to overfeed their fishes. As a person cannot always be accurate in knowing how much amount of food is the perfect amount to be fed to the fishes.
This overfeeding eventually results in the accumulation of the food in the gravel and it also makes the water look dirtier. The perfect way of cleaning the tank is by installing the good quality aquarium sponge filter which contains a sufficient amount of beneficial bacterias.
These filters take no more than twenty-four hours for cleaning the water tank and making the water clear like a crystal.
Sponge Filters are Available in a Variety of Shapes and Sizes
These are available in a number of shapes and sizes. This variability in the shape and size of the sponge filter makes it highly easy to be fitted in any tank of any size and shape.
It is a well-known fact and should always be kept in mind that the bigger is the surface area of that filter, the more is the growth of the helpful bacterias over the surface of the sponge aquarium filter and the more is the growth in numbers of these beneficial bacterias, the higher will be the decomposition of the waste present in the water of the tank.
That means it can deal with a good amount of fish waste. So in simple words, we can say that the bigger is the surface area of the filter, the higher is the capacity and capability of the aquarium sponge filters.
Type of Fish Tanks Which Can Use the Aquarium Sponge Filter
Inbreeding and Fry Aquarium Tanks
If a person is looking for an appropriate filter for his aquarium which he is using for breeding fishes, he can always go for the sponge filtration machines. The aquarium sponge filter is popularly used in breeding fishes aquarium tanks.
There are many benefits of using the sponge filtration machine in the aquariums used for breeding the aquarium fishes. Some of them are listed below –
These filters can be considered as the perfect choice for providing proper aeration and filtration to little fishes and provide the proper care.
They can never suck up or kill the small fry fishes of the aquarium with its suction. This is due to the reason that the suction of the filter is entirely spread over the surface of the sponge filters.
They provide a food banquet to the fishes, by producing microbes over its surface which are the perfect food for many fishes and can result in good health and proper growth of the fishes.
Aquarium Sponge Filter for the Guppy Tank
Many people consider keeping guppy fishes as a great hobby to pursue. In this type of guppies tanks, the sponge filter is the most preferred for cleaning the water of the tanks. Check More Filter Details
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The cleaning and filtration process of these tanks are made even easier with the help of these filters. Although, guppies are not the dirtiest fishes to be talked about, then too they produce a remarkable amount of waste which should always be taken care of.
If they are left idly, they can harm the livelihood of the fishes inside the aquarium tanks. This can also lead to the death of the fishes because of the poor water quality.
Aquarium Sponge Filters for Another Fish Tank of Relatively Smaller Size
The aquarium sponge filter is also used in small aquarium tanks which have small fishes and fry fishes and also some small Betta fishes which usually do not like the heavy turbulent flow of the water in their places.
These are the most suitable aquarium filters for such type of small tanks which would surely prevent the killing of the small fry fishes as in normal aquarium filter there lies a great risk of tiny fishes getting sucked up by the suction of the aquarium filter.