Christhefishman Posted August 5, 2022 Share Posted August 5, 2022 Hey everyone, Quick question just looking for some opinions! I’ve got a 29 gallon with a pair of sub adult convicts. Male is about 3 inches, female is right at the 2 inch mark. Right now I’ve got an Aquaclear 70 running as well as a Medium size Aquarium Co Op sponge filter. I’m curious what you all think about running this tanks filtration with just the sponge filter. This AC70 just seems huge for this tank bow. Plus, every time the convicts breed, the fry only stay at the side of the tank with the sponge filter. I imagine this is because even on its lowest setting, the Aquaclear is throwing too strong of a current for them to swim in. The Aquaclear70 also makes it frustratingly hard to keep floating plants without putting together plant barriers around the filter. Could this tank with this stock be handled by just the sponge filter? As it stands my water quality is always fine, I do my weekly changes each week and I have multiple pothos plants growing with their roots submerged so I never see nitrates creep above 10ppm by the time it’s water change day. Would taking off the Aquaclear totally overwhelm the bacteria in the tank? And could it be fine long term with just a sponge filter (or 2 sponges if need be)? Let me know what you think. Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flumpweesel Posted August 5, 2022 Share Posted August 5, 2022 I don't see why not. You might need to do an extra water change while the bacteria re-establishes itself. Don't touch the glass for the week before removing and the week after so the removal is the only distribution to the tank. If it doesn't work you can always put it back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brandon p Posted August 5, 2022 Share Posted August 5, 2022 Yes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atitagain Posted August 5, 2022 Share Posted August 5, 2022 I only have a medium ACO sponge filter in my 29G and it’s all good. Mine has guppies (lots of babies) and plenty of plants. Like @Flumpweesel is saying just take precautions when removing the HOB. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gardenman Posted August 5, 2022 Share Posted August 5, 2022 If you watch YouTube videos of hobby and professional breeders, to say nothing of pet shops, you'll find that nearly everyone uses just a sponge filter or two for every tank no matter how crowded or overstocked the tanks are. Sponge filters work without complications. They're the cheap, easy way to filter a tank and do it well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christhefishman Posted August 5, 2022 Author Share Posted August 5, 2022 Awesome thanks so much for the replies everyone! I’ve been keeping fish for over 10 years but that whole time I’ve always been a bit nuts about filtration (multiple HOBs, big canisters, ect.) and it wasn’t until just recently I checked out a vid from Cory about how a lot of the time “less is more” depending on the circumstance. After diving into that I found a lot of people who have total success just running sponge filters. I’m going to take your advise and give this a shot. I have no issue with doing extra maintenance for a bit after removing the HOB and I’m excited to have the tank be a bit calmer and not have babies being blown around all over the place from all the crazy water flow! Believe it or not I’ve never used sponge filters until recently, I’ve always had HOBs and canisters. I love the functionality of the co op sponge filter but out of curiosity do you guys have good luck with coarse sponge filters or finer ones? The male convict loves to dig so I’m not sure if that would clog up a fine sponge a lot faster than a coarse one but I know technically the finer ones can house more bacteria. I’ve been very happy with the coarse co op one so far though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lefty o Posted August 5, 2022 Share Posted August 5, 2022 On 8/5/2022 at 11:12 AM, Christhefishman said: Awesome thanks so much for the replies everyone! I’ve been keeping fish for over 10 years but that whole time I’ve always been a bit nuts about filtration (multiple HOBs, big canisters, ect.) and it wasn’t until just recently I checked out a vid from Cory about how a lot of the time “less is more” depending on the circumstance. After diving into that I found a lot of people who have total success just running sponge filters. I’m going to take your advise and give this a shot. I have no issue with doing extra maintenance for a bit after removing the HOB and I’m excited to have the tank be a bit calmer and not have babies being blown around all over the place from all the crazy water flow! Believe it or not I’ve never used sponge filters until recently, I’ve always had HOBs and canisters. I love the functionality of the co op sponge filter but out of curiosity do you guys have good luck with coarse sponge filters or finer ones? The male convict loves to dig so I’m not sure if that would clog up a fine sponge a lot faster than a coarse one but I know technically the finer ones can house more bacteria. I’ve been very happy with the coarse co op one so far though. ive not been a long time sponge user, but i do prefer the coarse as im not a weekly tank cleaner, so they sometimes go a while without being cleaned. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christhefishman Posted August 5, 2022 Author Share Posted August 5, 2022 On 8/5/2022 at 12:41 PM, lefty o said: ive not been a long time sponge user, but i do prefer the coarse as im not a weekly tank cleaner, so they sometimes go a while without being cleaned. Okay great good to know! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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