sponge virus under gravel filters?

[margie]

I have a 29 gallon and have used under gravel for a 20 years. cheaper and seem to work okay. But after watching the video about spnge filters i was wondering if they would be easier than vacuuming every other week?  I have plants which seems to disrupt them. I only have a bout 1 inch or so of gravel so the under gravel can pull it through better.  If i were to change to sponge to keep from having to vacuum or am I still going to be vacuuming  the tank?   

[Paul]

The short answer is yes you will. Sponge filters are great biological filters but not so much on the mechanical filtration so there’s still going to be stuff in the gravel. So you’re going to have to do tank maintenance regardless of the type of filtration you use.

[Paul]

Just one more thing under gravel filtration offers much more surface area for biological filtration than a sponge. If it ain’t broke don’t fix it.

[margie]

okay thank you.