Stacking sponge filters

[Robyn]

I'd like to see a video on the proper way to stack sponge filters, including where to place the air stone.

[MJV Aquatics]

Why stack when one large enough will do just fine?

[Robyn]

The medium sponges are thinner and less obtrusive. I was thinking of maybe stacking two of those.

[TheDukeAnumber1]

3 minutes ago, MJV Aquatics said:

Why stack when one large enough will do just fine?

Why one large enough when stack will do just fine? 😝

Footprint, happens to have a couple, ect...

@Robyn

I believe ACO recommends placing it at the bottom of the green tube. IMO place it as low and it can go if it doesn't bubble out of the sponge.

Edited February 22, 2021 by TheDukeAnumber1

[MJV Aquatics]

16 minutes ago, Robyn said:

The medium sponges are thinner and less obtrusive. I was thinking of maybe stacking two of those.

Well, I wouldn't use a sponge or box filter in a display tank as they are obtrusive no matter what. Instead I'd use an Aquaclear or Tidal HOB filter (mine are filled with bio-sponge material).

Don't get me wrong, sponge filters are great - I have them in several grow out tanks - just not in display tanks. 🙂

Edited February 22, 2021 by MJV Aquatics

[Teakae]

I was also wondering about this.

I put a two and one half stacked sponge with an air stone as low as it will go. But I felt like maybe the whole length of the sponge was not getting used. So I set up another double stacked sponge with a power head on the other side of the aquarium. Based on the fact debris seems to collect at the bottom of the double stacked sponge with the power head, it must be doing something. But I am still not convinced the water is moving in through the full length of the sponge surface. 
 

I suppose I could test this with some swirling dye or something but I didn’t want to ruin a cycled sponge for an experiment.

[Teakae]

Regarding the issue of real estate space in the tank. I agree sponge filters take up lots of room and not the most beautiful thing you can see.

But since I have an overstocked goldfish tank I need all the extra filtration I can get on a budget. 
I wanted to stack the sponges since multiple stacked sponges takes up the same foot print as one. 

 

[Robyn]

That looks very similar to what I want to do.

[SawdustGnome]

I have a sponge filter in every tank i own including two that either have a HOB or a Canister for one reason alone. Power outages. Here in Alaska in the dead of winter there are times our power can go out for more than a couple hours (even as long as 3 days a few times) due to a tree falling on a power line in the middle of the woods where it can take the electricity company a while to track it down and repair the damage. In these cases I am able to plug the usb nano air pumps to a power block and i don't have to worry about the beneficial bacteria colonies. The tank will continue to cycle and once the power is back on the colonies that most likely crashed in the HOB and Canister can reestablish on their own without me having to add a bottle from the store.  Cheap insurance.

Also if you have an air going into a tank you might as well have a sponge filter attached to it in my opinion. I just hide them behind a rock or a piece of drift wood.

[Teakae]

Yes, I have taken the top half of the stacked sponge off to use in a quarantine tank when new fish arrive. It’s very convenient! 

 

[ArtPays]

I have a 10gallon-Tall in my kitchen/dining room for my Betta (12 x12 base, 19"tall).  I feel like the HOB is just stupid for this tank as the bottom doesn't get filtration without modifications where you might as well use a sponge.  Given that the footprint is more limited, and I want a taller column or greater vertical space of gentle water movement/filtration (for Mr Betta), it makes more sense to me to stack skinnier sponges.  (Will end up looking like the sponge on the intake tube of my HOB without the need to prime my noisy, too violent for a Betta, floating-plant-eater HOB.)  Wish I had a second tank like this to run experiments with sponge filters and dye, but then I'd probably just buy another Betta and neon tetras (my minions)!  I absolutely love this tank as it's just as much joy as 2 small, stacked tanks.  Looking for better-suited filtration for it.  Love the idea of having two cycled sponges available for hospital visits without giving up aquarium floor space. (1) Would also love more ideas on stacking. (2) Would also like more visual demonstrations on using a powerhead to keep noise to a minimum in "conversation areas" of the home. (3) Would love ideas/solutions for minimizing excessive water flow for a Betta tank without loosing too much filtration...WITH a stacked sponge and powerhead (anyone have a 3D printer for a fancy, yet pretty tube?).  Hope I'm not asking too much! ...A girl can wish. 

[Odd Duck]

On 10/25/2022 at 4:10 PM, ArtPays said:

I have a 10gallon-Tall in my kitchen/dining room for my Betta (12 x12 base, 19"tall).  I feel like the HOB is just stupid for this tank as the bottom doesn't get filtration without modifications where you might as well use a sponge.  Given that the footprint is more limited, and I want a taller column or greater vertical space of gentle water movement/filtration (for Mr Betta), it makes more sense to me to stack skinnier sponges.  (Will end up looking like the sponge on the intake tube of my HOB without the need to prime my noisy, too violent for a Betta, floating-plant-eater HOB.)  Wish I had a second tank like this to run experiments with sponge filters and dye, but then I'd probably just buy another Betta and neon tetras (my minions)!  I absolutely love this tank as it's just as much joy as 2 small, stacked tanks.  Looking for better-suited filtration for it.  Love the idea of having two cycled sponges available for hospital visits without giving up aquarium floor space. (1) Would also love more ideas on stacking. (2) Would also like more visual demonstrations on using a powerhead to keep noise to a minimum in "conversation areas" of the home. (3) Would love ideas/solutions for minimizing excessive water flow for a Betta tank without loosing too much filtration...WITH a stacked sponge and powerhead (anyone have a 3D printer for a fancy, yet pretty tube?).  Hope I'm not asking too much! ...A girl can wish. 

The Aquarium Coop sponges stack very nicely.  The nano size will stack on itself and the 3 larger sizes will all stack, even on each other since the core is the same size.  If you use different size sponges, you will almost certainly get uneven flow through, though, so I stick with the same size sponges when I stack them.  Any tank I have that’s tall enough, has stacked sponges.  Yes, they can be a bit intrusive, but my hubby is fond of seeing the bubbles, the sponges are black and I have black backgrounds on my tanks with tall plants, so they aren’t completely, obnoxiously, obvious.  I could wish for black parts instead of green, but that’s a lot to ask.

I do run my airstone just below the cap of the upper filter, per ACO recommendations, but I haven’t done any testing to see if running the airstone at the bottom of the core stack would be better.  I wish I had thought to do that when I just reset my 20 high!  😆 Now I have plants and snails in there already, plus an UGF with matten sponge substrate.  I do plan to reset my 29 G eventually, with another UGF and matten substrate.  Maybe I’ll play with some food coloring out on the patio after cleaning out the tank and before I reset it.  Food coloring shouldn’t hurt the BB’s.  😝 

[mynameisnobody]

This might be a good idea for a short format video.

[TeeJay]

In my 10 ga shrimp tank I double stacked 2 nano filters and I placed the air stone twords the bottom of the lower filter. On the same air pump that is running this I have a gang vale attached running 2 other aco SP mge filters as well. I get good flow thru all 3

[cavdad45]

really for that small of a tank, i would just use the small Aquarium Co-op filter, it should be planty