Help!? Dueling Filters Dilemma

[natnhat]

 I've watched a lot of your filter videos & wanted a sponge filter for my tank. I think it's 40 or 50 gallon bow front tank. I like super clean water so I got the biggest sponge filter I could find off of Amazon. But I'm not sure it's working... I'm worried I don't have enough suction for the filter. It was much bigger than I thought it would be! Takes up maybe 1/5th of the tank.   I've got lots of bubbles coming out of the top but it's been 3 or 4 weeks and there's still nothing on the sides of the filter. I also use a HOB filter I think it's for a 55/75 gal tank. So maybe I've just got too much filtration? I don't know!   I hope & pray this letter finds you well. I'm attaching a couple pictures to help. I'm SO grateful for any and ALL help I can get!  Thanks SO much for your help!

Edited March 22, 2021 by natnhat
Adding pictures

[AquaAggie]

I am not an expert but you have more than enough filtration. Also you don’t have a very heavily stocked tank. Your only big waste producer appears to be the pleco hiding behind the sponge filter. If you feed appropriately you may not have a lot of gunk to pick up. Some say you can’t over filter, but I don’t know that you need both. Either one should be adequate I think but your HOB takes up a lot less space. 
 

*also you probably get more traffic posting in the General Discussion section rather than photos videos and journal section because I don’t know that this is that. Good luck. 

[natnhat]

I've watched a lot of filter videos & I wanted to start running a sponge filter but I think I maybe over did it!! I tried posting this in the pictures section but I didn't get much help. Someone said to try it here...

I think it's 40 or 50 gallon bow front tank. I like super clean water so I got the biggest sponge filter I could find off of Amazon. But I'm not sure it's working... I'm worried I don't have enough suction for the filter. It was much bigger than I thought it would be! Takes up maybe 1/5th of the tank. 

 

I've got lots of bubbles coming out of the top but it's been 3 or 4 weeks and there's still nothing on the sides of the filter. I also use a HOB filter I think it's an aqueon whisper 55/75 gal tank. So maybe I've just got too much filtration? I don't know! 

 

I hope & pray this letter finds you well. I'm attaching a couple pictures to help. I'm SO grateful for any and ALL help I can get!

 

Thanks SO much for your time! I'm new to fish forums & fairly new to the hobby, so please be kind!

[Ryan F]

If I had to guess I'd say the sponge is too fine. It's not exactly clear in the photo how dense the sponge is but it looks pretty dense. It's offering too much resistance to the limited pull of the bubbles. Try running it without an air stone. The larger bubbles will be louder but have a stronger pull, thus filtering more water through the sponge. If you are still unhappy you can hook it up to a power head.

You could also take it out and give it a good squeeze to see how much it's actually collecting. My bet is that the interior is full of a lot of very fine mulm. 

[awymorePDX]

That thing is huge!

 

It looks like you don't have a ton of fish in the tank. With the combined low bio-load and large amount of filtration, it doesn't seem abnormal that you wouldn't see a ton of buildup on the sponge. What does the cartridge look like in the HOB?

[Chiclid addict]

3 hours ago, natnhat said:

 

I've watched a lot of filter videos & I wanted to start running a sponge filter but I think I maybe over did it!! I tried posting this in the pictures section but I didn't get much help. Someone said to try it here...

I think it's 40 or 50 gallon bow front tank. I like super clean water so I got the biggest sponge filter I could find off of Amazon. But I'm not sure it's working... I'm worried I don't have enough suction for the filter. It was much bigger than I thought it would be! Takes up maybe 1/5th of the tank. 

 

I've got lots of bubbles coming out of the top but it's been 3 or 4 weeks and there's still nothing on the sides of the filter. I also use a HOB filter I think it's an aqueon whisper 55/75 gal tank. So maybe I've just got too much filtration? I don't know! 

 

I hope & pray this letter finds you well. I'm attaching a couple pictures to help. I'm SO grateful for any and ALL help I can get!

 

Thanks SO much for your time! I'm new to fish forums & fairly new to the hobby, so please be kind!

From the pictures it looks like your sponge is to fine if I had to recommend what to do I would get 1-2 large Co-Op sponge filters I have never had a good experience with other sponge filters 

[mynameisnobody]

@natnhat As stated above, it seems like the sponge filter is too fine and unnecessarily oversized. It’s not that there is too much filtration, it’s more like you absolutely will not need that amount of filtration, especially with the aid of plants. I would return that sponge filter to Amazon before the return window closes. Then go purchase the Aquarium Coop large sponge filter, add an air stone, and you’re good to go. If you want to shell out a bit more money, I’d invest in some easy plants. This way you get the benefit of nature’s best filter, without making the center piece of the aquarium your sponge filter. Bigger is not always better. Good luck dude. 

[Brian]

You will be fine.  You don’t have a heavy bio load and I would bet the HOB filter is doing must if not all the mechanical filtration.  If you don’t mind the looks of that sponge you can leave it for extra air/filtration, but it’s not needed in my opinion.  I bet the filter pads/cartridge in the HOB have some detritus?

Good Luck