# Sponge filter enough?



## CookieM (Feb 7, 2012)

Why not both? I like HOB for media and flow current. I use sponge to keep all the good stuff there and never have to clean it.


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## Puddles (Jan 5, 2013)

Water is cooled by evaporation, which occurs when there is surface agitation. Assuming your hob was causing surface agitation, the tank should not be any cooler than it was before.

If you're unhappy with your tank now that the hob is gone, then by all means add it back! More filtration is always good and it will probably keep your water a little clearer. I always personally use a hob or canister plus a sponge filter. I just like having both methods of filtration and shrimp seem to like bubbles.


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## dprais1 (Sep 12, 2012)

I use a sponge filter only on my daughters 20 gal, a dozen guppies, a few shrimp, snails, and 2 juvie bolivian rams.

sponge filters provide a little mechanical filtration but will provide all the chemical filtration you need unless you are really overstocked.

are you sure the sponge was cycled?


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## sayurasem (Jun 17, 2011)

I hope it was cycled lol. I was using hob and the sponge filter for 4 days to let the sponge have some goodies on it.


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## Puddles (Jan 5, 2013)

If it only ran for 4 days when you took th hob out then the sponge was not ready to handle the full bio OAS. It should have been left in there for at least a month in my opinion. I'd add the hob back.


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## dprais1 (Sep 12, 2012)

yep at least a couple weeks, and that would best be with squeezing the old filter media 'junk' onto the sponge filter. 

4 days did little to nothing


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## inthepacific (Oct 21, 2012)

CookieM said:


> Why not both? I like HOB for media and flow current. I use sponge to keep all the good stuff there and never have to clean it.


well you should definitely squeeze that thing out once in a while. if theres too much gunk in it, it wont be as effective


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## sayurasem (Jun 17, 2011)

Ah okay, will put the hob back in. Btw is the sponge filter too big? It looks doesnt suck any debris that is floating around the water.


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## TankYouVeryMuch (Jul 5, 2013)

sayurasem said:


> Ah okay, will put the hob back in. Btw is the sponge filter too big? It looks doesnt suck any debris that is floating around the water.


You wont get a "thats too much filtration" answer here sir lol


I run a hob and sponge, best of both worlds


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## Soothing Shrimp (Nov 9, 2011)

dprais1 said:


> sponge filters provide a little mechanical filtration but will provide all the chemical filtration you need unless you are really overstocked.


This is the best answer I saw up there. Sponges initially remove particles and clean the water of particles, after that the bio grows and they clean the water in a different way. Canister and HOBs remove particles better, but the bio filtration on sponges can't be beat and the shrimp love to pick off them.


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## lipadj46 (Apr 6, 2011)

That is a huge sponge filter for the tank, it should be more than enough. All my tanks are sponge only and I don't notice any need for mechanical filtration. Like mentioned above it is not cycled. You should take your sponge out an squeeze it in tank water every so often depending on the tank and how heavily it is fed.


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## inthepacific (Oct 21, 2012)

btw what is that thing holding your marimo called. haha


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## Sluuuder (Feb 7, 2012)

Attach the sponge filter to the HOB  thats what i did!


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## SBPyro (Dec 15, 2009)

inthepacific said:


> btw what is that thing holding your marimo called. haha


Looks like a Gush Crystal pod.


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