Sponge filter question...

[ChadO]

Greetings,

This is my first time using a sponge filter in a tank. I have the Hydro III in a 20 gallon tank - figured the extra filtration can't hurt. I have an adjustable air pump (Rena 400) hooked up to the Hydro.

My question is, how much air should I be pushing through? I can open it all the way up, and it creates a very high bubble flow up the tube, and makes a fair bit of noise at the surface. I can turn it down to a slow stream of bubbles that barely makes an noise, but the air flow is signifcantly lower - close to off on the adjustment dial. I'm not quite sure what amount of air is needed for the filter to do the job properly?

Thanks,

ChadO

[Mgamer20o0]

the more the better. more air will make more flow which will feed the bacteria.

[ChadO]

OK, thanks. Good to know.

In reading a bit more, it looks like the suggestion is to put an air stone on the "output" side of the tubing to help reduce the bubble size going up the lift tube, and therefore reducing the gurgling noise at the top of the tank/water level. I'll have to give that a try tomorrow night.

[McLendon]

Try using finer air stone to make smaller bubbles.I agree the more air the better the filter works

[Rbishop]

I love the sound personally. The more flow the better for the filtration.

[excuzzzeme]

I have a powerhead directly in the lift tube of a Hydro V and running at about 185gph on a 29. I did not connect the air as it has good flow and surface agitation without it.

[TwoTankAmin]

Flow rates rate can defintely be too high. The longer the water is in contact with the media on its way through, the better. A corrolary of this is that media volume is more important than flow rate.

I was taught to set the bubble flow rate so that it was just above where it would be countable and not high enough to make it look like carbonated water.

The air stone will help diversify the bubble flow. I use the turboflow releasers which I got at kensfish.com.

[vequalsir]

It is possible to have too many bubbles in your sponge filter. The air should be adjusted to give you the highest rate of complete bubbles.

Seen tanks that have so much blown in that the water stops flowing through the sponge.

IMO You should see space between the bubbles in the tube.

[Wheat]

Agree, space between the bubbles. The space is actually the water being lifted up the tube.

[shawnhu]

I use an airstone inside the sponge. You'll need a small airline hose cut to connect the airstone to the "bullseye". The thinner the airstone, the better. There is such a thing as too much air.