Question: How to make a sponger filter

[caudatadude28]

I just got 4 notos and they are in a 10 gallon. The females are laying eggs. There are three females and one male. I dont have filtration as of yet but do water changes frequently. I dont want a filter that would disturb them so I want to make a sponge filter instead of buying another wisper filter because the wisper filter in my goldfish tank does very poorly. The goldfish are in a 10 gallon and are using a wisper filter for 2-10 gallon tanks. What would be the best filter for notos? I want to find a 15 or 20 gallon at a yard sale or flea market because new ones cost 35-50 dollars around here.

 

[Jennewt]

Sponge filters are quite cheap, so I'm not sure how you'd make one for less. Also, you'd have to know how to find a kind of foam material that is open-cell and aquarium-safe; I have no idea where you'd get that.

I'd recommend just setting them up with a gentle airstone. Get a sponge filter (or box filter) when you are able to find one. A filter is not absolutely essential, particularly for small newts like Notos, which aren't big poopers.

 

[caudatadude28]

Thanks for the reply. I just dont want to use a submersible filter or waterfall filter because they have a strong current. The females are eating well but I havent seen the male eat. I am feeding chopped earthworms, live whiteworms, and frozen bloodworms. I will just wait to see how he does. How long do noto eggs take to hatch? Two weeks?

 

[Jennewt]

I agree - Notos are better off without a submersible or waterfall filter. The eggs take about 3 weeks to hatch.

 

[SludgeMunkey]

I make them out of a grouting Sponge from the Home Depot. I cut the sponge to the desired size and make a hole in it. Insert airline, and done. For 1.97USD I get 4 filters out of each one on average.

 

[Melmo]

To Jennewt, I thought you did need a filter for Notos, because of all the poison they secrete. It contaminates the water pretty quick. Anyway, just listen to everyone elses advice AJ, because I have nothing else to add on. Good luck.

 

[Jennewt]

Johnny, have you ever posted photos of that? If not, then consider that a hint

Melmo, if the newts secreted toxin into the water, a sponge filter would do nothing to get rid of it. Maybe filter charcoal would, but I don't really think this is a valid concern. Newts excrete little or none unless they are stressed. I received some "professionally shipped" (haha) Notos once, and they were shipped in a bag of water. If it were possible for a stressed Noto to poison itself in the water, they would have died, but they were fine.

 

[SludgeMunkey]

Ask ye and ye shall receive!

Please note these sponge filters are disposable. If you try to keep them too long they will fall apart. I use them strictly in breeding and rearing tanks. Each one lasts me about a month. Four months for 1.97 USD ? That's darn fine hillbilly economics in my book!



Step one: Got to your local DIY store and purchase a general purpose sponge, often sold as a grouting sponge or a painter's sponge. Here is what I buy and use. (I admit I get the bulk pack.)
http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs...langId=-1&catalogId=10053&productId=100173109 I use these sponges because they are open celled, but small enough they do not suck up valuable live foods like artemia napuli and daphnia. DO NOT USE KITCHEN OR BATHROOM SPONGES! They have caudate unfriendly chemicals in them. Natural sponges work really well too.

Next, cut and trim the sponge with a sharp pair of scissors. As a general rule, I cut lengthwise down the middle for 10 gallon tanks. I cut those two pieces across their middles and get four small filters good for rearing boxes and daphnia cultures.
Once you have it cut to the size you want, rinse the sponge out well by squeezing water in and out of it four or five times. The final time, wring as much water out of it as you can.

Next you need to make a hole in the sponge from the "top" to about 3/4 of the way to the bottom. This can be a bit tricky, so I made a tool to do this out of a piece of metal tubing about the same diameter as the airline I use.
I filed the end of it to make it like a knife edge.

Now, take your tool (Or a knitting needle) and with a twisting rotating motion "drill" your way down into the sponge. Be very careful you do not dig a hole into your hands.
(Imagine me chain smoking and twisting this thing around...)

Now you will have a nice hole in the sponge the same size as your air line.


Finally, siphon out some well cycled tank water into a bucket. Force the sponge into the water and squeeze it out really well four or five times. After the final squeeze, leave it saturated. Now insert a section of air line with a valve on it.


Now, place it in your tank, hook up the air pump, and you have a basic sponge filter!



Now, you will notice the sponge filter floats a bit when it is brand new. This is normal and does not really affect functionality much. You can let it run a few days and it should sink on it's own, if it does not, give it a squeeze or two to help saturate it.

Alternately, you can cut a slash in the bottom just deep and wide enough to stick a glass marble or two in it to weigh it down. The advantage to the marble method is that when the sponge filter reaches the end of its useful life, the marbles fall out!

I do not do the marble method any more strictly because I am very, very lazy.

Finally, do not use the marble method for adult caudates, this can be a ingestion hazard.

 

[caudatadude28]

Thankyou, that was very helpful.

 

[Jennewt]

That's a nice how-to. However, I have to point out that the resulting device is really something like a giant airstone. It doesn't really function the way that an actual sponge filter does. A sponge filter actually has the ability to trap particles by creating a small amount of suction inward through the sponge. This doesn't appear to do that.

I have lots of tanks where I have only an airstone, no actual filter. So I'm not saying this is bad. It's probably better than a typical airstone because it's larger and has more surface area for colonization. But it's not a sponge filter.

If I had any artistic ability, I'd make a drawing showing how a sponge filter sucks water into the sponge. Alas, no talent. Here's someone else's drawing:
http://www.americanaquariumproducts.com/images/graphics/spongefilterflow.jpg

 

[SludgeMunkey]

That's a nice how-to. However, I have to point out that the resulting device is really something like a giant airstone. It doesn't really function the way that an actual sponge filter does. A sponge filter actually has the ability to trap particles by creating a small amount of suction inward through the sponge. This doesn't appear to do that.

I have lots of tanks where I have only an airstone, no actual filter. So I'm not saying this is bad. It's probably better than a typical airstone because it's larger and has more surface area for colonization. But it's not a sponge filter.

If I had any artistic ability, I'd make a drawing showing how a sponge filter sucks water into the sponge. Alas, no talent. Here's someone else's drawing:
http://www.americanaquariumproducts.com/images/graphics/spongefilterflow.jpg

Trust me on this one, they work!

The upward flow of air through the sponge draws water into the cells along with particulates. I based this design off of sponge filters I used to purchase a few years back. They were much fancier, with a weighted base, but functionally the same.

The real issue is to make sure you have a very tight fit between the hole and the air line. If you see bubbles coming out around the air line, it will not work as well. Ideally, if constructed properly, you will get a few streams of small bubbles from out the top end of the sides.