Pump for sponge filter?

A

ax

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Looking for 1 or 2 sponge filters for my 140l tank, I know with internals and others you look for around 4 times the water per hour, what do you look for with air pumps? (especially for sponge filters )
thanks

by the way would this be ok with another for my tank?
JAD SF-101 internal aquarium biochemical sponge filter | eBay UK
 
I dont know about the air pump for sure, but i would figure you would want one that was rated the same as your filter, i have a up to 80gal sponge filter with an up to 80gal air pump, now i only have a 10 gallon tank but got this one beacuse i plan on upgrading , my air pump is adjustable so i can keep the flow down.

and that filter should be fine
 
I went for a tetratec aps 100 for my 3ft tank, got it for £14.00 delivered with a 3 year guarantee.

The APS range goes to 400L + and they are all reasonably priced, but dont forget with any air pump with simple clamps and regulators you can limit the flow to suit your tank. you would also need to use a clamp to get both filters to work, if not you would have one running and another doing naff all.

Reason i went for that pump was due to similar price to others, it looked nicer and also had 2 years more guarantee, there is also plenty of replacement parts available too!
 
I've got a inter-pet AP4 which goes to 180 L (it's used for a 3ft tank), but it has 2 outlets so one is connected to a sponge filter and the other is connected to an airstone. I've had to get a valve for it to turn the airstone down as it bubbled a little to enthusiastically and my axie got slightly scared. I only have one sponge filter in my tank at the moment and I've never had water quality issues, but then I only have one juvenile axie in there. I brought these filters

Aquarium Fish Tank Super Biochemical Bio Sponge Filter | eBay UK

because they were seriously cheap and I didn't want to waste money when I wasn't sure how well they would work. I find them better than the internal filter I had, they don't heat the water and they don't cause a current at all. My little axie loves to sit on top of it.
 
If you want to run more than one filter I would go for the most powerful air pump you can afford. In-line regulator valves can be used to adjust the air flow to your needs. Go for a well known brand such as Tetratec because, as Aaran mentions, you will need spare parts at some point - the diaphragms don't last for ever so it's a false economy to buy a pump which doesn't have spares. I use a couple of Tetratec 400 pumps and have never had problems. The spares kits are about £7 each.
 
I have the same filters as Loobylou - 1 with a T-connector for both cherry shrimp tanks (they're only 1ft plastic things), 1 for my 2ft juvie tank + 1 for my friend's 2.5ft tank with 3 adults - I do even more regular water changes on that though, as someone was meant to collect that tank + axies over a month ago, so I didn't want to(+ couldn't afford to) buy an expensive filter just for them. I bought the cheapest air pump I could find on eBay to use with it + it's doing really well actually (my other air pumps are all Tetratec, with an adjustable output valve included.

Now, MARK, WHAT IS YOUR CURRENT AVATAR PLEASE? I don't feel like I'm experienced enough with different caudates to accurately distinguish between them (it looks like an axie to me), but it's GORGEOUS :D
 
Those filters are suitable for 120-160 litre aquariums, so one in a 2.5ft should be plenty. The only problem I've found is that they are kinda ugly so I had to hide it behind some plants! I'm going to have to buy more now that my tank collection has grown... Which reminds me that I need to go and clear a space for the new 5 footer that I'm picking up Saturday. The joy of axolotls- you can never stick with just 1!
 
a clamp is similar to a regulator but instead of being like £1.50 its 30p. Also means you dont have to cut up air hose as you just attach it to the outside.

The pumps dont look the best, but you can plant into it. Algea and moss will happily grow on it, even java fern can plant onto it.

You could always as you say hide it? Behind a rock or put some plants infront of it :)

You have to balance out the flow when using 2 or more things connected to 1 airline, using clamps/regulators as if not 1 item will work well and the others wont work at all :)
 
Loobylou said:
I've got a inter-pet AP4 which goes to 180 L (it's used for a 3ft tank), but it has 2 outlets so one is connected to a sponge filter and the other is connected to an airstone. I've had to get a valve for it to turn the airstone down as it bubbled a little to enthusiastically and my axie got slightly scared. I only have one sponge filter in my tank at the moment and I've never had water quality issues, but then I only have one juvenile axie in there. I brought these filters

Aquarium Fish Tank Super Biochemical Bio Sponge Filter | eBay UK

because they were seriously cheap and I didn't want to waste money when I wasn't sure how well they would work. I find them better than the internal filter I had, they don't heat the water and they don't cause a current at all. My little axie loves to sit on top of it.
Click to expand...

I have 10 of those cheap sponge filters from eBay, and I particularly like them for larvae tanks where I need something that won't harm the larvae or their food source. The ring of small holes where the air diffuses into the airlift tube tends to gunk up eventually however, so I drill a hole through the plastic to let the air pass through again, but I need to use a clamp to regulate the flow of air after I've drilled a hole, since there's no longer enough resistance to air flow to force an even distribution of air between multiple filters that are being driven from the same source.
 
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