Sponge Filter For Shallow Tanks

By: bulrush
 
Comments: Is your sponge filter too tall to work in your tank? Then build a sponge filter ramp like I did and use it in shallow conditions. This is intended for use with filters that use tall sponges.

I bought a sponge filter with 2 cylindrical spongers which is supposed to stick vertically to the tank wall. It is run by air of course. The air runs out the top, drawing water with it through the sponge. Beneficial bacteria then grows on the sponge and converts ammonia and nitrites to nitrates which are less harmfull to tank critters. However I had a problem. I could only fill the tank partially full, due to the type of creatures I had in it and it would not work in a 10g tank this way. The place the bubbles exit has to be below the waterline.

So I built a ramp to stick my filter to. The bubble exit tube would be higher then the sponges allowing water to flow through the sponges.

Take a piece of lexan or acrylic, about 4 inches x 10 inches. Use silicone to glue a rock about 3/4 of the way from one end. This makes a ramp shape. After the silion dries after 12 hours, take your sponge filter and use its suction cups to stick it to the plastic ramp. Make sure the bubble exit tube is on the high end of the ramp.

Place your ramp in the tank and now you can use it in shallow water. You will need to place another rock on the low end of the filter to keep it down as the air-filled tube will want to float.
 

© bulrush
 

Now a perfectly useless sponge filter is usable in shallow water conditions.