# Air Pumps/Sponge Filters??



## donjuan_corn (May 6, 2010)

I've had fish tanks for over 10 years. I've never used a sponge filter or air pump. Now I have a 50 gallon tall Fancy gold fish tank and would like to add a sponge filter/air pump.

Advice please? All experts, I need as much advice as possible as what to buy/not to buy and so forth.


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## hp10BII (Apr 23, 2010)

I'm a fan of sponge filters in my fry & breeder tanks, invertebrates and smaller tanks where mechanical filtration isn't as important. But I don't think my first choice for filtration is/are sponge filters for goldfish tanks. What else are you using for filtration? I relied on an eheim canister, an aquaclear hob and a power head for circulation in my goldfish tank.

For my 75 gallon discus grow out tank, I used a couple of ATI Hydor IV sponge filters paired with a Rena 400 pump. It worked well. May need a check valve for your pump if it's placed lower than the waterline of your tank. Parts are easy to get for the sponge filters and pump. There are cheaper air pumps available, but I can't speak from experience. Probably cheap enough if the diaphragm goes, you throw the pump away.


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## donjuan_corn (May 6, 2010)

Well right now i'm just running a XP3 in the tank, it's a 50 gallon tall so i have bought extra extenders for the intake and made it almost 3 feet deep.


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## Immus21 (Jun 14, 2010)

Why use the sponge filters at all? Just add an airstone or disc if you're worried about aeration. You can pack alot of bio media in an XP3 so you really shouldn't need a sponge filter.


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## donjuan_corn (May 6, 2010)

I was thinking about the extra food that has been shooting up the intake cause the telescopes take so long to eat because they are virtually blind lol. Do you recommend maybe putting a sponge on the intake for the xp3?


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## hp10BII (Apr 23, 2010)

Yeah, I think a sponge filter would be overkill for what you want it to do. A sponge over the intake would allow your goldies to pick off it instead of allowing it to rot in your canister. This would work too and maybe not as ugly:

ATI Filter Max #3


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## Immus21 (Jun 14, 2010)

I would put a prefilter over the XP3s intake for sure.


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## donjuan_corn (May 6, 2010)

Okay done and done, going to get a picture up. I also added a 10-30 gallon air pump to get some oxygen in there. I think I may still have to do water changed twice a week if I intend to have 5 telescope gold fish in a 50 gallon.

I tried the whisperer 30-60 gallon and it made so much noise it sounded like there was a car in my fricken bedroom.


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## donjuan_corn (May 6, 2010)

I'm using the whisperer 10-30 gallon in the tank and it's spliced into an air stone and a bubble flexible wand. It sounds like it's raining in my room 24/7 and I sleep like a baby. Can't hear the air pump at all the the fishies love to play in the bubbles. Wicked!

Now i'm deciding if I should go gravel in the tank or not or just small stones.


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