Sponge Filters for 500L

[CrazyCory42]

Hiya all,

I’m resetting up my 500L tank. It currently has 2 all pond solutions EFX canister filters on it but with the price of electricity I was wondering if it would be more cost efficient to switch it across to sponge filters and an air pump.

I’ve seen other people use sponge filter very successfully even on larger tanks. However I’ve never used them myself so am unsure of the amount of sponges needed or size of air pump to properly filter an 500L tank.

It’ll eventually house 3-4 fancy goldfish with maybe 2-3 weather loaches. I haven’t decided on the final stocking it depends on the filtration etc..

 

[_Maq_]

If the price of electricity is your concern, you'd better give up the fishes you named. They make strong filtration a must.

 

[CrazyCory42]

If the price of electricity is your concern, you'd better give up the fishes you named. They make strong filtration a must.

I’ve seen lots of people keeping goldfish with sponge filters so what’s the issue? With 3-4 fancy goldfish the tank wouldn’t even be fully stocked.

 

[mort]

Hi, is this a display tank (ie in a living room or somewhere it needs to look good) or do aesthetics not mean as much?

I like sponge filters but you might have to add quite a few to filter it properly and it will come with plenty of noise. You can get over the tank filters that might be a better option. It's essentially an above the tank sump but you'd reduce the cost of one pump and would be able to fit plenty of media in it. If aesthetics are important then it won't be the nicest looking thing.
Are you able to keep plants? You could grow some Pothos out of the top to reduce nutrients.

It's hard to advise how many filters because it will depend on the size of the fish and maintenance etc but you can buy sponge filters that are stackable which means you can future proof things to a certain extent but there are many options you could look into such as full length sponges on the back, matten or hamburg style or evenue the humble undergravel filter. It really does depend on what direction you'd like to go into but I do agree that big messy fish sometimes benefit from heavy duty canister filters.