King of water clarity? Why the Box Filter is a secret weapon for your aquarium!

Box Filters, one of the oldest ways to filter a fish tank using only air, but did you know they are a secret weapon for amazing water clarity? Let me explain why.
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Music
"Envision" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
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[@markknif9876]

So glad you did this video on the box filter being a good choice for small tanks. Maintaining a hang on tank filter, changing the replacement cartridge may be easy but cleaning the unit is not so easy. I'm running Betta tanks using under gravel and box filters and the tanks are crystal clear and the Bettas are happy and healthy.

[@underdog1117]

When I was a kid back in the 70s. I used to be able to buy them for less than a dollar. Me and my friends always kept two in our tanks.One was packed with gravel, the other ,, had filter floss and carbon. We never touched the one that was packed with gravel. there was an old guy who sold fish out of his garage. He told us to do that. we very rarely had any problems with our tanks. his rule of thumb was one box with Pea gravel every 20 gallons.

[@jj680l]

Yes my thoughts exactly. Also if you have a new tank, quarantine tank, or hospital tank and you need a cycled filter, just grab some gravel from an established tank and you have an instantly cycled filter.

[@sibleywarrior07]

Commented on last video. I use these for my caridina shrimp tanks. I replicate the breeders over in Asia. So I fill these with active substrate to help buffer the water and PH. Basically it's a UGF box method for breeding shrimp. Only need to change out substrate every 1-2 years

[@Tikistribe]

Love this as a backup for power outages too

[@smartin7531]

I still have a few "new in box" box filters from the 90's. I rarely have to replace one unless I manage to break the airline connection point. They are great for quarantine tanks.

[@vikkirountoit497]

Really like this series. And I really like my box filters. Gravel and a small wad of floss that I replace when ever I need it. After all, I need something about maintaining planted tanks to be easy, and this is it. l wish I had some of the old school heaters!

[@ejfishes7610]

Love box filters! I saw a video on KZbin a few years ago where they made their own. I’ve made several myself and they’re great. I use them in combination with my sponge filters. Have an AWESOME Christmas Bentley! Eric

[@unrelativistic]

These are really great as a supplemental filter. For example, I run an undergravel filter in my shrimp / CPD tank. It does a fantastic job of biological filtration and even mechanical filtration due to all the surface area. But even with the carbon inserts on the end of the uplift tubes, it really doesn't support much chemical filtration. I have some driftwood that has been leaching tannins for months & I would rather have clear water. So putting some activated carbon or purigen in one of these is an ideal way to mop that up.

[@scottcahala7779]

I like the way you got everyone in the conversation. I like the box filters . All the filters have there place. Use what works best for your fish tank needs

[@mcaquatics3143]

In the 30+ years ive been in the hobby, i have used box filters, ugf, sponge etc. I always go back to either box, ugf, or hob. Ive got box filters and heaters from the 70s. Box filters from the 60s and still in service

[@lewisstanley3031]

Thank you Bently for your knowledge on aquariums. I look forward to watching your posts. My 15 and 32 gallon Fluval tanks are awesome. The water is perfect after watching you and listening to Rojas. A very smart aquarium man. When I do a water change I'm finding out Fritz complete works the best. I haven't lost any fish or had stressful fish. It makes me so comfortable knowing there healthy and happy. The snails are constantly moving and stopping like they should. Thumbs up.

[@jonisolis9645]

First filter I ever bought and used back in the 70's. Yes, they clean the water up nice! You can DIY larger ones for small ponds and get rid of the green water!

[@westtxyo3171]

Thank You!! I love this OG filter. I used to just refresh the carbon and replace the cotton balls. Easy and cheap. Plus I love the bubbles. I do now use the filter floss. But yea cotton balls would still work. I use this method still in a greenhouse pond with gold fish and a small round shrimp aquarium. Water is clear on both. It is all about money with companies. So yea this long term investment does not break down much. Well maybe replacing the air stones or the pumps...I guess maybe it comes down to the cosmetic aspect of your tank/pond. Truly tho these lil boxes truly rock. It's a lost tool for the hobby.

[@fookingsog]

I made something similar by inverting a powerhead, 3D printing an adapter that screws on to a square PET-G bottle that has the bottom cut off with skimmer holes punched around the cut off bottom perimeter. I initially designed it to remedy a duckweed problem. It very quickly took care of the duckweed problem but also did an incredible job of ACTIVELY "polishing" the water column!!! All I have to do is change the polyester floss!!! I use this on a 40 Gallon breeder!!! In addition to this I also use 2 double sponge airlift filters. Nice thing about the sponge filters is that shrimp can feed off the particles on the surface of the sponge filter!!! Key to filtration is surface area if the filtration media.

[@KoroWerks]

Surface Skimming is the GOAT

[@BTQ410]

I just found your channel and loved this episode. I have a heavily stocked heavily planted large community tank with 2 reg bristlenose plecos and one super red bristlenose pleco, 4 sterbai Cory’s, 6 American Flagfish (killifish) and a bunch of mutt guppies. I also have a second small tank with a betta, 2 red sail Venezuelan Cory’s and a bunch of blue dream neocaradina shrimp. I use a large Seachem Tidal HOB and a sponge filter on my large tank and a small HOB on my small tank. I played around with filters for several years on my large overstocked tank and finally realized if I combined a large filtration system with a sponge I got beautiful water. I have had that combo running for a while and can get away with monthly water changes. I have toyed with the idea of switching my HOB to a canister, but haven’t seen a real need so I may do that in the future. In any case, the box filter will be on my list for future options and I may try it in place of the sponge filter, especially if I switch to a canister as that would allow me to pull the polishing filtration out of the canister and use that space for more bio filtration media. Good reminder that there are a ton of options out there. Good discussion.

[@mikegilmer3938]

Simple, cheap, and efficient is always better . . . 👍👍👍

[@malcomreynolds2403]

Thank you Bentley. I love this series. Great job buddy!

[@darrylmoore5847]

This has been such a fun series of videos.

[@stevecox8066]

Now you're talking sense. Got four of them en route from Amazon. I've already got air going into each tank anyway and plenty of gang valves. I always use air pumps rated much higher than needed so no worries sharing for another piece of equipment. I'm actually going to try one on my salt tank as well.

[@Glenn_AE6YT]

One of the fish stores I worked in in the 70s had all box filters in the livestock tanks. One a week we would change them, all 100-plus of them. We had a big trashcan on wheels and we'd collect them all and take them to the back room, dump out the filter floss, wash them out, and refill with floss. It took most of an afternoon if you had no help. I doubt we could have done that many sponge filters in a day. I keep one for when I need a filter media other than a sponge.

[@sairvinginthestacks]

When I got back into keeping fish, the first thing i did was dig through the box of supplies my parents had from the 80's. They must have had 6 old box filters of varying sizes. Yes, they really do work.

[@ez-e9831]

Spot on Bentley, Best out there

[@Handygrrl]

I subscribe to this channel to learn something new-to-me, even if it's "old school". I also read every comment and it appears that your viewers are mostly advanced fishkeepers, so I learn from them too! Why view a channel just to make negative comments? I guess it's good for Google algorithms, but I thank you for the content as someone who's always learning more about this fascinating hobby. Phew! Sorry so long...Does one typically/historically add the box filter to other filters in a tank or just use them alone?

[@AverageJoeTanks]

Fun video! I have the large jehmco on all my 20 gallon high and the Penn plax on my 20 gallon longs. Love them.

[@davidhess6899]

That's all I used in the late 60's early 70s. 10 and 20 gal. mostly

[@leo2o915]

I love this series!!

[@3173kiki]

I’ve only had my 5.5g Betta tank for about 5 months. It has one Betta and one Nerite snail, but they are m-e-s-s-y!!! The tank is a kit that came with a HOB filter, which has been “ok” at filtering. I’ve been wanting to switch to air powered due to power outages through the summer and I could use a battery backup air pump. I’ve been contemplating these box filters, but there’s not a ton of reviews out there. Thank you for this video! I’m definitely going to try one👍

[@shannonrhoads7099]

I am sure someone has mentioned it, but you can put all sorts of media in the humble box filter. You mentioned gravel as a biological media, and it would also serve as ballast. Get a filter baggie and fill it with carbon, zeolite, resin or other chemical media and toss it in there. Prep a new media bag before maintanence, and tadaa! You just provided roughly the same types of filtration as a HOB or canister in miniature.

[@FishCapadesProductions]

I love the hob tidal 55 I have on my 29 along with the hygger double sponge filter with biomedia at the bottom of each sponge neither takes up floor space and the hob is what I use for the filter floss and more mechanical filtration. On my 10 gallon I have a normal sponge both my sponge filters are fine so not so messy when it's maintenence time like the course co op filters. I also have a finnex nano hob for extra mechanical on my 10 and love that too because like the tidal it's VERRY flow adjustable. Gives me infinite filter options on each tank. ❤

[@DuxDad1]

Love box filters, have several different kinds, favorite is the old Luster now sold by Jemco, also have the small square PenPlax you showed in a 10 gal guppy tank along with a Coop sponge. My least favorite, forget brand , has three pointy thingeys to hold the air hose. Works OK but the thingeys break easily. Also have a bunch of Aquaclears

[@AQUARIUMFREAK123]

i had my 29 gal TANK that i could not keep the water clear looking... Water changes only worked for a day or 2 , but clouded up.. POWER FILTERS also did not give that crystal clear water i wanted.. ONLY WHEN I TRIED THE LEES BIG BOX FILTER did the water look amazing.. It has something to due with POLYFILL and the SPEED in which the water flows thru the POLYFILL.. all of my aquarium designs must hold the BOX FILTER.

[@Hemmer5]

I want to add one of these to my current setup, but would like a larger model. I think I’ll get the smaller one anyway as I don’t think they make a larger one at all. I have airline available. Thanks Bentley !

[@Fish_and_things_with_lando]

Thank you so much for all your information I find this very helpful I’ll have to try one of these out so thanks again Bentley … I really like this series… Lando

[@michaelcabiroy8126]

You can almost say the same thing about under gravel filters. It is low tech and it works really well.

[@johnnybest6386]

Every surface in your tank eventually has BACTERIA ,,,,,,,, THIS WORD MEANS SO MUCH TO ME .....THANK U AFTER ALL MY 100 YEARS ON EARTH TODAY I JUST LEARN ANOTHER LESSON THAT WILL BE FOR LIFE ....❤

[@marktopp745]

Funny only talking about these box filters the other week. True back in the 70-80’s they were the main option. And yes they really kept the water pristine. Ahh the good old days.

[@travisstreeter5092]

great job

[@kurtbrutting5118]

I’m sold!

[@what_surrounds]

Bentley, much enjoyed the negative / positive series. What about the combination of methods? My system is very old school and it works. An UGF set up as a slow moving plenum ( anoxic - biological) + 3 box filters for mechanical only (the older version), distributed for water movement and aeration. Requires one air pump and a gang valve. I have 2 40 gal. breeders running this way for now almost a year. I have minimal nitrates, clear water, no algae. I have a 3 inch inert clay substrate (safe-t-sorb) with laterite powder. The plants love it once established (mostly rooted plants) and the fish are healthy. The system is largely power outage proof. One note on the box filters: airline system should also be cleaned at the filter from debris; use a pipe cleaner.If the box filter becomes noisy the filter medium needs to be replaced, usually about every 6 weeks, This set up is the lest expensive system for those of us on a budget. (And yes I have had canisters filters, HOB etc. and would not go back to them.) Maintenance on this combined system is exceedingly simple and takes very little time with minimal mess.

[@exitar1]

Do you have the old dynaflo filter?

[@chevyfish4028]

NASCAR pit crew...love it. I always like that fry got through the intake slots and were able to pick and eat food particles off the filter floss while themselves staying safe from being eaten inside the filter for weeks as they grow. I still have some of my box filters.

[@meminustherandomgooglenumbers]

Did they ever grow too big while they were in there and get stuck? I found some babies living in a HOB a couple times

[@chevyfish4028]

I would open the filter and let them go when they got big enough. ​@@meminustherandomgooglenumbers

[@superaquatics]

Agreed 100%. 👏👏👏👌👍

[@nozr1383]

You can't beat the old school!

[@meminustherandomgooglenumbers]

Neat, thanks! So it works kinda like a sponge filter but has floss and an exoskeleton? 🤔

[@BentleyPascoe]

Pretty much!

[@nixequestrian3721]

Have an 18 year old box filter running in one of my outdoor tubs- invincible is right! lol

[@wcdeich4]

I wonder what would happen if you put sponge material & gravel inside one & used magnets to attach it to the side of the tank.

[@jayblomquist3339]

I had 2 comet goldfish a box filter gravel . those 2fish lasted for fifteen years I had 4 other tanks with undergravel all super clear never green water.

[@davidspangler-dk8ug]

You might be out of your mind but not because of this. I would add that the ability to add other media makes boxes flexible. Thanks Bentley.

[@JohnWood-tk1ge]

Cheap,does a good job polishing water no moving parts,always starts after power outages what’s not to love?

[@cweber9112]

I had no idea box filters existed, lol. I have always used HOB’s and canisters.

[@cooliipie]

How does it deal with tannins?

[@jeffkane4391]

One of my favorite combinations is the box filter and the sponge filter. You can rotate the cleaning so you never over clean a tank. Just a personal opinion based on my experience. In the end, people should be using the filtration that best suits their fish and fish keeping style. And not overthink it.

[@alekkoomanoff7281]

Like he said... Back in the day,we used glass wool rather than filter floss.

[@GregGuppyGuy]

I cut a sponge square and use it in place of the filter floss works great too

[@josephgadway8950]

I have used box filters since the '70s. I now think it is better to remove the waste from the water instead of leaving waste in the water. I still use box and sponge filters. I am a fan of putting a power head in my tank, attaching a hose to it and putting media in a container above the tank. Makes the water spotless, also. Yes, all filtration does work. Easier is just easier. Why not?

[@meminustherandomgooglenumbers]

Might not be ideal for a 5g or 10g or many types of cramped or showpiece type display setups I guess 🤔

[@bensabelhaus7288]

As I commented on your last video, I inherited a couple of these, one appearing complete. I'm finally going to set it up, but my concern is the filter floss. It appears to be a polyester material. Are you aware of any organic / biodegradable alternatives that I can just toss in my garden? Cotton balls as an example? Or perhaps something like rice hulls?

[@BentleyPascoe]

You actually don't want anything that is biodegradable because it will degrade inside the aquarium and that can create other problems. It's similar to why we don't ever use pure cotton for spawning mops we always use acrylic yarn. I know it's not as great for the environment, but it's kind of a necessary evil

[@bensabelhaus7288]

@@BentleyPascoe hmmmmm So the question then becomes what fiber can be made that small and as it breaks down provides beneficial things like alder cones or catappa leaves do. Fortunately Ethnobotany is my real interest ahead of fish lol Now you've triggered that must know more part of my brain and I'm off to study. Willow comes immediately to mind as I know the roots are medicinal and (I forget which at the moment) have antimicrobial properties. I use them in one aquarium and both ponds to aid in cleaning.

[@BentleyPascoe]

@@bensabelhaus7288 if you find a great answer I'd love to hear your results!

[@bensabelhaus7288]

@@BentleyPascoe well, first thing I'm doing is cleaning up the old marbles in it. That interests me too lol

[@bensabelhaus7288]

@@BentleyPascoe Darn this ADHD / Autistic brain. I'm already doing this, just on a much larger scale lol I use barley straw in my pond to help with algae control. As it breaks down it releases small amounts of hydrogen peroxide. Which brought me to, why even replace the floss? After the mechanical filtration provided by lava rock, it passes through a final filter of a bed of moss. So I think as an initial experiment, I'm going to set it up with lava rock, then moss in place of the floss. Clean it on occasion and remove the excess moss as it grows. My fry hangout in clumps of it as is. The barley straw comes in contained bales and I need to replace it next season so I'll try that out later and just see what (if any lol) filtration the moss provides. Based on how much it holds when I harvest it from ponds, I bet It's better than I expect (but still not up to floss). I'm thinking cattail fibers (not the fluff) or nettle as both as cordage hold up pretty well in aerobic freshwater. Edit: I'm 99% sure I can't use cedar cambium, but I need to verify that. Was used as a diaper lining back in the day.

[@AquariumFun-sy2jt]

Now that Aquarium Co-Op has there new lift tube, I wonder if they'll come out with a box/corner filter to work with it. :)

[@shannonrhoads7099]

I believe the Penn-Plax and Lee's box filters can be used with Penn-Plax and Lee's undergravel lift tube kits and that tnhey use the same lift tube diameter. Not 100% sure on that though. I might try it.

[@Whitewing89]

Cheap and durable, plus you don't need to buy specific floss cartridges. So basically the opposite of an iPhone or cartridge printer. That exsplains why you tend not to see them in stores.

[@laurabustos6560]

Hola Bentley and fellow fish nerds! Wishing everyone a cheerful and spicy holiday, whatever flavor you may celebrate and if you don't partake, a peaceful and relaxing day! Edit; my question w/ box filters is, if you were doing a deep substrate or slanted substrate like your fallen forest, could you theoretically bury the bottom of the box to hide it and just leave the top clear to go in and change out media? That's would really help to hide the funky look.

[@BentleyPascoe]

Potentially yes you could because it is in taking water through the upper slats. The only problem I might come when you need to clean it. If you unbury it, you might have to mess with it a lot to rebury it

[@deadmike714]

Lustar !!!

[@scotth9881]

Fishman on KZbin makes some pretty cool box filters.

[@johnnybest6386]

Coarse sponge filter i am starting to fi d faults in ways beside been a powerhouse in biological filtration but i dont know why i did not go the fine sponge filter route......all my scuds living inside the coarse sponge coop op filter and causi g my water quality lookong cloudy

[@rickbooher8224]

I use to use all under gravel filter for micro organism and a hob for polishing the water it was hreat. Unfortunately i moved i had to temporarily store all my aquatic equipment and my storage la ker got broken into and all my tanks and equipment was stolen so i never got back to buying new equipment. But while i had the aquariums set up i had live plants and even over stocked many of the tanks but never had a crash in 15 years. Lately I have been thinking about restarting but I want to recreate what I had as filtration but it hard to find undergravel filters any more today as it was back then there wwere many more manufacturers and sizes were plentiful available. Every fish store sold them. Now i think there is only one company still making them and the cost though is almost as much as a hob or do a sump. I hate it a tried and true method being much easier has been so lied about and pushed out of the market place for more of high tech filter systems are mimicking what the undergravel filter did. Also never had to worry about starting back filters, if you had a power outage once the power comes back on the filter automatic starts wirhout no interaction and if air driven you can get battery backup airpumps the dont stop pumpings air and with a small computer backup power run for days.

[@redline8225]

I wonder if I could 3d print one of these to my own specs 🤔

[@TheSpalty]

Maybe it’s a geographical thing, but when I was younger I never saw these with filter floss. Only ever seen these full of gravel or crushed coral

[@Wulfenite295]

Are they shrimp safe ?

[@BentleyPascoe]

Relatively, though honestly the best shrimp filter is typically a sponge or matten for the surface area to graze on

[@Wulfenite295]

@@BentleyPascoe could I use both at the same time?

[@trogdordog04smith95]

Commenting for the algorithm

[@johnnybest6386]

Scuds invading my coop op coarse sponge filter and so i decide to get back into my okd modern box filter

[@BentleyPascoe]

A friend uses the co-op sponge to gather up scuds from his colony then transports them to a tank for feeding fish. Smartest alternative use of a sponge I'd ever heard of

[@johnnybest6386]

@@BentleyPascoe sounds like a good idea

[@Drifter69]

Pull the old floss out .. new floss in.. clean old floss.. re use

[@pernellmarshall8786]

The real question is, can you attach the Aquarium Co-op lift tubes to them?

[@KoroWerks]

Don't give Cory any ideas

[@pernellmarshall8786]

@@KoroWerks hell, Cory is probably already designing box filters to go with the lift tubes lol

[@nabokovfan87]

Might be the thing to do if you run an air stone.... Just replace it with that.

[@IanPanganiban]

Sold out in Canada 😢. Don’t really want to spend 30 bucks in shipping

[@BentleyPascoe]

There are a few other types, or just wait, I'm sure it will restock shortly

[@johnkonkin2687]

it ass good ass a gravall fillter butt your canister have a buffer pad just like fillter floss .........butt all and all i say your right

[@johnnybest6386]

Deep eco complete subtrate capped withbsand after disturbed dubtrate releasing gas all the poop - mulm been kicked around raising amonia time to return back to the old days of aquarium in the late 80's

[@pattiespetitetanks6181]

In your last video you said Box filters suck?!?!?! kzbin.info/www/bejne/Y4nHp6uinJmNfrM I disagreed

[@charlesmorris6476]

Dude! Hang on the back is way better for clearing the water, it self contained, and not even in the aquarium you detach it from the back of the aquarium, empty it out and put fresh filter, floss, charcoal, whatever, and I don’t care how careful you are most of the time you get waste leaching out in the aquarium from an in tank box filter. Hang on the back filters much easier to deal with. You don’t need to reach down and get all wet and do all that nonsense, much more versatility, and better cleaning with a hang on the back. but you go ahead and do you you seem to have healthy and successful aquariums, whatever works for you, just telling it like it is it seems so obvious that I hang on the back is superior to a box filter in the aquarium and much more versatile than an aquarium box filter. It’s super old-school. I’ve been keeping aquarium since I was, about 10 years old and I’m now 70 so I was around in the early days of fishing, and we’ve certainly come along way since then. Enjoyed your video and your aquariums.👍

[@charlesmorris6476]

Dude, it’s also so simple to make an in aquarium box filter out of a clear plastic bottle or just about any plastic container for free why pay seven or eight or $10 dollars?

[@johnnybest6386]

Sponge filters is know getting me on my last nerve?

[@exitar1]

Do you have the old dynaflo filter?