We need to stop thinking sponges and/or sponge filters are the answer to everything.

[@HAL-dm1eh]

I know who it was who helped make the sponge popularity explode in the last few years and I have to admit he got me to buy one of his prefilter sponges for the intake of my Eheim classic canister. I soon realized what a hassle it was as it was ugly for a display tank and would get clogged too soon. I then had to reach my hand in there and dislodge it and pull it out. Then half the debris stuck to it comes right back off into the tank water. The "solution" to this is now use BOTH hands to capture it in a plastic bag before pulling it out, ringing it out and having to reach in again to replace it. No thanks! Thanks for your information. I really appreciate it. I know you said before that other professionals don't know why you bother with the average hobbyist but I'm glad you did. There are those of us out there who do listen and do use critical thinking.

[@bonniegoodwin5653]

Ugh! I have a sponge filter in my quarantine tank and I absolutely hate it. I don’t like cleaning it and to be truthful I don’t think it works that well. Thanks for the video! I’m going to get this off my wish list and I to my tank! Thanks 😊

[@dan_real_review]

I also use box filters. I put a handful of gravel in the bottom half (biological). Than a wad of filter floss on the top half. My last bag of poly-fill was five bucks for the big bag. I'm still using it a year later. The poly-fill is very fine and will polish your water much better then a sponge ever can. I also make an extension from pvc pipe to bring the bubbles to the top of the tank (less noise) The flow through the box filter is slow so I still do recommend some type of power driven filtration. In fact 2 filters and 2 heaters are in all my tanks. That way if anything fails you are covered for a few days till repairs are made.

[@DaveAttwood-m4j]

takes me back to my youth in the early 70's and as long as you didn't break it would still work today cheapest filter around

[@taintedmeat9740]

Been using box filters for years they are versatile. Sometimes I use a piece of PVC over the output tube and run it to the surface and get a little water fountain effect and it runs quieter like that as a side benefit.

[@geraldoyo1]

Yes, I remember using those when I was a kid. We put some activated charcoal in the bottom below the floss. That kept them weighted down, never had any floating problems.

[@growclipbonsaiforseniors1951]

Excellent. Simply excellent.

[@NorthLVLowRoller]

I have one of those in my Goldfish egg tank right now because of how light the flow is, removes all the gunk that builds up at the top. I also have another one that I cut the outlet tube in half and made a tiny brine shrimp hatchery. They are awesome little filters, I've always loved box and corner filters.

[@buzzboger9189]

I just removed my HOB and sponge filter and put one of these in my 20T to try it. Thanks for the information, Dr. Novak.

[@mcaquatics3143]

being an old school fish keeper its greatg to see someone advocate the trusty ol box filter for once, in my fishroom where i may have up to 40 tanks going, i use mainly plenums, dirt magnets, or box filters, i add a little gravel to the bottom of mine to weight it down and are some from the 60s and 70s. over the years of using them, i have to say that i perfer the box filters over the sponge filters, but also love my plenums, and i have them in tanks up to a 310, my 240s have a combo of a diy plenum and large box filters. im not a fan of sumps or canisters, and have just as good of luck if not better using what i do, but yet people say that i need to get with the times and spend way more money on things that for me, are not needed, i dont need all the fancy bells and whistles to have a healthy tank where my fish are happy, and spawning, plants are growing like mad. box filters are simple and effective, but because its seen as old school gets over looked,, great vid doc. and those will last a long time and do just as good as any sponge if not better

[@growclipbonsaiforseniors1951]

Now that is a great idea using the stainless steel washers. I have been using rocks. Now I can go buy the washers and take out the rocks. They also sell the same type of filter for small tanks, mini filters. Thank you for the info. I have to look for the block floss like you showed. Just ordered the pad from Amazon. Great idea.

[@Justintheinsane]

I have a large Lee's corner filter in my 29gallon.. Bottom half is biohome. Top half is that plastic pillow floss.

[@andrewdefty6044]

Hi there, I've been using one of these very same Box Filters for a few weeks now, and I do indeed use a small amount of substrate to weigh it down followed by a thin layer of sponge (Half inch thick or so), and followed up with floss. The reason I use the layer of sponge is to hold the Bacteria, but looking at the way you have your set up in this vid suggests that once you throw the floss out your having to re-build the colony of bacteria each time within the filter. By using a thin layer of sponge, it would hold that bacteria in a more substantial amount, even after rinsing it in tank water. Otherwise, I fully agree with everything else you say in this vid. They are indeed a very cost effective filter, and do a fantastic job of cleaning the water (I was amazed by how much muck the floss trapped in just a week). I use one in a 65ltr which is stocked with 7 White Cloud Mountain Minnows and three Cherry Barbs. It does such a great job, and I'm looking at getting a few more for my other tanks 100ltr with Platys, and my 240ltr with Gold Barbs, Odessa Barbs and Danio's. Really like the vid, and I hope to have success with these wonderful filters. Keep up the very clear, and informative vids.

[@anoxicfiltrationplenums]

Why is it, I don't worry about the bacteria inside such a small mechanical filter? The reason is: it's a mechanical filter that is not used for biological purposes whatsoever. Tank itself has a Plenum, which is enough biological filtration to take care of everything. Therefore, the little box filter is strictly a mechanical filter to take out free-flowing detritus. As it ages yes it becomes a biological filter but it is a filter that really is not needed to keep the Eco system running correctly. Many people rely on mechanical filter to become biological filters and the question I have to ask is why? If your system is that delicate where you're depending on a little bitty box filter to retain biological filtration, then you need to rethink the way your tank is set up.

[@andrewdefty6044]

@@anoxicfiltrationplenums I don't know man, I'm getting good results so far with this little box filter set up with substrate, sponge and floss. The fish seem healthy and happy. It's not overstocked and it's lightly planted. So far my levels of Ammonia is 0, Nitrite is 0, and Nitrate is 5ppm. I guess you can rely on these so called "Little Box Filters" for more than just mechanical filtration when set up this way. And if this continues to work for my small tank, I'll apply this method to my larger tanks too (upscaling the boxes to match the tank sizing/stocking) and taking the amount of waste produced into account also. Guess I don't need to rethink the way I set my tank up.

[@malcolmcrotty]

Been thinking of using one of these with clay Kitty litter and laterite . Crazy?

[@Trrondee]

i think that a good medium sponge is good for stopping particles from entering my filter further than the first chamber. So i have 1 sponge and the rest is 5KG of biological media.

[@hardybryan]

Even before I converted to the AFS, I always preferred box filters to sponges. All my tanks under 30 gallons currently run on plenums and box filters. I use a layer of homemade chemipure in them since I don't trust the city water

[@wolfeyeraven]

When I was a kid we always put a layer of Charcoal under the floss. Is that needed?

[@jonisolis9645]

The floss is a great water polisher. I do rise and reuse the floss.

[@what_surrounds]

Thank you for the stainless steel washer suggestion. Its obvious when you think about it, but I missed it. It is better than lava rocks others use which take up space. The box filter as mechanical plus the plenum UGF as a bio filter simply works well. They are what we used to use before hang on the back filters. They can also contain carbon for chemical filtration.

[@AQUARIUMFREAK123]

These filters are great for crystal clear water because they flow the water thru the filter floss SLOWLY.

[@ctsfiddler]

I have one of these Penn Plax in a 10 gal and they work great, and yes just dump the filter floss and you got a nice new filter. Back to basics, yea.

[@HalfManHalfCichlid]

I use Poret foam from Swiss Tropicals in sumps, HOB's and Cannister filters The foam is identical today to the day I bought it about 7 years ago without any indication of wear and tear. I put the foam through a rigorous cleaning process, and do not have any damage to the foam cells. I expect this material to last longer than me, and would recommend you try it too.

[@HAL-dm1eh]

OK but you also said "I put the foam through a rigorous cleaning process" and cheap floss takes this step out of the equation.

[@adkgaladkgal1799]

Box filters are so efficient, been using them since. forever.

[@barendcurrie1245]

Absolutely agree.

[@jonisolis9645]

I do like sponges too. I love my Matten sponge filters.

[@spicyreef]

Love it! How would you say this might compare to a "sponge filter"?

[@guppiesstories5942]

These small box filters are excellent dirt removers and also water polisher. I adapted them in my prefilter. These box filters are meant to be clean once it is dirty.

[@jonisolis9645]

I have made homemade filters like this too.

[@SG-Cichlids]

You mentioned trying to maintain the bacteria in a sponge. Cleaning a sponge is going to maintain bacteria compared to throwing away all the floss. Where you lose all the bacteria.

[@anoxicfiltrationplenums]

You bring up a very good point and if you're using a bare bottom aquarium, then I guess that would be the route to go. But my next video will make a comment about what you just said and I got a funny story to kind of tell you.

[@James_Hande]

Way back in the late sixties I setup a breeding rack with 10 and 20L tanks. I loved my original box filters. They where the ones with where the tubes were molded to the base. I didn't like that Penn Plax version when they first came out. I set mine up a bit differently since the tanks were bare bottom. I added some aquarium gravel on top of the plate and Poly-Fill on top of that. I would rinse the Poly-Fill a few times and replace it when it started to get too squished up. I would only rinse the gravel if it became to gunked up with mulm but not rinse the Poly-Fill at the same time. I also left the back and side glass alone and only cleaned the front so I could see how the fish were doing. Five years ago I built another breeding rack in our new location. I screwed up and took everyone's advice and used the double sponge filters that suction cup to the glass. Big pain in the butt to clean the sponges out. I'm just going to nut up and replace them with box filters. 👍

[@anoxicfiltrationplenums]

There was a time in the lab I had about 30 aquariums and they all used box filters and I was very glad they did. The only thing I did was open them up and replace the filter floss and that was it. Sponges, by the time you're done doing 30 tanks, your hands are all cramped up and they are a pain in the butt.

[@cainishere9921]

No carbonated charcoal?

[@anoxicfiltrationplenums]

Carbon is an option to put in them if you want. When I was a child, of course I always use carbon and then the floss. It worked great and it also let you see, physically see, inside the filter box when it was dirty and when you were supposed to change it.

[@bobs5596]

i wish they made a box filter as big as the bottom of my tank that i could cover with the gravel...

[@dejnizmtrancetechno4958]

I am not using mechanical filtration in aquarium with plenum and water is crystal clear, from my point of view is even better to leave this solid particles in the water to get in the substrate to feed shrimps, snails protozoa and other microorganisms. In addition decomposed solid particles will produce some co2.

[@CA-tk8yn]

Glue those washers underneath the bottom.

[@anoxicfiltrationplenums]

I just don't want him to become permanent. But yes, that is a very good idea.

[@mikedixon4629]

Could you make a b.c.b out of one of those box filters

[@malcolmcrotty]

I've been thinking about trying this either in a box filter or my hob using oil dry and Fluval Stratum Red

[@zypang1447]

All I use is sponge and I have zero nitrates. And I will never setup a cat litter plenum. I add nitrates daily. It's not a lot of work, I clean my sponges once a month.

[@tonytp-l3j]

Agree, it's working for you, so don't change it. If you change the filter floss and throw it away, all the bateria will be gone and mess with your cycle

[@anoxicfiltrationplenums]

@@tonytp-l3j your statement is not true, and it seems to be a fallacy that's being spread around from one hobbiest to another for years. The only time if you change your filter floss, it will upset the balance of your aquarium is if you are depending on it for biological purposes. If it's not being used for that, then nothing will be upset in the aquarium after cleaning and that has been proven for the past 70 plus years. However, with that said, sponges, have become total biological filters for many peoples aquarium and that's why they need to carefully cleaning them Aquarium water. Each filter has its place in the hobby, but trying to scare people from using something because of your convictions. Then that's not right!

[@tonytp-l3j]

@Anoxic Filtration & Plenums for the Aquarium Why not use fine spinge as mechanical and biological? Why bother with plenum for biological and floss for mechanical? The reason why sponge is effective and widely used is because it can does both job.

[@st1gzee]

Some people just don’t get it .. shame really. Oh well spread your detritus back into your tank your way , this method is a no nonsense approach to your flawed sponge squeezing assuming your saving the good beneficial bacteria when in realty it’s already in the tank haha

[@dan_real_review]

@@anoxicfiltrationplenums I also agree. Consider this, if I collect fish waste and uneaten food in my box filter, and then throw it away, wont that lower the biological load of the aquarium? How much area do you already have available for biologic media to grow on? How much area do you really need? My first aquarium was about 1975, we had never heard of bio balls, bio rings, or anything of that nature. Now days that seams to be a requirement??

[@Sinserg]

In my personal opinion, sponge filters are a hassle, specially when you are trying to clean them, they make a mess in the tank and they are definitely not the best option for people that only have small tanks like me, they use space inside the tank and they also look ugly, I rather delegate the biological filtration to the substrate and use something else for mechanical filtration, I like canister filters for that. 🙂

[@gmoorach]

But, most aquarists don't use a plenum. Unless you're referring to the substrate. And some like bare bottom tanks. Don't get me wrong. I'm not a fan of sponge filters or bare bottom tanks. I prefer HOB's and canisters. Also those box filters are good because you can add biological media with the mechanical media, and you've got complete filtration. I keep a box filter on hand for emergencies and quarantine/hospital tanks. I can put some biomedia from an establish filter in the box filter with some filter floss.

[@sammyvh11]

Old school is good