Thank you so much and thanks for watching my videos. I love being able to have plants with no substrate. Cleaning is so much easier.

Cause they are ca ca poo poo. I bought them. The sponges are super fine and the suction cups give up in a few months. Plus I like to build stuff

+Mike's Fish Room fair point

@@MikesFishRoom1 subbed specifically for the ca ca poo poo comment.

Check out my channel. I have a central air system vid. Did it when I bought the unit. Thanks so much and thanks for watching!

+Dav Petrosov Thank you sir! just trying to put "presentable" and "cheap" in the same category.lol. Thanks for watching!

Sarah Norman air pump.

Leam D 1 year old and they are still as strong as the day I made them. Use aquarium silicone. As long as they aren't constantly moved or pulled on it shouldn't give.

Leam D I'm still at the begining of the video, however, I wrap all of my sponges and filter intakes with petticoat netting fabric. It comes in every color of the rainbow and 2 layers is stronger than you would think.

It's blue acrylic paint. Easy to apply (small roller, 2-3 coats should be enough), easy to touch up in case of accidental scratches, and easy to remove. Can be found in any hardware store.

Thanks for watching! They are an aquatics company out of New Jersey. You can check out their website at jehmco.com. Great service.

+Mike's Fish Room thanks for the reply.

Black Thunder no

+Debbie Arthur Hey Debbie. Thanks for watching. I go by the size specification on the ATI hydro sponges. but i over size on purpose. i believe what im using is the 5 rated for 80 gallons and i have 2. i use 2 only because of my higher stocking levels. If you had normal stocking levels you could absolutely get away with only 1.

+Mike's Fish Room Thank you for commenting I really appreciate it, one question those sponges that you put in one gallon jars do you sell them or could you show the best way to cut them to size. Thanks again.

+Debbie Arthur No problem. I appreciate you commenting! I tried pretty hard to find a DIY sponge to build those jars myself. The concern you have is if the sponge is cut uneven at all, it can create a place for fry to get stuck. If you can get a 1 gallon pickle jar and a 1/2 inch pvc pipe, you can go to angelsplus.com. for the sponges.They sell the whole kit(jar and all) or individual pieces. I felt them to be very affordable. I also use them for all of my medicated foods. Super cheap!

+Mike's Fish Room Awesome I will check it out right now. Thanks for the link I'm sure I'll need to ask more questions in the future thanks for your help.

When I notice they start to look gunky, I take off the sponge and squeeze it a few times in either tank water or fresh dechlorinated water. As long as you do this within a couple of min, the beneficial bacteria will be fine

I would think the activated carbon will work as long as it's not packed and water can flow through.

Nice Mike. Thanks.

No, it's a bio-mechanical filter, which means it will harbor loads of beneficial bacteria and extra bio-film that REDUCES ammonia. It will filter the entire tank and catch SOME debris, but not as much as for example a canister filter who has a stronger suction and flow. You could on the other hand place a bent pipe on the outlet of the sponge filter, this creates a bit more flow, or use a combination of a canister filter and a sponge filter (as I do in the big tanks). Sponge filters are actually mostly used in small shrimp tanks, not so much in fish tanks. Shrimps love to hang onto those filters as it provides them with loads of bio-film to eat from. SOME floating debris gets caught, to a degree, but fish crap - most of it - usually immediately sinks to the bottom and stays there. Either way, you still have to vacuum the bottom and do water changes on regular base, whether you use a sponge filter or for example a canister filter (or a combination of both).

You mean the black pipes? I use a high quality spray can. Roughen up the surface with some sandpaper (so the paint can adhere better) and give it a few fine coats (2-3). Let it air out/dry out for a few days before using it in your tank.

Ted Townsend depending on the size and courseness. Here a sponge filter can cost up to 10 or even 15 so to build these for 5 makes sense to me.

Not trying to diss. . . I like your videos, and I'm also a DIY type myself. I was just trying to say that for the time vs cost on a sponge filter I don't feel like it's enough savings. I can get the 5"x6" bacto surge filters from my local shop for $7. I guess the cleaner factory look is worth the extra $2.

Taylor - They sell sponge filters of every size on ebay. Amazon as well. I bought 4 of them for $11.00. They aren't the same brand as the sponge in this video, but they work and I didn't even need to get off the couch.

I always say the cheaper the better BUT not in everything but this YEAH if it works then WHY NOT??

+brans Sweet! Thanks for subscribing! the bare bottoms make cleaning with higher stocking levels easier for me. Before I started the channel, all of my tanks either had gravel or sand. 2 of my 55s still do. The substrate definitely looks better and makes a better aqua scape(especially with plants) but the water quality has been so much easier to keep. I'm really wanting to start a tank w/ an epic aqua scape!

+Mike's Fish Room --- If you are keeping just angels, the only issue with bare bottom is if you don't like it. Angels don't care.

Seth Williams Baby angelfish

No, it doesn't.

Those are small ones, trust me.