These videos may be helpful as well. How Much Filtration Do You Really Need: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/l8CKotuAm9i5f30.html What Does Water Quality Really Mean: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/itGAqrR4rJewfYU.html How To Deal With Cloudy Water: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/qZykYMdi0KiweJs.html LRB Aquatics Fish Room Tour: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/aLZ8es2rlb61gmQ.html What Is The Nitrogen Cycle: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/mqyggZeovc3Rln0.html How to Lower Ammonia: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/a9Jdg7KaqMmUlH0.html How to Lower Nitrite: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/adporNRe3sqzkXk.html How to Lower Nitrate: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/qLqUnc2Lt6itdIk.html If you would like to support our channel consider becoming a member. Also check out our website for all the latest merch: www.primetimeaquatics.com/merch

Those acara were like "Well, he finally lost it, boys".

Ha amateur, I got my pool filtration system connected to my 4.5 gallon betta tank. You can't tell there's water there, it looks as if the fish are floating in thin air, and I haven't done a water change since 1993.

Y’all remember that guy on KZfaq who excessively over filtered his gold fish tanks? He had like six hob filters and 2 cans on one aquarium with only a 2” fish. He was very passionate about his filters.

I’ve been running a Fluval 205 on a planted 29 for years now. No pre filter, just the internal sponge, carbon and a bag of purigen. 25% water change every 2 weeks. Keep up the great videos!

Love this video Jason, puts my thinking into words perfectly, i actively try to keep the bacteria out of my filters by cleaning the media out weekly. My thinking being that if the bacteria aren't all in the media then if it needs changing you can just do it without worry. The best thing I've found for water clarity is an old fashioned box filter stuffed with white magic (polyfill).

Awesome video. Thank you!!! Great job explaining cycling the tank and how filters actually work.

Personally I feel if you have a filter for each fish, that should cover everything! 😄

You’re still one of my fav fish people bro. Thanks for helping me along. Really helps me chill out worrying about random death tornadoes.

Appreciate all the time you guys put in these videos. Helping a lot of people, and their fish.

Again an amazing topic...thank you so much for relatable and important issues...I have a 75 gallon goldfish tank..I have two sponge filters and one hang on back filter which has media in order of black sponge big holes, black sponge small holes, green scotchbrite type filter thread material (not scotchbrite) and last polyester cotton... My fish are doing great and no issues till now.... I hope I am doing ok... Thank you again for clearing the air on filteration... Cheers👍🏻👍🏻

This is a very good video. One of my favorite to show my friends that have 3 types of filtration system. Explain really well

I have been in aquariums for years but your videos are still great information on most any problems or questions that people have ... keep it up

Fighting an algae problem due to lighting, I looked around at what I had. So I had a pad from a pond filter I put along the side of the tank that gets hit by the most sunlight. . I use lift tubes from the old undergravel filter with tiny holes all up and down the tubes, but mostly at the bottom. I used a tiny heated wire nail to make the holes. I use a piece of PVC to hold this up with the lift tubes holding it up along with the rim of the tank.. It was supposed to be a temporary solution to filtering and algae problems, but it looks so good and the water conditions stay so stable. Besides a brittle nose managed to get in that area and seems to farm it for himself. So I have used it on other tanks and have surprised myself the number of fish that can be maintained in great quality water. The fish often pick excess food off the interior side of the filter. Nowadays, I also put the heater behind this filter pad. I have a pad that has lasted a decade with bi-monthly cleanings. I have one round sponge filter with a powerhead that I use on new tank setups, but now all my other filters run using quality air pumps.,

Very good explanation. Glad to hear someone else say we normally over filter our eco-systems

Outstanding video, especially when you said something along the lines of healthy water is more important than clear water. Brilliant.

Love the intro, great info as always!

I love listening to your channel. I learn so much. I’m excited about the T-shirt as well. Thanks for making it available.

Great video and info. Thanks for spreading the knowledge/aquarium/biology love!

awesome video. loved the beginning you had me cracking up lol. thanks for the good information. cheers.

Love your videos and how pumped you get talking about fish. I miss my cichlid tank so much. We're looking to invest in a 30 to 40 gallon tank and I can't wait. We just bought our first house and a tank would look so awesome by the entrance. I had one about 5 to 6 yrs ago, but I gave the entire tank away with all the attachments, equipment and fish included. Boy do I miss it!

I find foam filter media to be excellent for both mechanical and biological. The dirt holding capacity of foam is tremendous without it getting plugged. I am referring to a system like a sump where the foam pore sizes go from course to fine. I use Poret foam and go up to six months with a heavy fish load without touching the filter. I find the aeration and water flow to be important for heavily stocked cichlid tanks. Pristine water clarity and waste removal to the sump are important to me

You always have a video for what I need to know THANK YOU!

Great video with spot on info! That intro tho 😄😆

I totally agree with you, Jason, most ppl overkill it when it comes to filtration.

Super info !!! My in fish tanks are almost completely cycled . I have 8. 1 filterless. I can now see the cycle :)

Really like the videos you put out. Always good information and yes would like the shirts.! Thanks. Keep up the good work

47 seconds in. Is everything ok at home?

I’m probably classified as an over filterer from an equipment standpoint. I use HOBs on all tanks filled with ceramic media. I use prefilter sponges for mechanical filtration. I just don’t like the sound of a bubbler and don’t like the splashing. That said, I do very infrequent water changes, like 10-15% monthly and top off for evaporation. I don’t gravel vac. Fish and shrimp are fine. I think as long as you’re happy with what you have and aren’t tossing money to solve a problem that more filtration won’t solve, not a problem. Great video. Keep up the great work.

Great stuff ty

I think when people watch TV shows like Tanked where they set up and throw fish in the same day without explaining to people to cycle it doesn't help the hobby. Good video - Keep up the good work.

I shared this on my band group buddy! Love the information..

thank you, this helped so much!

Having 20-long with a young Blood Parrot Cichlid and a pair of Tetras, and I worry about ammonia levels & what-not for obvious reasons. A single HOB w/sponge filter on the inlet was enough when the bottom was bare, but when I decided to add gravel & decor, that's when I got creative: I first laid an under-gravel system a pair of lift tubes/risers set away from the corners, and over slots in the plates that had the grating removed for improved flow. I then laid a relatively thin layer of cycled gravel over it, then proceeded to attach the intakes of a pair of HOBs--sized equal to the first one mentioned--filled with coarse sponge to the lift tubes with a couple pieces of vinyl hose. I re-adjusted the height of the sponge on the intake of the first, and began to add the decor... which had been sitting, along with the gravel, in old tank water for a few months prior. The end result is a tank with [probably] more than enough biological filtration that only requires a 50% water change a change of floss and a cleaning of the finer sponge on the one HOB's intake weekly, and looks so marvelous when the glass has been cleaned, even I can't believe how clear the water is! BTW: I should mention that when the water's replaced, I run it directly from the tap through a in-line RV/Marine freshwater filter, to remove chlorinates and fine particles.

Loved the intro to this video. Great but less spoken topic. Keep such videos coming, it’ll be of great help to amateur hobbyists 😀 cheers 😀

Great Video and Advice! 🐠🐟

LOL the intro, drip acclimating into Dustin's Fish Tanks territory 😆

Your vids are very helpful thanks

Great channel brother, one of the best on the tube

Good video! Thanks!

Loved the hyper beginning of the video 😂 I used to stress filtration, then I started following Lucas Bretz, LRB Aquatics...really mind blowing and so simple...let mother nature do her thing. 👍💕👍

I am regretfully admitting I got caught up in filtration and have been slowly reducing it to more simplistic yet effective filtration. The maintenance alone was turning my hobby into a job. Videos like these are a huge help and so valuable. ✌️

Thank you so much for making this video. Beyond tired of seeing people on social media pushing the idea that you need to spend hundreds on filtration and adding 4-5x what the tank likely actually requires.

Great stuff!

I just started using undergravel again like backin the 80’s. We are testing this with no other filtration and another tank with an additional hob aquaclear. We have 7 tanks and one has a canister filter. I like all of what these guys share too. My tanks are all planted tanks. I should upload some video too but I don’t know how.

Good info, thanks

This video helped me remove some of my doubts regarding filtration 👌👍 thanks 🙂

I like your videos very much! You and other You Tubers have taught me a lot, thank you!!!

Very informative 👍 thanks 😊

Another informative video, thanks for what you do

Hello everyone. I have been keeping fish for 38years. Started with under gravel filters. Then came aqua clear and whisper. Then came the bio wheel. Not to mention all the protein skimmers and other salt water stuff. I've never liked using a loud air pump for my home tanks. I understand if you have a need for that but in today's world hang on the back is the only way to go. I use 2. One on each side and never had any problem. Other than of course lid trouble thanks to marine land.

This has been so helpful. I’m about to get a 55gallon and I was so sure it would be better for the fish to have a HOB filter on each end as well as a sponge filter for more oxygen. You’ve cured me of that! Thank you so much. While I’ll only use one HOB, I will have a sponge filter for better aeration and a heater on each end but of lower wattage. And of course, lots of live plants. This will be my 4th tank and I hope I’ve learned over the months from all the mistakes I made, and hopefully won’t make the same ones this time around. I want this to be my best tank yet!

Absolutely true! Aqueon 54 gallon corner curved tank, heavily planted, 4" deep plant substrate, basic Aquarium Coop daily ferts but zero CO2, 30" Finnex Planted +, two Eheim heaters, open top. Two ATI-AAP sponge filter 4 with longer tubes is all it needs. The sponges sit in the corners and the over-hangs on top of the tank work perfectly to mute the sound! "Life happened" a few years ago, and my three children and I went into "survival-mode". I have not cleaned the tank, sponges, or done any water changes in over a year now. I top off the water daily and test the parameters occasionally and everything is always perfect except nitrate (which is always way too high). The fish behaviors, colors, health, and appetites always seem fine, though. My boys help me feed the fish, so there is way too much food waste. I was running two AquaClear 70's with impellers for the 30 or 50, their purpose was for the mechanical filtration and to create some gentle flow. Those corner tanks need two of anything flow so the current hits each other in the center and then moves through the tank better; otherwise, with single direction there are a lot of "dead-spaces". In June or July we had a power outage while I was at work that smoked one of the motors. The AquaClears have been off the tank since then, although I intend to get them running again. When we set the tank up two years ago, we had 1 baby angel fish, 13 black neon tetras, 1 white cloud minnow the tetras follow around, 6 amano shrimp, 4 nerite snails, and random "pest" cleaner snails. Now, two years later, Angelo is large and in charge, down to 9 of 13 tetras, same 1 fat white cloud, same 4 nerite, the amanos did fine until the HOBs were removed and then disappeared pretty quick (maybe Angel hunted them or they are just hidden that well but I haven't seen any molts either), and we just added 6 little dwarf type cory cats last month. There's a lot going on in a 54 gallon running only two sponges! I just bought a Python and it is amazing! No more buckets means scheduled water changes will begin again soon. Side note... For those with corner tanks curious about sumps... the CPR SYS 900 fits perfectly, I have a system sitting around and test fitted it out of curiousity, but have no intention of running it.

Great information. Very helpful👍

Excellent video!

Great video. I love the way you explain each and every minute possibility in this hobby. Good work 👍👍👍

I think you’re right, the only things I would add, Your gravel and decorations are also growing beneficial bacteria. So if you have a tank with no substrate in it and few or no decorations do you wanna make sure your sponge filters pretty big, are usually go twice the size it’s rated forIf I’m doing something with no substrate like a quarantine tank, and if I’m using meds I’ll use carbon to clean the water between those things and after to get the meds out of the water. Also, with huge fish, especially that are eating a lot of meat and take a lot of food, there’s just so much waste in there I think a decent mechanical filter with some bio rings or something in there is usually needed as well. Especially again if you don’t have a substrate like some people keep a large Arawana or even goldfish. A lot of people remedy that with huge water changes but huge water changes mean huge swings as well, basically they’re letting their nitrates go through the roof and then physically removing them so chemically that’s a constant up-and-down, I’m of the school of multiple small water changes with shrimp I only do 10% and community tanks I never do more than 15%, with huge fish or something Wayover start maybe 20% but that’s when I think chemical filtration and protein skinners and carbon come into play, the big fish (pacu/large cats/big oscars,bass/ sharks/groupers/etc) just have so much waste it’s ridiculous. I also think it’s important to age the water at least a day before putting it in, even with dechlor/prime it still seems to kind of shock the tank a little even if the temperatures close, just letting it sit a day with an air stone in there seems to make a difference, maybe tanners for soft water species, and especially if you are adding salt or whatever to get your parameters where you need them, even after a day there’s a lot of unresolved particles in some mixes. Salt water even more so, a lot of times we depend on crushed coral to get our pH up there but we’re dumping a lot of water in there that hasn’t had coral sitting in it to bring it there so huge water changes can be a problem, but as far as the smaller fish like medium cichlids or smaller yeah sponge filter will usually do the job if you don’t overstock and you have plants sometimes you really don’t need a filter at all. I seen a lot of heavily planted tanks that have nothing in them, not even an air stone and they seem to do just fine, but my OCD would drive me nuts I need to see bubbles in a tank.

Awesome intro man, I lol'd. The overfiltration thing seems to track with the fish police in the groups on FB I'm in. Also seems to show up in the places where people think 20ppm of nitrates is the reason their Otocinclus died the week after they got them. smh... Filtration is massively misunderstood. People like to think of creating an ecosystem. Wrong. What we need to create is a highly functional septic system. Processing waste and maintaining good water quality are the aims of septic design, and they're the needs of the animals we keep in glass boxes. All the studies on nitrobacteria? Almost every one is from the septic industry. Funny thing, Fritz starter bacteria? Yep, developed for the septic industry. Once I flipped that switch in my brain the tanks in our house got a lot easier to take care of.

Awesome informative video Jason. I run at least one or 2 sponge filters in all my 7 tanks. They are good if I get a power outage, and the fish will be ok til it comes back on. I also run a hob, have ac110 and use penguin 350. I like to use multiple filtration in case one filter stops working and when I clean a filter, the other filters can keep filtering. Just my 2 cents

Good insights and tips. I took out the cover and ripped out the filter media in my hang on back filter and placed lava rocks to hold down my pothos and other plants. Inside my tank is the trusty and dependable sponge filter.

This is ironic as I just started going from only sponges to hang on backs and canisters. However, I only buy them when I can get a really good deal on them. The reason being as that I want water that is more clear. I never have ammonia or nitrites in my water. But, for personal preference I have begun getting the extra filtration only to get the fine particles out of the water. Love the video and completely agree with you!

Id love to get rid of my filters altogether but i worry about how the lack of circulation would affect water temperature overall. I find that fully submersible filters do a great job of circulating the water AND surface agitation, plus pick up quite a bit of debris as well. One filter, one heater.. done!! :D

Perfect timing We're setting up our first Tanganyka this morning. A 75 with a Cascade1000 and a Seachem 75 hob. I've been super undecided about what media to use in the Cascade. Thinking I'll go with pumice sticks sponge and poly. Thanks for the video. All of our planted tanks are golden with very little filtration. The septic system analogy works for this over thinker. Great information from your channel. Thanks

Very informative thanks. I keep Discus with lots of driftwood, planted plants and floating plants. The water clarity isn't crystal clear but neither is the water in their natural habitat. As long as I keep regular weekly water changes everything is copacetic.

Love that start to the video how serious you acted lol

I like to keep at least two filters on each tank if possible. Especially when just setting it up and getting the everything balanced. After bio-load is added and established, I will generally remove one and see how it goes, normally i dont have to add it back on. Musical filters along with musical fish lol(Granted no disease/parasites are diagnosed) Great videos as always, even tho it was from 2019 its still relevant.

Nearly 50K subs!!! You legend

I use large oversized external filter (Eheim) filled with a gallon of seachem matrix and a bag of purigen, topping this up with filter floss and of course a coarse sponge as a first step. But this does not stop me from 2 x 20% water changes weekly if heavily stocked. And to make the aquarium debree free I often add a old fashioned filter floss air driven internal filter.

Exactly! Right on!

Great video as usual, you brother are so Underrated

Glad to hear someone who knows something. For your media in a HOB (or canister), just put in 10/20- ppi foam or pot scrubbies. You are done with both mechanical and biological media. And don't clean the filter for like 4-6 months so as not to wash off all that brown gunk which is your good bacteria.

😂😂😂😂 I LOVED the opening!!

In a 29gallon I have two 6" sponges... and a 140gph hang on..with a 4" sponge on it also I tend to always "over filter" tanks I got it...might as well use them

This might just have helped me. A lot. I may actually be over filtering. A serious thank you for this.

I like your quote on your thumbnail, so professional👌

Omg Jason, what away to wake up with this video! I was laughing so hard.! I think all of us have been like that with filtration with our tanks. I got 2 canister filters and a sponge on a 75 with Central America cichlid (5). Water is perfect and no nitrate or ammonia. Great video again! I love my prime time shirt I got from you at aquashella

Intro cracked me up.! A welcome and needed antidote for all the FX6 proponents out there. What to do in a power outage? In the 60s and recently I've run tanks w/out filters and air. They make it easier, especially a humble sponge filter or 2 in every tank.

Hahahaha loved the beginning!

I've always used a hang on back for mechanical, left the biological up to the tank itself (gravel, decorations, plants etc.), and have an airstone of some sort in case the hang on back fails. I've always had success with doing things that way. As you said though, you have to have patience and allow the tank to age. Great video, and very informative as usual!

Great video 👍🙂

The beginning of the video is " HARLARIOUS."KUDOS to your EXCELLENT ADVISORY VIDEO SERIES !👌🎓🗽

Very helpful and informative i have a question on the seeding method.

My 30g has a ziss. A sponge, a diy bottle filter, a breeder box full of media. And a pond guru tube filter. Too much, probably. But it’s redundancy and sort out dead spots You can def overfilter. But each tank is different

When I was new, we only used under gravel filters, and they worked perfectly, so I agree 100%

AWESOME opening!

LOL, that's what one of my 20 gallon high looked like. But only because I'm trying to seed the other filters for future tanks. Now it only have marineland HOT, sunsun 404B, small corner box filter, aquaclear 50 and a diy k1 micro moving media. I took out all hanging bags of bio-rings and used them to speed up the nitrogen cycle in new tanks. Nice video, I hope to run in to you during GCCA swap and tank on!

I like having one that has just been cleaned , one that needs to be cleaned and one that was cleaned last week. But certainly I still only have enough bacteria for the daily poop load and no more.

thanks. great points. Aside from beloved LRB, the "Jay's Aquarium" channel also has good content on no filtration tanks.

That intro is gold!

I think you answered my question. I have a small hang on filter and I have a sponge filter. If I am understanding you correctly I may only need to run the sponge filter. Thanks for the information

Thanks for this! Water has all sorts of microorganisms and biota living in it as well and if you have a high filtration rate you can scrub them from the water column as well, not always good. All my tanks are very heavily planted in addition to which I have very low flow and water turnover rates. Just enough to not be stagnant. Mostly for Betta and Gourami. Deep sand substrate and Holy Trinity of aquaria snails for cleanup crew make for very low maintenance intervals. Not practical dor all fish I know. In the past I have even ganged two tanks together with a pump and a return siphon, one heavily planted sharing water system with a tank of larger fish.

Well, the intro was smth, loved it😀👌👍😉 I have a canister filter Eheim pro for a 12.5 gallon tank and i have two 5 gallon nano tanks with sponge filter...and i can say that i love how the sponge filter is working. The water is clear enough, the quality is ok, the fish are fine, So i think the sponge are my fav. 👍👌 Thank you for your vid, is very useful as always. Like your tanks, they are so awesome 👌👌👌😍 (wish to you and to your adorable wife a beautiful night. )

Every video needs to start out this way from now on. I was so pumped & a lil frightened. Haha!

I have several large and small tanks and run only sponge filters. I use the run canisters and HB but just wanted to cut back the cleaning time and expense and never have had any issues with water qualities. I do run one HB for my sevrums and rainbow tanks because they like to ride the current. With weekly water changes sponge filters are the bomb.

Love that opening skit lol 😂

Thx for the video, you explain things so clearly in all your videos :) I run two HOB filters and two sponge filters.I almost think overkill but I use no chemical filtration and if something goes out np its more than covered..I just recently added the 2nd HOB for lulz I guess but had no issues with just one running.I have read somewhere its good to put your heater near a filter intake / outtake to spread the heat out better.Idk if that works ? I also have no real plants just fake ones and a sand substrate with some real rocks as decor.Been quite awhile since I've had any fish die so I hope all is good for my fish friends :)

You at the beginning of video is me 100%. I guess I worry way to much. Ty for this video☺

Oh and great video

Thanks for asking. My thoughts on over filtration is if I am moving the water too much and the fish don't get enough rest

I think you changed my mind on the layering of my hob, I have bio bags, three coarse pads and a zip bag of floss on top. I have one coarse lg. sponge on my intake and a fine lg. sponge filter on the other side with an internal air stone. Now I'm thinking of removing the bio and a coarse pad and filling a full bag of floss for better fine particles. So I'll have some fun messing with that. Thanks for the down to the basics information. (55 bow front)