Check out the video I made over 5 years ago...haha! It's crazy to see how far we have come: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/r85hg9t4sce1ips.html Also, check out our website for all your matten filter needs: flipaquatics.com/collections/filtration

Very thorough video Rob! Been using the ones we got from you a while now and like them a lot! 😀

Wonderful information! Thank you so much for putting this info together!

Great video! I came over from Prime Time Aquatics. Both of you did a excellent job on the topic ! Thanks, Jim, new subscriber

Another great video with helpful information.

Awesome video, it’s making me think about different filtration.

Just started watching this video (as I have lots of fry) ; and just want to say kudos for the style! Its warm, appealing and easy to understand. Great Job! Now I better keep watching lol.

Interesting! I’ll check out the other videos too.

Great content as usual bud love the channel

My matten filter is set to arrive tomorrow. I can't wait to set my new tank up

I want some yesterday 👌, look forward to chatting about this and the difference in surface area compared to under gravel, old school I know 🚸

i agree, from underground filters, to hang on backs, to canister filters, to sponge filters, and now im on matten filters, i have to say over the years, they are the best, for smaller tanks, might have to bend them into corner filters for larger tanks

Great video Rob. I've be been thinking of experimenting with using marten filter sheets to culture grindal worms and white worms. I've tried using soil before but it's a pain to separate out the worms from the substrate, it can turn rancid quickly, you can get mites and you have to change out the substrate often. I've seen people use large sponges or even spawning mops sitting in a shallow pool of water instead. Instead of changing the whole substrate, you just dump out and replace the foil water, and/or maybe rinse out one of the foam layers and replace it. My thoughts are that the more uniform pores in the matter filters would give the worms more consistent surface area to move through, and allow better oxygenation into the sponge which would help prevent the water from spoiling and aid in beneficial bacteria growth. I'm not sure which pore size would be best though. Have you heard of anyone using a matten filter sponge for this purpose before?

Thanks Rob!

just put 2 and 2 together I was literally just on your website today definitely getting some shrimp soon!

When I set up my 125 gallon planted freshwater aquarium a year and a half ago I installed a corner matten filter to serve as a prefilter for the Fluval FX6 canister primary filter. Tank maintenance is super easy, the plants and fish are thriving and I have yet to have to do any maintenance to the canister filter or the matten filter. This is the largest and easiest tank to maintain that I have had in 30 years of fishkeeping.

You've convinced me to get one for my next tank.

I have a corner matten filter set up 2 months ago, it's awesome!

THANK YOU!

I love and have bought your matten filters. Just one suggestion. Drill the hole for the airline to the side so it doesn't pinch between the glass.🌿🌿🌿🌿🌿🌿🌿🌿🌿🌿🌿🌿🌿🌿🌿🌿🌿🌿🌿🌿🌿

Thanks for selling them at a reasonable price. I’ve seen them sold for almost twice the price and it’s just a piece of sponge and a plastic pipe. I’ll be ordering soon.

Love Your matters filters :) any recommendations on best/easier ways to clean them and how often ?

“They might be a little unsightly.” 😂

Great video. I really appreciate that you're not only carrying a quality product at a good price but also leading people to a low budget/ large scale option. Keep up the great work! Thanks for what you do for the hobby.

I’m think of use this in my betta tank thanks for video.

How do you clean the matten filter (the actual sponge part) once it is dirty? Or is this something you do not remove and clean, and just allow the shrimp to eat all the debris?

Hi It was great and useful. Please explain how to control the PH of the water. The amount of your soil in the tank is very low, what method do you use to keep the PH constant?

Dang, I might just need to put a matten filter on my 500gl haha great video sir! God Bless!

Rob I just purchased one of your matten filters. Excited to set it up in my 20 long cherry shrimp tank. But how do you install it in an established tank? I have baby shrimp everywhere and just wondering if there's any easy way to do it. Also I'm assuming you have to move substrate away from that area as well?? Thanks for your help!

Finally got my 20 long set up with one of these and the Neo's love it

LupDiesel, let me know when you get the 20 ppm. The 35 ppm is too dense for my fish room. Looking forward to buying some of these. Thanks Rob.

rewatched this video. I have a canister filter. How do you use it with a matten filter. Starting a 55g shrimp tank. Thanks

I was thinking of setting up a 22 long with neons, CPDs, and neocaradina shrimp with live plants. Would this work filtration method work well?

Robs a great sales guy 😯

My HMF is 3 years old and loaded with subwassertang and Christmas moss. These days I am hard pressed to see the filter for all the greenery. Personally I agree that these filters are excellent!

Need some help troubleshooting my matten filter. It’s set up correctly with the air stone, but water isn’t coming out of the pipe. Thank you!

Thanks for your videos, I have a question, where can i get the sponge in México, it is special sponge?

I hate cutting the sponge to fit my tanks lol. I need to order it from you guys ;)

Do u clean them the same way u do a smaller sponge filter and how often do u clean your mat filters thank u

hi, im setting up a 40 gallon breeder tank for guppies. i use laterite and cap it with sand, ends up being 4 inches deep. my question is when you clean your matten filter does it make a mess of the tank when you take it out to clean it. i raise discus in 90 gallon tanks, ro/di water. thinking of using matten filters in my 40 breeders as long as they dont make a mess when you pull them out to clean, thank you joe h navy seabee

I would love to use one, but since I’m going to be getting a 10gal tank I’m afraid it would be unsightly and take up aquascaping space... thoughts?

Hi. I am also using matten filter to breed shrimp. May i know , how long after you need to clean this matten filter?

Instead of painting your glass to hide the filter, how about making the foam a couple of inches longer (or however big the gap behind the foam needs to be) and slice it not quite all the way through so that when you install the foam pad, you fold that extra length back to cover that gap from view. Just a thought and assuming the instalation only requires friction with the glass to keep it in place. Would look better than painting the tank I think.

Hi, I was wondering if the flow would be too strong for baby angel fish fry ? Or my larger angel fish?

look into jet-air lifters for better h2o flow. for less noise use a small pump behind instead of an air line.

I use your matten for my betta too!!

Even though I don't view these as genuine matten filters, I can understand the concern with shrimp getting sucked into the larger pore sized filters. Btw, do shrimp keepers have similar issues with ug filters? If not, maybe you need a HUGE pore size, not these intermediate ones. Perhaps use one of those very loose pond filters? Of course you'd probably want a separate filter for polishing, but this kinda give you the best of both worlds.

Rob, how often should you clean the matter filters? Also, it seems like taking a matter filter in and out of your tank would take a lot longer than it would to do a sponge filter

I think another way to hide the side view of it from the front of your tank is to use Black film ( the kind one would use as for a black background) that way if u want to reuse the tank and create a different looking scape it's easier to remove than scraping off black paint. I have a 10 gal that I think I'll try this on...🤔

Do you deliver shrimp and products to uk?

I have 2-55 gal tanks I want to do that with but NOT with AIR but with power pumps can you give me what size pump I'd need to do that with?? or do a vid with 1 being set up??

Do you clean the filter?

That voice crack lol. I can tell yall were laughing behind scenes

I should get this for my 20 gallon long. I use that for baby fish. Mostly Betta and sparkling gourami (bought those from you guys and they've been breeding just about every other week XD. So much so I stopped taking babies out of the tank. I usually make DIY sponge filters for baby tanks but these sound so much better. could get two and set them up in the center to divide the tank even. Hmmmmmmm!

I was looking for a matten filter to use on my 75 gallon shrimp tank

Could you guys make a video on how to clean the matt filter please

how do you clean these filters and still keep the shrimp on the one side?

I've seen some comments about folks adding co2 and other things behind the matten filter. Do you know if this, works and is safe? Are there any modifications you recommend that use some of the dead space behind he filter?

Do you guys sell matten filters for a 20 gallon long tanks?

Hi. Can you guys send to South Africa by any chance?

Any update on Charlie's fish room?

Is it a good filter for even non shrimps tank?

Have you Ever thought about an extra long Hamburg matten filter on the back panel with maybe two or three overflows so it’s not so obvious

How about with breeding snail tank?

If you do paint/cover that section it'd be a good spot to put species labels, rather than under the tank... Or inspirational quotes.

Matten filters are great for growing fissidens fontanus or nobilis mosses.

I ordered one for my 20 gallon long tank from your website I wish you had one for a 75 gallon

Is the 35 ppi good for brine shrimp aqariums ?

I need a corner matten filter for my tank but it already has water in it

I like the giant sponges with elbow flow made with poret myself. I dont like the matten filter look in a fish tank. And redoing a tank to put the glass in to house a corner matten is a pain once its established

Seems like a lot of aquarists who are used to cleaning filters have taken the matten filter, and altered it to fit their own sensibilities around aquarium keeping. A mattan filter was NOT meant to be a water polishing sponge filter. It is purely a biological filter that is not meant to be cleaned anymore than you should clean your gravel in an undergravel (ug) filter system. Its purpose is to mimic the sediment in the marginal zone of a water way similar to a deep substrate system with or without a ug unit. These small pore sized smooth filters are not HMFs even if they are marketed as such. If it's getting plugged up so that you have to take it out and clean it, even once a year, it's not an HMF.

I have Matten Filters in my 40 breeders purchased from FLIP and plan to upgrade my 20L tanks in the near future.... maybe a Black Friday sale hint hint 😁. They work amazing, require minimal maintenance and are relatively cheap! My tanks with Matten Filters have a greater baby survival rate and allows me to go extended periods of time without feeding when on vacation etc. Never a shortage of food for shrimp to graze on. Great video Rob, thanks for sharing the knowledge!

Thanks for the video. Very informative. Could you not just by a extra sponge and cut a 2-3” section off and put it between the 12x12 piece and the front glass corner? That way all you see from outside is all sponge. If you can view your tank from 3 sides just add one in both corners

Can you hide your heater behind the filter or can this create hot spot on the heater.

I'm rehabbing an old neglected 70g and I've been debating building a sump or using a Matten filter. Does anyone sell a Matten pad that big?

I hope you like green too. The "blue" Mattenfilter will turn "dark green" in a really short timeframe.

I use 20ppi black corner matten filters on my 40 long and 30 long display tanks. They hide the heater, act as a pre-filter for my canisters, and provide space to hang a siphon tube for water changes. I just wish it was coarser. Cleaning them is a pita. They foul the water on the way out of the tank and are too big to fit in a 5 gal bucket for cleaning

How do you keep shrimp from going underneath the matten filter if the substrate is uneven?

12x12 is 144 sq inches. The store bought filter looks to be about 6" tall by about 12" in circumference, or 72 sq inches of surface area. So there is an advantage, but I wouldn't call it "massive". There are 2 downsides, the farther from the lift tube, the less water will flow through the filter medium and the amount of space you lose in your tank in order to provide sufficient space for the water flow from the outer areas of the filter. Hamburg is the largest seaport in Germany, supposedly where these filters where invented. Hence, Hamburg matten or Hamburg mat.

Would 45ppi also be good?

I lost my job due to covid shut down and I need to make some sort of income or I'll be homeless before I know it. I would like to turn my passion into a slight profit. I only have one 50 gallon and around 15, 10 gallon low tech mini pond tubs. I have guppies and endlers in them and I'm hitting winter here in taxifornia so I'm moving as many tubs as I can fit into the greenhouse hoping that noting freezes but I'm looking for things that can withstand cold temps (as low as 60 degrees f), this is all new to me and just started but I love everything about aquatics. If you have any pointers please inform me. Thank you for the videos and great content.

Hello. How to clean matten filter?

Does this just use a air pump? Or?

great video, you're right, HMFs are the best option for shrimp, the only reason i never invested in them is they make an awful mess when you pull them out for cleaning, but i wouldn't use anything else for breeding shrimp

Cleaning it is a pain if your tank isn't bb imo. I had to teardown my tank to clean it after 3 years. That's a long time but it was pia. 😆

What kind of aquatic plants can be planted just in sand? Freshwater community tank

Does it matten? Of course it does sooooo get with it.

You keep mentioning all that surface area, but you can get larger sponge filters. :) i know what you mean though. thanks for the info.

just bought my first matten filter. you were out of the 20 gallon H, so i cheated on you. :) i'll be back for more shrimp in a month or so. i got about 12 phoenix rasboras from you folks. they are a lot of fun to watch. goofy little buggers.

BUSINESS IDEA! Maybe you guys can sell corner matten filter kits or a way customers can buy custom matten filter sizes. Maybe the custom one isn't really needed lol

Thanks for not being all in my face this time like in the last video. Lol. Let's get serious, if I add plants on the other side to cover the pipe would that restrict the flow too much?? Can I put 2 holes for 2 tubes?

No Plastic Filter: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/ibGqnZqXmZbTen0.html

How do you clean the filter without harming your baby shrimp?

Do you have a discord ?

Do you ever clean it?

I'm here from Simply Beta just to learn how to pronounce Matten Filter...... LMAO.!!!!!

Why doesn't someone manufacture a matten filter that just suction cups to the back of the tank?

My sponge filter is not working very well and I've had a nitrite spike in my shrimp tank. It's annoying. I hope you have matten filters for 10 gallons because I'm going to your site right now to get one lol. Thanks Rob!

Ya but what happens when it clogs like a spongefilter. Seems like it would be harder to tear out and clean

FOR REAL.....I'm waiting for someone to realise that they should make custom matten filters that go along the bottom of the tank, you cut holes out where the soil goes and hardscape so you can plant. we've already got tanks that have the filter pipes and all that come out the bottom. it's the same colour and look as to the soil that doesn't get used. Then all the shrimp wouldn't be at the back of a tank on some filter, but instead all along the bottom in sight.