Hydro Sponge Aquarium Filter 5, by AAP/ATI, Authorized Seller

Description

AUTHORIZED ONLINE DISTRIBUTOR from AAP
™
with 4 decades experience selling this product!
NO other eBay seller is authorized by AAP
™
(American Aquarium Products)
of genuine/patented NEW Hydro Sponge Filters
Please note that quantities of two or more require UPS Economy SurePost Shipping (3-8 business days)
Sponge Size; 4.5" H x 5.25" W (Recommended for 30 gal. up to 80 gal.)
Capable of moving more water than other sponge filters.
One inch diameter lift tube allows for high volume water flow and allows use of power head without adapters
Raised off bottom, no dead space.
Heavier base.
Can be used in the vertical or horizontal position.
Easy to clean. Just rinse and squeeze in used aquarium water (never tap water).
Made from Proprietary Patented Sponge Foam for the highest mechanical debris capacity and bio capacity; generally as much as
FIVE TIMES THE CAPACITY
of other non Patented Sponge Filters!!!
As well, patented reticulated filter foam (PRO) foam for higher flow rates.
NO other sponge filter compares!
Even the "Deep Blue Sponge Filters" & others who have infringed on the modular design patent of the Hydro Sponge Filter still do not have the same high capacity sponge! The proof is in how many more rinsings it takes to clean an AAP/ATI Hydro Sponge Filter over ALL OTHERS due to the much higher capacity!
Extra sponges can be purchased and kept in the aquarium for quick bio-cycling of new aquariums, hospital tanks, or replacement of the old sponge when worn out
The HydroSponge Filter provides both mechanical and biological filtration. Aerobic bacteria colonize the sponge providing a bacterial substrate to facilitate the nitrogen cycle.
In addition, the Hydro-Sponge traps waste particles mechanically cleaning the water without trapping the baby fish.
Excels as a small tank or bowl filter, especially for bettas which have fins that can get easily trapped in HOB or other filter intakes.
Excels as a breeding filter, as baby (fry) are not trapped by sponge filters
Excels as a Discus filter, angelfish filter, hospital filter, or back up filter. Even as the
Primary filter
We have been using ATI Sponge Filters Professionally in our aquarium maintenance & design business since the early 1980s and are an Authorized seller of this product!
We also sell Replacement Sponges
here on eBay
:
ATI Hydro- Sponge Replacements, Sizes Mini, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, & 5 PRO
NOTE: ALL pictures are property of the product owner, AAP (American Aquarium Products) and may not be used without proper credit and/or permission. This includes Google, Bing, etc.
Air Pump Attachment
*Diagram for sponge filter with an air pump installation (click to enlarge):
Power Head Water Pump Attachment:
These next two pictures show sponge filters set up with basic power head pumps such as the newer generation SunSun JP-23 (similar to many other older generation basic power heads such as the Marineland, Maxi-Jet or AquaClear).
Sponge Filtration Overview
Sponge filtration is an often overlooked type of filtration for
both
large and small freshwater tanks and bowls, and even ponds or marine aquariums. Many aquarists look past these filters because of their simplicity, but therein lies their quality.
I have used these filters for my aquarium maintenance business for 32 plus years with excellent results in freshwater, saltwater and ponds.
(The picture to the left is a Hydro Sponge #1 in a 6 x 6 x 6 Betta tank
.)
The best sponge filters (such as the Patented Hydro Sponge Filters) can be used to compliment another filter, such as a power "hang on back" (HOB) or canister filter, or
even as a stand alone filter
, as per our extensive controlled tests. We found that only fluidized sand bed filters out perform sponge filters for aerobic bio filtration.
In fact I, and many other aquarium professionals, have used sponge filters as the
only
source of aquarium filtration.
With this in mind, people purchasing one of the many 'Aquarium Kits' sold at discount stores would be much better off with a superior bio-filtration such as our Hydro Sponge Filter Kits instead.
As a bio filter, most premium sponge filters (such as our Premium Hydro Sponge Filter) are
vastly superior to Under Gravel Filters
as per extensive controlled tests performed by us in the 1990s.
This is due to the very porous nature of a sponge filter that allows for extensive colonization of nitrifying bacteria, assuming your aquarium or pond is adequately circulated.
Please note that many "knock off" sponge filters made by a variety of brands are NOT made of the same patented sponge material as ATI's patented Hydro sponges and thus do not perform
nitrification
at the same level
. These lower end sponge filters also degrade much quicker, as many users can attest to.
A couple of the reasons for better test results when compared to an under gravel filter, is that a well designed sponge filter does not have “dead” spots, nor do sponge filters trap decomposing organic mulm in pockets, such as is the case with under gravel filter plates (which can lower KH/pH, increase nitrates, and even promote Aeromonas or Saprolegnia pathogens!)
In addition, these tests showed that these filters were also superior to most popular power (HOB) filters for bio filtration, including the use of Bio Wheels.
Bio Wheels are touted for their ability to host beneficial nitrifying bacteria and yet, this simple sponge filter outperformed them in my tests.