Jump to content

Bio sponge filters


revolutionhope

Recommended Posts

I'm interested in using these in the near future and I'd love to hear from people who use them. They seem like a great idea and I've noticed they are quite popular overseas already.

Can anyone recommend a specific brand versus others? Also curious if there are any drawbacks to using them.

I've always used a canister plus air-driven sponge in my aquariums and that works a treat but during power outages (had a big one last week here in South Australia) canisters can be disastrous if they are left closed too long and become anaerobic.

[emoji111] [emoji173]

Will

Link to comment
Share on other sites

They are a great idea.

If you are going to run a sponge filter in the tank, then one of these will provide more surface area for beneficial bacteria over a normal sponge filter.

There is only one brand that I am aware of = Biospon.

There might be other no name imitations around though.

No drawback that I am aware of.

 

I wonder if @Disciple can arrange a group buy for us from Singapore? 

 

 

Edited by jayc
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I was fortunate to get on board with @jc12 for a group buy from Korea. @jc12 was great to deal with, he may be able to supply his contact to the next willing member for another group buy. I have six BioSPON BS-58L Filters from this group buy, I did change the suction cups as the ones that came with the filters didn't maintain their suction in my tanks, may be fine for others. 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 2/10/2016 at 9:52 PM, zn30 said:

I did change the suction cups as the ones that came with the filters didn't maintain their suction in my tanks, may be fine for others. 

I have the same issue with the suction cups but it usually happens after the discus had a tiff and got a bit boisterous so I thought they must have knocked it off.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hey @jayc

The shops here sell them at $40 sg each with is basically $40 aussie. If I were to ship post it from here it would not be cost effective at all. I left some kids here once and it cost me $60 to get posted to Perth.

You are better off getting a group buy can ordering directly from the korean maker.

 

13 minutes ago, Kaylenna said:

I'm confused... are the ones you guys are talking significantly different than the ones Aquakitz now sells??

Also as @Kaylenna has mentioned @aquakitz is selling something very similar to the Biospon at about a 3rd of the price.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Actually... he appears to have 2 versions now.  The one called BioSpons and another which looks like a cheaper option - Qanvee?.

I'd love to try one, but the cheaper is a buy 10 deal and I don't HAVE 10 tanks!  (nor would I be allowed to, I think... unless we got a bigger house) 

If some else in Melbourne wants to split some with me, let me know.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Biospon seems to be working well for me :) Yeah the suction cup came off the tank one time for me, but I was 90% sure that was because I accidentally yanked the airline tube. I put one of them in a tank as an emergency filter, and I replaced some of the media it comes with with some cycled matrix media from another tank -  it worked really well and I had no issues. So I like that you can do that. The magnetically-detachable sponge/media housing is great for ease of cleaning.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Kaylenna said:

I'm confused... are the ones you guys are talking significantly different than the ones Aquakitz now sells??

@Kaylenna see pics of what the last group buy bought.

image.jpeg

image.jpeg

image.jpeg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Kaylenna said:

I'm confused... are the ones you guys are talking significantly different than the ones Aquakitz now sells??

There are a few differences. In my opinion, the most important feature that is lacking in the Qanvee is that the sponges are not magnetically detachable. This is important for me as I remove and squeeze clean the sponges for the discus tanks very often.

Qanvee does not come with media, which is not an issue for me as I do not use the BioSpon filter media that comes with it anyway.

I am not sure about the Qanvee, but I find the materials, build quality and the sponges of the BioSpon to be of very high quality compared to typical sponge filters.

So... without the magnetically detachable feature, the Qanvee essentially is just like any other sponge filters on the market, which are generally not known to be great mechanical filters. They are more superior as a biological filter.

Personally, I would either buy a BioSpon (pay a premium) for its features, convenience and superior quality or buy a normal $5 sponge filter which provides good biological filtration.

Just my two cents. :)

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Kaylenna said:

Actually... he appears to have 2 versions now.  The one called BioSpons and another which looks like a cheaper option - Qanvee?.

I'd love to try one, but the cheaper is a buy 10 deal and I don't HAVE 10 tanks!  (nor would I be allowed to, I think... unless we got a bigger house) 

If some else in Melbourne wants to split some with me, let me know.

I am happy to share the BioSpon manufacturer's contact if you can find enough people to take 28 BioSpon filters (2 cartons). I am just too busy with baby duties to help organise another group buy now.

Perhaps ask around or start a group buy thread... I have a feeling there might be a few people out there that would like to get some BioSpon filters but lack the numbers to do a group buy.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

What did your groupbuy for the Biospon 58L cost in the end including local shipping?

Aquakits is selling it for $59.90 + $10 shipping = $69.90 all up.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 hours ago, jayc said:

What did your groupbuy for the Biospon 58L cost in the end including local shipping?

Aquakits is selling it for $59.90 + $10 shipping = $69.90 all up.

 

The filter cost around $38 each landed. I sent 6 filters via Auspost to Victoria for around $28. It would cost less to ship 1 filter... say $15 for a 3kg express post bag. So group buy is quite a lot cheaper.

The other buyers either picked up from me locally in Brisbane or I delivered them. @Disciple had international hand carried courier all the way to Singapore. Haha.

Edited by jc12
  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

11 hours ago, jc12 said:

The filter cost around $38 each landed. I sent 6 filters via Auspost to Victoria for around $28. It would cost less to ship 1 filter... say $15 for a 3kg express post bag. So group buy is quite a lot cheaper.

The other buyers either picked up from me locally in Brisbane or I delivered them. @Disciple had international hand carried courier all the way to Singapore. Haha.

Yep As @jc12 stats mine ended up costing $42.00 each delivered to Victoria $38.00 ea if I drove up to Brisbane and picked them up, yeh I took the mailing option.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

6 hours ago, zn30 said:

I took the mailing option.

Next time take the driveto pickup from jc12 option.

You missed out on raiding his shrimp collection !!

At least you might have been able to buy some of jc12.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, jayc said:

Next time take the driveto pickup from jc12 option.

You missed out on raiding his shrimp collection !!

At least you might have been able to buy some of jc12.

Did drive thru often however a lot less these days, your right meeting jc12 would be great, maybe one day. Although I have a lower end of shrimp in my collection, I'm not really in the market for more, maybe one day. I'll stick with my cichlids and catfish and my big friendly Saratoga who is housed in one of the lesser tanks 8x2x2.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

16 hours ago, zn30 said:

I'll stick with my cichlids and catfish and my big friendly Saratoga who is housed in one of the lesser tanks 8x2x2.

I do breed blue rams and discus. Just saying... haha... but imagine a fully planted 8x2x2 with CRS!!! :)

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I do breed blue rams and discus. Just saying... haha... but imagine a fully planted 8x2x2 with CRS!!! :)

Doesn't everyone keep their shrimp colonies in 8x2x2 tanks ?
  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Join Our Community!

    Register today, ask questions and share your shrimp and fish tank experiences with us!

  • Must Read SKF Articles

  • Posts

    • beanbag
      Hello folks,  The current problem I am having is that my Taiwan bee shrimp are molting before all their eggs have hatched.  Often the shrimp keep the eggs for 40+ days.  During that time, they lose about half or so, either due to dropping or duds or whatever.  Shortly before molting they look to have about a dozen left, and then they molt with about half a dozen eggs still on the shell.  Then the other shirmp will come and eat the shell.  These last few times, I have been getting around 0-3 surviving babies per batch.  I figure I can make the eggs hatch faster by raising the water temperature more (currently around 68F, which is already a few degrees higher than I used to keep it) or make the shrimp grow slower by feeding them less (protein).  Currently I feed Shrimp King complete every other day, and also a small dab of Shrimp Fit alternating days.  Maybe I can start alternating with more vegetable food like mulberry?  or just decrease the amount of food?
    • ngoomie
      Yeah, cancer risk was a thing I'd seen mentioned a lot when looking into gentian violet briefly. I kinda just figured it might only be as bad as the cancer risk of malachite green as well, but maybe I should look into it more. I've been doing a pretty good job of not getting it on my skin and also avoiding dunking my unprotected hands into the tank water while treating my fish at least, though. Maybe I'll just not use it once I'm done this course of medication anyways, because I know a store I can sometimes get to that's pretty distant carries both malachite green and methylene blue, and in pretty large quantities.
    • jayc
      Can't help you with Gentian Violet, sorry. It is banned in Australia violet for potential toxicity, and even possible cancer risks. I thought it was banned in Canada as well. At least, you now know why there isn't much info on gentian violet medication and it's use. But keep an eye on the snails after a week. If it affects the snails, it might not kill them immediately. So keep checking for up to a week. Much safer options out there. No point risking your own life over unsafe products.
    • ngoomie
      Hello! I have a tank that currently does not contain shrimp, but does contain neon tetras which I am currently treating for Ich, as well as some bladder snails. Shrimp will be a later addition, likely cherry shrimp but I'm still doing research just to be sure. Initially I'd intended to buy some sort of Ich-fighting product that contains malachite green after doing a decent bit of research on it, most of which indicated that it should be shrimp-safe so I'd be good if I ever needed to use it again once shrimp were actually introduced (though I should note I'm aware shrimp can't get Ich, I'm more wondering in case the tetras could get Ich again, or something else that responds to similar medication). I ended up not being able to find any MG-containing products without either having to travel quite far or wait multiple days for delivery (which I was worried could lead the Ich to be fatal), and ended up picking up 'Top Fin Ick Remedy', a product that contains gentian violet which is a triarylmethane dye like malachite green. The bottle has two slightly differently worded warnings about its use with invertebrates ("not recommended for" and "not safe for" respectively), but when I'd been researching malachite green, I'd also heard of products that contain MG but not any other ingredients that would be harmful to inverts still being branded with warnings that they could be harmful, just as a "just-in-case" since the manufacturer didn't test it on any inverts, and I'm wondering if maybe it could be a similar situation here. I'm having a very very hard time finding information about gentian violet's use in fishkeeping at all though, it seems currently extremely uncommon. What I will say though is that I'm on day 2 of treating my tetras with it, and the bladder snails seem just fine -- in fact today I noticed what looked to be a bladder snail that appeared to be newly hatched (because of its size) that I hadn't seen before that was zipping around the tank without issue. But obviously, shrimp are not snails, and bladder snails are also notoriously hardy little guys, so what I'm seeing right now could easily be totally inapplicable to cherry shrimp. It might even be inapplicable to other species of snails, for all I know. Has anyone else here ever used anything that contains gentian violet in a tank that actually does contain shrimp? Were they okay, or should I make sure to not use it once shrimp are added?
    • sdlTBfanUK
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=58BrDSEY8KE  
×
×
  • Create New...