So… our guppies had a bunch of babies and I was wondering what to do with them. To prevent them from being eaten, I separated them into a small 2.5 gallon tank we had lying around unused, but changing the water daily was starting to be a real drag. And that’s when I finally discovered sponge filters!
Sponge filters sit on the end of an aerator hose and thus filter anything that flows through them as the aerator pushes air bubbles into the tank. In other words, aerator + low flow filter all in one. They are low maintenance, very quiet, and great for small tanks! We have an appropriate sized mechanical (powered) filter for our 20 gallon tank, but I didn’t want to buy another one for this tiny tank. So I split the 20 gallon tank aerator air hose to provide some of the air for the mini tank, slapped a weighted sponge filter on the bottom, and voilà – new tank ready to go! Of course we put in the regular additions: gravel, aquatic plants, and some bacteria laden ceramic beads to break down nitrates. And of course this only works if you keep the tanks relatively close. But we didn’t have to buy a new mechanical filter or aerator for our new mini tank 🙂
After doing this, I thought, how far can this scam go? Can you just keep splitting the aerator air hose and have a bunch of little tanks near each other? Why, yes, yes you can. Our buddy Remi at Pet Bazaar does exactly that! He has tons of little tanks side by side, cares for them until their stable and absolutely beautiful, then sells them for good money. In fact, you can buy specialty splitters with valves for practically any number of splits.
