sponge filter question

[Fish Junkie]

I bout a sponge filter wile at the auction for my 10gal and the toub is to tall. If i cut the tube in half will it decrees the performance of it?:coz:

[zcfish]

I bout a sponge filter wile at the auction for my 10gal and the toub is to tall. If i cut the tube in half will it decrees the performance of it?:coz:

I think it does. It's like a chimney, the taller the more powerful the suction is. But I cut mine anyway since it's too tall for small tanks.

[joe_jaskot]

Shortening the length of the tube will decrease the flow of water through the filter, but the filter will still work. If you are really concerned, attach an elbow to the tube and make a horizontal run.

[Fish Junkie]

Shortening the length of the tube will decrease the flow of water through the filter, but the filter will still work. If you are really concerned, attach an elbow to the tube and make a horizontal run.
so it looks like a sideways L extending off the top of the filter?:coz: would that work not being strait up and down?

[cichfrk]

...attach an elbow to the tube and make a horizontal run.I think it will also diminish the performance. The only thing you can do is just have the top part cut half inch below the water line and use a stronger air pump.

[joe_jaskot]

I think it will also diminish the performance. The only thing you can do is just have the top part cut half inch below the water line and use a stronger air pump.

An elbow and a horizontal run of tubing will not diminish the performance. Water is lifted and moved through the tube by bubbles. The further your bubbles travel, the more water they move. A stronger air pump is not always beneficial. Read an article years ago (when undergravel filters were all the rage) in one of the fish magazines. They experimented with air flow rates and water flow. Conclusion was that the higher the air bubbles traveled, the higher the flow rate of the water. It was also found that too high of an air flow rate produced less water flow because the air bubbles were too big. Smaller air bubbles moved more water. That is why some sponge filters come with air stones.

[cichfrk]

An elbow and a horizontal run of tubing will not diminish the performance. Water is lifted and moved through the tube by bubbles. The further your bubbles travel, the more water they move. A stronger air pump is not always beneficial......+1 on air stones, every sponge filter should have 1 but hmmm..... I read somewhere that lift tubes are designed to be better straight up and I wonder why they put power heads on top of the sponge filter if they don't recommend stronger air pump....:coz:

[joe_jaskot]

+1 on air stones, every sponge filter should have 1 but hmmm..... I read somewhere that lift tubes are designed to be better straight up and I wonder why they put power heads on top of the sponge filter if they don't recommend stronger air pump....:coz:

Powerheads move water. Stronger air pumps produce big bubbles which don't lift as much water as smaller bubbles. If you can produce small bubbles with a stronger air pump, then you will have more water flow. In this case size matters, smaller is better (bubbles that is).

[Fish Junkie]

What do you think of a 45 so It's at an angel ?

[joe_jaskot]

What do you think of a 45 so It's at an angel ?
That would work very well.

[mrkillie]

An elbow and a horizontal run of tubing will not diminish the performance. Water is lifted and moved through the tube by bubbles. The further your bubbles travel, the more water they move. A stronger air pump is not always beneficial. Read an article years ago (when undergravel filters were all the rage) in one of the fish magazines. They experimented with air flow rates and water flow. Conclusion was that the higher the air bubbles traveled, the higher the flow rate of the water. It was also found that too high of an air flow rate produced less water flow because the air bubbles were too big. Smaller air bubbles moved more water. That is why some sponge filters come with air stones.

Smaller bubbles move more water because they have more surface area per unit volume, which produces more drag on the water. Now someone is going to say that the air pushes the water though the tube, which is true. But it is the amount of drag on the water that determines how much-more drag, less water flowing around the air bubbles that are pushing to the surface and thus more water flowing through the tube.

Now, because you (original post) are using it in a 10 gallon tank, if the tube is too long, the amount of water that flows through will quickly decrease once the water surface is reached because there is no longer any water to drag along with the air. You will actually help the performance by cutting the tube to a length that brings it just below the water surface. Adding a horizontal run with an elbow will help push more water through the filter.

[Buckcich]

On short/small tanks, if you add a short 4" piece of tubing to the inside of the bulleye part, you in essence create a "lift tube" w/o the tube and you have a much more efficient sponge filter because water is drawn from every surface of the sponge at same rate.

[Fish Junkie]

On short/small tanks, if you add a short 4" piece of tubing to the inside of the bulleye part, you in essence create a "lift tube" w/o the tube and you have a much more efficient sponge filter because water is drawn from every surface of the sponge at same rate.
So no tube is better ?

[verbal]

what Buckcich said :)

[Buckcich]

In addition to a shortened lift tube, I meant to say.

[Fish Junkie]

pleas excuse my thick head....but let me get this strait.cut the tube but put a piece of air tubing(4" or so) under the bulleye part.does that sum it up?

[bassgenie]

I put a piece of tubing on the inside of the bulleyseye with an airstone on the end of it. I put it all the way down to the bottom. In 10 Gallon tanks, I cut the luft tube. I haven't noticed a drop in performance.

[Fish Junkie]

I put a piece of tubing on the inside of the bulleyseye with an airstone on the end of it. I put it all the way down to the bottom. In 10 Gallon tanks, I cut the luft tube. I haven't noticed a drop in performance.
how much did you cut off the luft tube

[TOMMYN3D]

pleas excuse my thick head....but let me get this strait.cut the tube but put a piece of air tubing(4" or so) under the bulleye part.does that sum it up?

Maybe this will help with the question about the tubing under the bulls eye question.
http://forums.eastcoastcichlids.org/showthread.php?t=776

To make the (L) shape or 45 degree you may have to pick up a piece of plumbing pc that will fit the lift tube that you will cut from HD

[Fish Junkie]

Maybe this will help with the question about the tubing under the bulls eye question.
http://forums.eastcoastcichlids.org/showthread.php?t=776

To make the (L) shape or 45 degree you may have to pick up a piece of plumbing pc that will fit the lift tube that you will cut from HD
was great thanks for the link

[bassgenie]

how much did you cut off the luft tube

I left around 2 inches in a 10 gallon. Been working great for months... Don't believe the "Hype"