Hagen Elite BioFoam Sponge Filter

always good to have a few extra cheap backup filters on hand just in case. you never know when you might need one.

I needed a gentle yet effective filter for my small beta tank. The sponge filter is perfect.

I did some research on the best filtration setups for Axolotls, and many owners said that the sponge filters are the way to go. The only problem that I have been having is that this filter does not keep the water moving so things tend to get stagnant. To compensate for this I got a little air stone to oxygenate the water which has helped a lot. My axolotl likes to sit on top of the sponge and doesn't seemed to be bothered by the bubbles the air pump creates. I give this filter 4 stars because I feel the suction that should draw waste to the sponge is not as strong as it could be so I'm doing partial water changes in the middle of the week, but overall it is a good buy.

I've been using these sponge filters for a few years now in my smaller tanks (5-20 gallons) and I am pretty impressed. They keep the tank water clear as long as there isn't any driftwood, as well as doing a wonderful job of breaking down harmful ammonia in the tank. It doesn't do any good at removing tannins from the water if you are using driftwood, but that doesn't bother me since tannins are slightly beneficial. They do lack chemical filtration, so that's the only negative, but at approx. $7 per filter, I can deal with that. If you have lots of smaller tanks then these filters are great, but I wouldn't use them on anything larger than a 20 gallon personally.