Reddit reviews Powkoo Sponge Filter, Fish Tank Filter Sponge Aquarium Air Filter Shrimp Fry Breeding Tank Filter (Filter)

• As for filters, you have a plethora of options. The easiest to maintain are either sponge filters powered by an air pump. If you choose to go with a sponge filter you will need a ball valve to regulate the flow and control the amount of current in the tank (bettas generally live in and prefer very calm water with little to no surface agitation). OOOOR my favorite route, a hang-on-back filter. Aquaclear makes an excellent filter. The benefit to a hang-on-back filter over a sponge is that you have control over what type of media you choose to use inside of it. This allows for a ton of more advanced options down the line to control chemical levels and water purity. The average size of a filter speaks volumes to the necessity of a 5 to 10 gallon tank.
  
  
• You will want to replace your plastic plants with ones made of silk. The best way to figure out if a decor item is safe for your fish is by dragging a pair of panty hoes (don’t know if I spelt that right) across the decoration. If the panty hoes tear at all then the item is not safe for your fish's fins. Once you are a bit deeper into the hobby, live plants are an excellent addition to any tank as they provide a type of "buffer" for your tank as they absorb harmful chemicals. That being said they can be quite a bit of work depending on what you want to grow.
  
  
• API makes the best hobbyist level water test kit on the market. That being said, I hate the rest of their products for the most part. They are just simply inferior to other options. When you can, all you need to buy is some Seachem Prime for your water condition. It is the crème de la crème of water conditions and while the price tag is higher than others up front it is MUCH cheaper in the long run as it literally only takes 1 ml / 10 gallons to make your water safe for your fish. It also nullifies harmful ammonia and nitrite through a proprietary formula. To add to the awesomeness, you can safely overdose it at up to 5x the concentration safely, and that is even recommended for particularly harmful situations such as cycle crashes or fish-in cycles.
  
  
• Due to the size of the tank he was in, water changes are a bit irrelevant. With such a small body of water and no filter, to keep him safe you would need to be performing 25-50% water changes a few times a day (not exaggerating) this leads back to my previous point about larger bodies of water being much easier to maintain. Once you have upgraded to a larger setup a standard water change schedule is usually ~30% once a week. In the event your water parameters are way out of whack and you need to change a lot of the water out, it is ALWAYS better to perform many small scale water changes as opposed to one large one. Large water changes cause violent shifts in PH, water hardness, temperature, and other parameters. These all stress the hell out of our little buddies. To add to this, established tanks do not need to be "cleaned" ever. All that is necessary is a vacuuming of the substrate to clean up any leftover food (we are gonna get to avoiding leftovers altogether shortly) or waste.
  
  
• After hearing about his living conditions, his condition upon death is less and less relevant. Unfortunately due to the nature of his home, he was going to pass quickly regardless of the cause.
  
  
• Food! In the wild meals for bettas are sometimes very scarce! They primarily live off of mosquitos and mosquito larva. They will sometimes go up to two weeks without finding a meal. Because of this, they have no mechanism in their anatomy to signal when they are full. They gorge themselves on whatever they can as they may not have another meal for a very long time. It is always better to error on the side of caution of underfeeding rather than overfeeding. A good rule of thumb is that their stomachs are about the size of their eyeballs. For reference, my fully grown betta gets about 3-4 pellets twice a day. That being said he is quite large and feeding schedules vary from fish to fish. If you watch them while they eat you can actually see their tummies plumping up a bit right after they eat. Plump is good, too plump is not. Another safety measure that many people utilize is a fasting day once a week. Many folks will feed a bit heavier on a Saturday and give treats like blood worms and then will starve them the next day. This helps clean out their digestive systems that are very susceptible to blockages and bloating.
  
  
• Removing leftover food is important. A helpful tool for this is a turkey baster. Any leftover food will breakdown into Ammonia. This is one reason many people like to keep shrimp or snails as tank companions as they will clean up the leftovers. If you aren't ready for that yet, just make sure you clean out the leftover food.
  
  
• Omega one betta buffet is great food. Freeze dried bloodworms are awesome too. I generally save the bloodworms as a treat since they are so messy and difficult to clean up what they don't eat.
  
  
• In reference to the buggy eyes, with a 1 gallon tank, no filter and no heater, there could have been numerous causes for his condition.
  
  I like to end posts like this with shots of my tanks. I do this because I just want to remind you 1 more time that my first 5 gallon tank was an absolute death trap for any fish that was unfortunate enough to land in it. I hope this helps!!!
  
  
• http://i.imgur.com/lYu70ZW.jpg
  
  
• http://i.imgur.com/qP7LmqU.jpg
  
  
• http://i.imgur.com/lL2M7xw.jpg
  
  
• http://i.imgur.com/Gkkywcv.jpg
  
  
• http://i.imgur.com/MTDRF2N.jpg
  

I'd highly recommend using a sponge filter rather than a hang on back. Small fish can get sucked into the intake and others can have their fins ripped by them. Sponge filters are also cheaper and lower maintence in the long run.

Something like this

https://smile.amazon.com/Powkoo-Sponge-Filter-Aquarium-Gallons/dp/B010PRHDWK/ref=sr_1_18?keywords=sponge+filter&qid=1568174811&s=pet-supplies&sr=1-18

I also personally like tetra whisper pumps the most and always use a check valve

Depends on available space and money.

• Long tank is always preferable to a regular shaped.
  
  
• Shrimp tank should be focused on the shrimp, see a good introduction here.
  
  
• You have to learn about possible pitfalls by doing search of Shrimp Tank subreddit for shrimp died, dying, die.
  
  
• In short, no ammonia and nitrites, suitable for your chosen shrimp parameters, very slow changes (dripping speed), GH at least 5-6 dGH and Ca and P food supplement, one shrimp color in one tank, supplemental feeding removed after 2 hrs, and be ready to dealing with population explosion in few months.
  
  
• Filter(s) T-shaped sponge filters in opposite ends of the tank, to get water moving. They could be fed from the same air pump. Smallest aPump, small Whisper of large Eheim air pumps are on quiet side. Air pumps need check valve and gang valve, one line to each of pumps and one extra for bleeding air outside to regulate flow, if needed.
  
  
• Lighting depends on chosen plants, low light are good with desktop lamp or Nicrew light fixture. Finnex Planted is for higher demand plants.
  
  
• Plants for shrimp: see youtube Marks Shrimp Tanks and Rachel O'Leary tanks to see how they look like. Round pellia (subwassetang) or mosses with java ferns and anubias do not require fertilisation, substrate and good with low-medium light.
  
  
• Aquascaping for shrimp, 3 approaches: 1) any planted you like, but shrimp have places to hide, they are vulnerable after molting, 2) as much free space as possible to catch the buggers, 3) hot mess of mosses, leave shrimp there on their own.
  
  
• Don't forget to cycle tank before adding shrimp, and get all test kits necessary.

Awesome! Your betta will love the upgrade.

You can get a sponge filter like this: https://www.amazon.com/Powkoo-Sponge-Filter-Aquarium-Gallons/dp/B010PRHDWK/ref=sr_1_10?keywords=sponge+filter&qid=1556301782&s=gateway&sr=8-10 But be aware you'll also have to get an air pump and airline tubing. Sponge filters are great.

I got this, should be fine right?

https://www.amazon.ca/gp/aw/d/B010PRHDWK/ref=pd_aw_sim_199_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=5NMD17NXZJHQYTNMD2HT&dpPl=1&dpID=817jmsS4awL

I’ve also seen a guy on YouTube with like twenty tanks, all with this filter and he preaches them like crazy. I’ve never tried them, but the low maintenance and bacterial perk makes them very attractive. That other sponge filter that was just posted looks good too, and might take up less space. The downside is that you have to put them in the water, which might seem unsightly if you care about that kind of thing.


https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B010PRHDWK/ref=mp_s_a_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1549773339&sr=8-6&keywords=sponge+filter&dpPl=1&dpID=41Jjb7PLjlL&ref=plSrch

I bought this one for my mom's tank that has worked out really well, I think it's this is the one. Pretty much any basic sponge will do. You can also DIY one really easily!

Does this look like an alright one? Just to get an idea of what to look for. Or would this he too much for my ten gallon?
https://www.amazon.ca/Powkoo-Sponge-Filter-Aquarium-Gallons/dp/B010PRHDWK/ref=mp_s_a_1_fkmr2_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1549772796&sr=8-1-fkmr2&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=Powkoo+Air+Pump+Sponge+Filter+Bio+Filter+for+Aquarium+Fish+Tank+Up+to+60+Gallons