Glossary · 🏠 Setup & equipment
Sponge filter
A sponge filter is a simple air-driven filter that provides gentle flow and a large bacterial surface, making it the go-to choice for shrimp tanks, fry tanks and betta tanks where strong current is a problem.
Powered by an air pump, it is cheap, quiet and safe — there is no intake that can suck in shrimplets or long betta fins. It is almost purely a biological and light mechanical filter.
Many keepers run a spare sponge filter in an established tank so they always have instantly-cycled media ready for a new or hospital tank.