Replacement Sponge for Hydro II

I had used the ATI Hydro-Sponge with the reticulated foam and was disappointed. Just didn't do a good job of mechanical filtering and left the water slightly hazy/cloudy. Replace it with this fine foam and fixed the problem.Note this is not one of the Asian knock-off foam filters, but the original API foam, which is superior.

For a HOB intake filter it's too fine of a media to not clog in a very short timeframe. It would be much better use for a bubble/in-tank filter.

I love this Filter, it's quiet, looks ok, fits nicely in the tank, is really sturdy, and really does it's job. I wanted to test it so I took it out and let my tank get pretty dirty, I put a new sponge on and stuck it in there with no attempt at cleaning it first and within hours you could see a difference. I just purchased my 3rd and 4th sponge, which last a long time and only have to clean the filter maybe 1 time a month, if that. I have a Turtle in the tank with minimal fish.

Would go with pro series next time for my purposes with the larger holes as these plug up too fast. Am using for guppies.

I use these on strong powerheads for a large, deep tank. This one holds up well to infrequent cleanings and a fair amount of debris. Some foams break down enough that they crush together under the suction and clog up no matter how well-cleaned, these hold up very well. They develop a bacteria bed that is also useful for feeding baby guppies.

The quality of the replacement sponge seems very good: dense but lightweight.It is quite big, so check your dimensions first.I didn't use it yet, but I'm confident that will work for my purpose. And the price was great.

This is exactly what was needed. This appears to be good quality sponge material and not the cheap stuff that does not last.

These sponge filters are really nice, but the sponges themselves need to be replaced about once a year. If you start seeing some cloudiness to the water that doesn't clear up quickly, try tossing the old sponge and replacing it with one of these.