Aquarium sponge filter modifications can really help better how these filters work. The best sponge filters are the Hydro high flows in my opinion. I feel like your going to get more biological and mechanical filtration out of them.

Added random fish tank talk:
He looks fine to me! New fish need time to adjust. He may just be a little stressed. You could add a bit of stress coat to help with that but he looks healthy to me. Ranchus do have a tendency to head tip and swim slowly just because of their shape. If you think he is constipated, shelled peas can help.

So I'm wondering if I'm doing something wrong. I have an AquaClear 50 filter for my 30 gallon planted tank and I'm having to clean the sponge part once a week bc this happens. I do my water changes twice a month or more often depending on my parameters but there usually fine so Ill skip it. But I feel like I'm having to clean my filter way to often and I'm scared I'm going to crash my tank cleaning it this much. Do I need a better filter? Or is this normal for this filter?

Make sure your filter tray and sponge are pushed all the way down. Only rinse out your sponge in tank water to preserve the most beneficial bacteria. Take carbon out and only use when treating with medications. Get double bonded filter floss from Amazon and cut to size like recommend above. I have no plants so I do 50% water changes every week and replace the filter floss when needed. Usually every other week. But my sponge also gets nasty af every week so I rinse it out in tank water every week. Use SeaChem Stability if you're worried about losing some beneficial.

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When you say "Have to" does that mean the filter is blocked or flow is severely reduced? I clean my filters as little as possible. Only is flow is slowing down. A dirty filter is a good filter, it is a sign of good bacteria growth and as long as you have flow you are good.

How old is the sponge? It may be time to replace it. You could also consider a sponge on the intake to pull some detritus before it gets into the filter. I was using Fluval intake sponges but I had to wash them daily and they were preventing flow. I switched to coarse intake sponges and they’ve been working well.

You need an intake sponge!!! You can get them cheap on Amazon. A tube like sponge that goes on the intake. It prefilters what goes into the filter so it won't get clogged. I just had the same issue with my Aquaclear 50.. But I hadn't been keeping up on sponge cleaning. I keep an extra sponge around now so that if it happens I can swap it out quickly and then rinse the dirty one when I do a water change.

I remove the sponges from inside those filters, and place them onto the intake tubes as a pre-filter. Then I fill the filters hopper with a couple layers of filter floss, and as much bio-media as it will hold. It doubles the efficiency of the filter, and maintenence is much easier. Just rinse the sponge when you do water changes, and replace the floss maybe once every 2 months.

For me a lot of people do way to many water changes i do maybe 20% a month and my do tests often and the only time somethings is slightly of is for a few days after the water changes If i was you i would get a bigger filter a good external one and don’t rinse the media under the tap do it in a bowl of tank water and don’t worry as much if the media is a bit dirty that’s normal.

Ditch the carbon, you don’t need it unless your trying to remove medications. Pour the dirty water out of your filter,clean the filter basket, and motor. This will solve your problem. So all you Pleco folks, I'd love some input before I make a final decision on what type pleco to buy. I've done a bunch of reading and if I'm understanding right, Rubber Lip and BN plecos are the only ones that stay small enough for a 29 gallon tank, is that correct? I have plenty of algae and drift wood in my tank for grazing on and I know I would need to feed veggies and pleco specific food as well, like Repashy Morning Wood. Of those two small enough options, which one would be the best choice to help reduce the algae on wood and glass? The snails and corydoras are keeping the plants pretty clean but they need a little back up help. I currently have 11 kuhli loaches, 8 corydoras and 7 zebra danios. Someday I would like a dwarf powder blue gourami but that may not happen. I'm thinking I should stick to just one pleco, not two. Any glaring problems with that idea? Do either of these species of pleco get aggressive as they get older and start eating small fish? I've read that some of the bigger species do that. Thanks y'all.

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