I got sick and tired of spending alot of money on the Aquaclear Powerhead Quickfilter insert sleeves. They get dirty fast and lower the output of the powerhead. I then switched to filter floss. This is messy and very time consuming. So I went and bought a couple of the biggest Aquaclear sponges made for the big Aquaclear filters. I cut about 1/3 off the top (length wise) to make it fit the Quickfilter. I then had to cut the corners off because it was too thick and square.
Here is what I started with


Cutting the corners


One of the corners cut


4 corners cut


Trimmed the other edges to make it more cylindrical


What it looks like in operation

Funky where are the pics of it in operation ? How much better is it doing it this way ? How much cheeper is it doing it this way ? spill the beans

It looks and operates the same as the insert sleeves or the filter floss. I would have to go around the tank with my eagle eyes on to try and find filter floss floating around the tank. I didn't want it getting wrapped around my fish or have it get in their gills. With the sponge, All I have to do is rinse it out in the sink and put it back in. With the filter floss I would have to wrap the plastic part (that the sleeve insert goes around) and it was very time consuming and would only last 5-7 days before it needed replacing. Now I don't have to buy anymore filter floss or sleeve inserts. Buy the sponge once and rinse it. This way I can also save the good bacteria in them by rinsing them in tank water whereas the filter floss and the sleeve inserts you throw in the garbage and lose your beneficial bacteria.

Sounds as though have hit on a good little idea there mate

Thats what I thought.

Must have been a pain, looking for stray bits of fillter floss

I would see it floating by or caught on the powerhead power cords or in the plants. Who knows, it may have been what killed my L200 and my L190. That and maybe not having a hood to cover the tank.

It could be possible that was the culprit, as if they had accidently got it in to their guts then they would have not been able to break it down I take it you have had no more losses since ?

No, thankfully. The hood should be here tomorrow, then I should be getting some new fish. I'm looking at 25, maybe less, albino LF BNs, a couple L007 and hopefully some calico LF BNs. I really like any and all BNs, but these really strike my fancy.

Great point Funky.

I've been using makeshift filter media for quite a while. I'll have to snap a couple pics.

I go to a Hobby Lobby & get a filter foam and a lighter floss-type material - both used for making pillows. The big 24x24 1" thick foam package costs $1.49 and i think I paid about $4.50 for a big sheet of the floss-like material.

it's MUCH cheaper than "fish" filter media, it's the same (similar) materials and since I don't use carbon anymore it's a nice easy solution for me. I use it in my two HOB's and my canisters.

Well glad to hear you have not lost any more of your fish
Gary has hit on a good point, in that it is quite offten cheeper to use not fish aimed products. You just need to make sure that they are fish and aquarium safe

With my recent run of bad luck with fish dropping like flies, I'm reluctant to put anything in the tank thats not strictly for fish.

I got fairly tired of replacing the filter medium in my original tank, and switched to the el-cheapo foam, that was much more more robust for re-use.