{"title":"Sponge Filters \u0026 Air","description":"\u003cp\u003eGentle filtration for shrimp tanks, with sponge filters, air pumps, airline and replacement media. Sponge filters provide mechanical filtration and a place for beneficial bacteria to live, while the gentle flow is safer for baby shrimp. Match the filter size to the tank and keep the sponge cycled.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"aquario-premium-neo-media-soft","title":"Aquario Premium Neo Media Soft","description":"\u003cp\u003eFired ceramic biomedia that houses helpful bacteria, with a large surface area, tuned mildly acidic for planted, shrimp and soft-water tanks.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAquario Premium Neo Media Soft is a fired ceramic biomedia made from natural Korean materials, built to give your filter as much bacterial real estate as possible — roughly 3,200 m² of surface area per litre, spread across a mix of pore sizes so different bacteria strains, not just the ammonia-oxidisers (the bacteria that consume ammonia, the most toxic waste chemical in a tank), get somewhere to live.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis is the Soft variant specifically, tuned mildly acidic — the right call for planted, shrimp and soft-water tanks where you don't want your biomedia fighting the pH work (pH being the acidity scale) your substrate (the tank-floor material) or remineraliser (the mineral mix used to rebuild purified water) is already doing. Drop it into a canister, sponge filter chamber or hang-on-back media basket — whichever style of filter you run — and let it colonise like any other biomedia.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eRinse it in tank or dechlorinated water (tap water already treated to remove chlorine) before first use to knock off any dust, then again roughly every three months as part of your normal filter maintenance. No need to replace it on that schedule — just rinse to clear built-up gunk without stripping the bacteria doing the work.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eFired ceramic biomedia, natural Korean materials\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e~3,200 m² of surface area per litre\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eMixed pore sizes host multiple bacteria strains\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eSoft variant — mildly acidic, suited to planted\/shrimp\/soft-water tanks\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eRinse before first use and roughly every 3 months\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e","brand":"Aquario","offers":[{"title":"1L","offer_id":52798364057912,"sku":"D-PREMIUM NEO MEDIA SOFT 1 LTR","price":22.5,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true},{"title":"5L","offer_id":52798364090680,"sku":"D-PREMIUM NEO MEDIA SOFT 5 LTR","price":89.75,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0971\/3339\/6280\/files\/neo-media-soft-1l.jpg?v=1786596352"},{"product_id":"aquario-neo-zeolite","title":"Aquario Neo Zeolite","description":"\u003cp\u003eNatural zeolite mesh bags that mop up ammonia by ion exchange — cheap insurance for a new tank, a big stocking event, or a wobbly biofilter.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAquario Neo Zeolite is natural zeolite (a naturally porous volcanic mineral) media packed into eight mesh pouches, ready to drop straight into your filter. It works by ion exchange — swapping harmless minerals on its surface for the pollutants it locks up — pulling ammonia (the most toxic waste chemical livestock produce) out of the water column, the open water itself, with some capacity to grab heavy metals like lead and zinc along the way.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThink of it as ammonia insurance rather than a full-time filter media — genuinely useful while a new tank is cycling (building up the helpful bacteria that process waste), after a big stocking event when the bioload (the amount of waste your livestock produce) jumps overnight, or as a backup if your biofilter — that same waste-processing bacteria colony, living mostly in your filter — takes a hit (a big clean, a dosing mistake, a heater failure) and you need the ammonia buffered while things recover.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eDose at one bag per 60L (roughly 15 US gallons) and replace monthly under normal use. It's not strictly single-use either — you can regenerate a bag by soaking it in a 10% salt solution for up to 24 hours, then rinsing thoroughly before it goes back in the tank.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eNatural zeolite, 8 mesh pouches per pack\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eRemoves ammonia via ion exchange; some capacity for heavy metals (lead, zinc)\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eDose: 1 bag per 60L (~15 US gal)\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eReplace monthly under normal use\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eRegenerate by soaking in a 10% salt solution up to 24h, then rinse before reuse\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e","brand":"Aquario","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":52798364942648,"sku":"D-NEO ZEOLITE","price":17.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0971\/3339\/6280\/files\/neo-bag-zeolite.jpg?v=1786596355"},{"product_id":"aquario-neo-bag-carbon","title":"Aquario Neo Bag Carbon","description":"\u003cp\u003eReady-to-drop activated carbon in a mesh bag — food-grade rather than industrial, and specified not to move pH.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTo \u003cstrong\u003eadsorb\u003c\/strong\u003e is to make something stick to a surface: activated carbon is charcoal processed to be riddled with microscopic pores, and it works by holding impurities on all that internal surface rather than adding anything to the water. \u003cstrong\u003epH\u003c\/strong\u003e is the acidity scale — below 7 is acidic, above 7 is alkaline.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn Aquario's own words, Neo Bag Carbon “quickly adsorbs various chemical compounds and pollutants, making water transparent and removing odors”, and is “the highest grade activated carbon used in food manufacturing processes, not for industrial use”.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe pH point is the one worth knowing.\u003c\/strong\u003e Aquario state plainly: “mostly activated carbon generates a lot of hydroxide in the manufacturing process, which increases the pH of the water, but the neo bag carbon does not affect the pH”, because it has little ash. (Ash is the mineral residue left over from manufacture — the part of a carbon that pushes pH up.) If you have ever had carbon nudge your pH up, that is the problem this is specified against.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eWhat that does in a tank:\u003c\/strong\u003e it pulls dissolved organics (waste compounds from food and livestock), tannins (the compounds from driftwood and leaves that tint water tea-brown) and odour compounds out of the water column — the open water itself — which clears tinting from driftwood and botanicals and takes the musty edge off after a big clean-up. As with any carbon, it saturates (its pores eventually fill and it stops working) — run it as a temporary or rotating stage rather than leaving it in indefinitely. Aquario also design for internal flow, so adsorption happens inside the granule and not only on its surface.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eFood-manufacturing-grade activated carbon, pre-bagged for canister and hang-on-back baskets\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eAdsorbs dissolved organics, tannins and odour-causing compounds\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eAquario specify \u003cstrong\u003eno effect on pH\u003c\/strong\u003e — low ash, unlike carbons that raise pH via hydroxide\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003ePore structure designed so water flows inside the granule, not just across its surface\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eSaturates with use — run as a temporary or rotating stage\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eAn Amazon listing title claims it “stabilizes pH levels”; Aquario's own page says no pH effect, so we have not repeated the Amazon wording\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e","brand":"Aquario","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":52798405869880,"sku":"D-NEO CARBON","price":17.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0971\/3339\/6280\/files\/neo-bag-carbon.jpg?v=1786596493"}],"url":"https:\/\/shrimpzone.com.au\/collections\/filters.oembed","provider":"Shrimp Zone ","version":"1.0","type":"link"}