Open pore foam for filtration

[Jessica Dring]

Hi Guys,

Apologies if this is in the wrong section - I don't post in this section often and tend to frequent the reptile section.

I was having a conversation with a colleague yesterday who uses a deep sand bed to grow anaerobic bacteria which reduces nitrates, and whilst he's having success with it I'm reluctant to try this method due to the risk if the sand is disturbed. I've been having a dig around and short of buying or diy'ing a denitrator (which is finicky and has the potential to go easily very wrong) a lot of people seem to have had success with open pore sponges or foams - which seems to be the least risk and option that I'd like most to try. I'll make it clear, I'm not having a problem with nitrates, and I'm certainly not shy of performing water changes (infact I very much enjoy doing them lol), however I do like to try new things when it comes to aquatics and would like to give these a shot.

Has anybody here tried them? I believe they are (or were) slightly easier to get hold of in the USA, I'm having real trouble sourcing them in the UK. It seems for some reason they are not being sold for the aquatic industry anymore, and I'd have to look at sourcing general purpose ones, although I have no idea where to look or what to look for in terms of open pored versus closed pored foams or sponges.

Would be great to have some input from across the pond!

 

[deeda]

Check out Poret filter foam for aquariums which is an open cell foam. It is usually used for HMF (Hamburg MattenFilter) filtration and driven by either an air pump or power heads. It can also be used in canister & power filters, as well as sumps/wet dry.

Here is a link Poret to more information regarding what it is and how it can be used.

I can't answer your question whether it would work as deep sand bed or denitrator.

 

[Drstrangelove]

If you want to reduce nitrates, have you considered adding terrestrial plants (notably pothos)? Plants are basically nitrate magnets since they use nitrogen for growth while also dispersing extra nitrogen into the air where it's totally harmless. Terrestrial plants don't get submerged, so they are easy to trim, move and stay out of the fish's way. Pothos require no special lighting (ambient room light is just fine) and will grow without needing special water additives. Basically, grow them at the top of your tank or sump, then as needed, split off off some of the roots with a couple leaves to create new plants, and toss the older ones.


http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/f...Cheap-plants-less-nitrate!-POTHOS-(1-Viewing)

Basically, just add plants to the top of the tank with roots suspended into the tank water. There are some highly successful and attractive tanks run that way (see the thread.) Thee must be at least 60+ tanks shown in the thread.

Just another option if you are interested.

 

[F1 VET]

If you want to reduce nitrates, have you considered adding terrestrial plants (notably pothos)? Plants are basically nitrate magnets since they use nitrogen for growth while also dispersing extra nitrogen into the air where it's totally harmless. Terrestrial plants don't get submerged, so they are easy to trim, move and stay out of the fish's way. Pothos require no special lighting (ambient room light is just fine) and will grow without needing special water additives. Basically, grow them at the top of your tank or sump, then as needed, split off off some of the roots with a couple leaves to create new plants, and toss the older ones.


http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/f...Cheap-plants-less-nitrate!-POTHOS-(1-Viewing)

Basically, just add plants to the top of the tank with roots suspended into the tank water. There are some highly successful and attractive tanks run that way (see the thread.) Thee must be at least 60+ tanks shown in the thread.

Just another option if you are interested.

+1






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Cheap way to decrease nitrates and keep your fish healthy: http://monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=504763