Switching to Poret Foam

[FINWIN]

Just about had it with the mucky mechanical filtration in the main tank. I've hit the tipping point (again) with the fish in the 225 despite adjusting the cleaning schedule. Already have swapped out my large male acara for one of the hrps. One or both of the synos will be going in the 125 when I get it set up. That will leave the oscar, parrot, smaller acara and severum as the large fish. The pink pond fiber sheets I've been using are great for debris but in order to clean them well I have to hand scrub. So eventually they get matted/tatty, catch less stuff and have to be tossed. Right now I get about 3 -5 uses per cut pad, so up to 2 months each time. I'm switching to the poret for durability and perhaps more consistent polishing. I've ordered the #20 since its 2 inches thick and I don't want to impede flow too much. My bio filtration is fine. Just too much fish mass now. Feeding schedule is once a day with a skip day. Hasn't made a lick of difference. The one thing I like about the hob filters is that they tell you the worst culprits making mess. The side where the oscar and parrot stay the filter gets filthiest.




Anyone else using poret and pleased with the results? I read that the #30 clogs even worse than the #45.

 

[tlindsey]

Just about had it with the mucky mechanical filtration in the main tank. I've hit the tipping point (again) with the fish in the 225 despite adjusting the cleaning schedule. Already have swapped out my large male acara for one of the hrps. One or both of the synos will be going in the 125 when I get it set up. That will leave the oscar, parrot, smaller acara and severum as the large fish. The pink pond fiber sheets I've been using are great for debris but in order to clean them well I have to hand scrub. So eventually they get matted/tatty, catch less stuff and have to be tossed. Right now I get about 3 -5 uses per cut pad, so up to 2 months each time. I'm switching to the poret for durability and perhaps more consistent polishing. I've ordered the #20 since its 2 inches thick and I don't want to impede flow too much. My bio filtration is fine. Just too much fish mass now. Feeding schedule is once a day with a skip day. Hasn't made a lick of difference. The one thing I like about the hob filters is that they tell you the worst culprits making mess. The side where the oscar and parrot stay the filter gets filthiest.




Anyone else using poret and pleased with the results? I read that the #30 clogs even worse than the #45.

duanes

 

[duanes]

I use Porrett, and have been for a couple years; Fairly small pieces just for mechanical filtration in Commercial type sumps in the past,
and now as an entire wall of filtration in a 125 sump to separate the pump/bio-edia area, from the refugium part of the 125.
Here in a small section of a pre-made standard wimpy sump.

It worked great above, when ready to clog, I pull it out and hose it down in the garden
Now, as a filtration wall (@ 20" x 20" x 2"), wedged on the end of the 125 gal, it catches a lot of debris, and I pull ithe entire wall out and hose it down the same way.

Here you can seee the pump, and some extra biomedia behind it


I pulled up a bag of bio just to show what sits behind the Porret.
In the sump refugium (beside the pants) I pump shrimp, and they seem to hang out on the foam helping to clean it, by consuming detritus,


When I pull the wall to hose down, the tank and sump get clouded with gunk for a few hours, but after the Porrett is rinsed and put back, it quickly clears.
ThPorrett also acts as extra biomedia, and seems to retain many even after hosing, because parameters like nitrate stay at low levels.

 

[duanes]

Below a more elongated view photo, when the Porrett was first wedged in. In the left < 1/4 of the 125

Below the other more planted end of the sump, small amount of space of bio-media/foam area, to the large fefuguim >3/4 area.

By the way, the 125 refugium/sump filters my 180 gal cichlid tank, using an @ 1,000 gph pump, and both the tank and sump have powerheads in each to help add more current for the riverine cichlids.
A shot of the 180 below.

 

[celebrist]

I use poret in my sump as dividers as well, very pleased with the results. I have scuds living in it that help keep it cleaned

 

[deeda]

I use Poret 20 PPI in my canister filters (over 10 years), power filters (over 5 years) and as HMF like duanes does in all my tanks under 40g (over 6 years). Last a long time as I've never had to replace them, and easy to clean IMO as I just use a hose sprayer and bang them against the sink to clean them in a couple minutes.

30 PPI is finer and 45 PPI is extremely fine.

 

[FINWIN]

Great! This is exactly what I was looking for, a combo bio/mech use. Now I can remove the large pre sponge filters on the ACL stems. It will free up considerable space along the back wall.

 

[deeda]

ACL stems?

 

[FINWIN]

ACL stems?

Aquaclear 110s. The sponge prefilters are large, about 3 1/2" by 7" long.

 

[phreeflow]

What makes Poret better than any other foam like the ones Fluval makes? I also get 4ft x 4ft sheets of black foam from my LFS. Is there a quality difference?