Replace biohome ultra with foam?

[Aharries]

I've been doing some research on filter media and have come across the findings the Aquarium Science – The Science of Aquariums.

I'm growing sceptical about ceramic media etc. and am thinking foam/pot scrubbers etc. is the way to go.

The media on the internal filter on my Fluval Spec 60 is mostly foam any way. The Oase Filtosmart 100 on my other tank is two thirds foam. The one I'm thinking of messing around with is the All Pond Solutions 1000ef. Currently it has one tray of foam and the other two trays are biohome ultra.

Do you reckon I should swap out the biohome with foam/pot scrubbers?
If so - all at once, or one tray at a time.

Thanks for any input.

Regards,
Adam.

 

[Magnum Man]

I've been thinking about bio media a lot lately... the Aquaclear 70's I have, have much less "media" than what I was used to... I've been out of the hobby for around 20 years... the hot bio ticket when I was into tanks before, were plastic wiffle balls... so ceramic media is definately different

IMO, any media that has the most surface area, that water can circulate around is best... I had a thread a couple weeks back, on sponge filters ( so yes, talking foam ) it would seem that the coarseness of the foam, would make a big difference... if the w3ater isn't forced through it, there is likely to be "dead areas" in the foam mass...

on a wiffle ball, the water easily flows through the whole inner surface, as well as the outer surface... the actual surface area may still be less than something like porous lava rock or the same size, because of all the larger pores, or an engineered ceramic piece... since getting back into fish, I have purchased 2 different ceramic medias, one is like little cut off tubes, with a hole down the middle of a cylinder, and another I call Cocoa Puffs, that are just little balls...

sorry not been back in long enough to be familiar with the media shapes you're talking about...

while it's not popular in the hobby that I know of, I still use a lot of porous lave rock...

added... my only real concern with most foams, would be the thickness ( even if in thin layers ) if water isn't easily flowing through them... & the foam breaking down over time, & or leaching plastic chemicals into the water... there are a lot of foams used today, so I would assume most would not leach... but if they are sitting in block form in a filter housing, the "dead center" is very real... if it's tight fitting in a place that water is forced through, that resolves the "dead center" but the filter flow will need to be carefully monitored, so the flow doesn't get low enough that it causes problems

 

[Magnum Man]

Have you seen the "My Pillow" commercials ( not sure if those are international or not??? but those pillows are constructed of foam granules or shreds... if the filter were filled with fairly coarse foam balls about a cm in size, that may end up being the best of both worlds???

 

[TwoTankAmin]

Got to Swiss tropicals, buy Poret foam. Great stuff- I have it in cubefil;ters, as mattenfilters, have replaced a lot of AquaClear sponges with it and even have one Eheim canister filled only with it. All sponge.foam filters are not equal by a long shot.

Swiss Tropicals is US based, but the foam comes from Europe.

Poret® Foam is a brand product made by our partner EMW® Filtertechnik GmbH in Diez, Germany. SwissTropicals, LLC is the sole agent and exclusive distributor for Poret® in North America. Poret® is safe for all uses in freshwater and marine aquariums, ponds, aquaponics, and aquaculture.
Read more about Poret® filter foam.

 

[FranciscoB]

Hey TwoTankAmin -
I am considering purchasing Poret foam to replace several of my Aquaclear 110 filter's foams that are falling apart. In the past, I have purchased some of the generic ones sold on eBay (from China); they work fine but the quality is somewhat lesser and the pore size different.
So two questions:
1- What size of SwissTropicals Poret blocks would be best to achieve the size for AC 110 filters (~10x3.5x3.5 inches)?. It seems to me that their 4" blocks are closest, needing just some trimming and then cut to the correct length.
2- What is the best pore size to use, out their 10-30 ppi range. I am thinking that 20ppi may work well.
Anybody has worked with Poret in their AC 110s?
Thanks!

 

[TwoTankAmin]

I have been replacing falling apart AC foam with Poret for some time now. I replaced ATI sponges with Poret as well. And then I replaced the entire filtration on some tanks with cubefilters and/or Mattenfilters. None of my Poret has come close to showing wear, yet.


I tend to use the 20 ppi. The 10 is too big unless you have some very messy fish. I use 10 for my tank dividers as it passes the water back and forth easily and for pre-filters. The 30 or higher clogs faster and faster as the ppi go up. The 3 ppi and up are best used with shrimp or fry or as the final foam in a multi-foam set-up like a cnaister with several baskets.

My AC 110 has a big block of 20 ppi poret foam on the bottom. Next I have the two foams which were in the AC 70 on the tank from which they were moved into the 150 to transfer the bacteria in them. Then there is another 1 inch thick strip of 20 ppi I had in my Poret scraps box which I dropped on top of the old foams. I have a layer of floss on top of the bottom Poret foamand below the old 70 foams. I also have an Eheim 2026 canister on the tank. I have 3 and they all have different media loading but Poret in on one not on the 150.

I have more foam than I need. I had planned a sump under a 125 for the clowns and roselines in the 150. But the 75 they were in developed a leak and I had a busy Sunday moving it all into the 150. In addition to the canister and the AC 110, I have and old style H.O.T. Magnum loaded with the micron cartridge.

I would get a 13x13x4 inch thick. 20 ppi sheet. It is only $4 more and you will use just over 1/2 of it for two blocks in the 110. Cutting Poret needs a sharp longish knife. I can never make a perfect cut, it always has a bit of a tilt- it doesn't matter much.

You can get 2 pieces 10 in. long leaving 3 inches at the end. and then 7 in. wide leaving 6 in on the side. So you can use the leftover in a variety of ways.

The blocks are intended for folks who want to make their own cubefilters moer than other applications. I have a ton of poret I am selling as I no longer need that much. I have 3 13x13 sheets. 2 are20 ppi and the other is a 30. I have a ton of cubefilters. I have a pair of 4x4x4 in my summer tanks. This all went with me to The Keystone clash last week. I sold 2 of the tanks, none of the cycled filters and none of the sheets which included 4 10 ppi tank dividers for 20L/33L tanks. I have 3x3x3, 4x4x4 add 5x5x5 (some of these new) and most with uplift tubes. I am ramping way down acrooss the board so have been selling a lot of my equipment.

 

[FranciscoB]

Thanks. Music from your generation (and mine).
Thanks also for the Three Dog Night tunes

 

[TwoTankAmin]

Jeremiah was a bullfrog
Was a good friend of mine
I never understood a single word he said
But I helped him a-drink his wine
And he always had some mighty fine wine

Singin' joy to the world
All the boys and girls now
Joy to the fishes in the deep blue sea
Joy to you and me

 

[glyn]

I've been doing some research on filter media and have come across the findings the Aquarium Science – The Science of Aquariums.

I'm growing sceptical about ceramic media etc. and am thinking foam/pot scrubbers etc. is the way to go.
Do you reckon I should swap out the biohome with foam/pot scrubbers?
If so - all at once, or one tray at a time.

I think you're spot-on to be suspicious about ceramic media. I'm also very cautious about claims for it when it goes hand-in-hand with anyone selling such media. Claims as to anaerobic filtration are out there, but the evidence for that happening via ceramic media is sparse. If anyone knows otherwise, I'd be happy to stand corrected.


I've read the same research as you, and did find some independent, supporting research on the internet, that indicated that nylon scrubbers were very effective. In addition, fairly open-pored foam has also been seen to work extremely well. Thus the efficacy of Hamburg Matten Filters, when done properly.


I suspect that there's not a lot in it - ceramic media does offer some useful surface area, after all, but you can't do any harm in swapping over to nylon pot scrubbers, however, yes, don't do it all in one go. Apart from the magic of remedial water changes when all else fails, aquariums prosper via gradual change. [I'm sure I read the latter phrase in the motto from a Christmas Cracker, once. Or perhaps it was from a Fortune Cookie?]

 

[Fishyfreeonz]

Currently working on trying to convert all my filters to pot scrubbers. The efficiency is excellent and I would like to not have to clean my filters pretty much ever.

 

[MuddyWaters]

I've been doing some research on filter media and have come across the findings the Aquarium Science – The Science of Aquariums.

I'm growing sceptical about ceramic media etc. and am thinking foam/pot scrubbers etc. is the way to go.

The media on the internal filter on my Fluval Spec 60 is mostly foam any way. The Oase Filtosmart 100 on my other tank is two thirds foam. The one I'm thinking of messing around with is the All Pond Solutions 1000ef. Currently it has one tray of foam and the other two trays are biohome ultra.

Do you reckon I should swap out the biohome with foam/pot scrubbers?
If so - all at once, or one tray at a time.

Thanks for any input.

Regards,
Adam.

I read the same articles and have started using K1 media instead of ceramic. In my seasoned tank, I already had ceramic, so it's still there, but I added K1. When I cleaned my filter pump, I took the "gunk" from it and smeared it in the K1, figuring some of the gunk is beneficial bacteria. I haven't looked at it in awhile, but water is clear as a bell.

I also replaced the paltry amount of ceramic media that comes with the FX4 that I got for my 75 gallon tank with a big pile of K1 media in both baskets. After I closed it up and ran it for a few days, I started wondering if I jammed too much in there - no visible reason for that thought- just typical paranoia. I haven't opened it since either and the flow is fine, cycle is almost done, so I think it's fine.

I had a buddy tell me about the porous nature of the ceramic and how that is what makes it so good- I didn't contradict- I guess the stuff works for those who use it, so fine, but I'm just going to stick with the stuff that has obvious external surface area.

I think pot scrubbers were really high on the list too- if I would have thought a bit I might just have gone with those- might have been cheaper.