# foam vs. filter socks for mechanical filtration in sumps



## chiroken (Sep 25, 2007)

I read that filter socks tend to need to be changed and washed quite regularly and I would like my sumps to be as low maintenance as possible. My overflows for 2 sumps I'm designing will be silent BeanAnimals. Tanks are 300g and 55g African cichlids. The piping entering the sump will have the ends submerged as per the design. 1 option is to hang socks and swap them out and throw them in the washing machine to clean. The other option I just thot of (I'm sure I'm not the first ) was to have foam blocks cut slightly larger than the foot print of the chamber and then lay them in horizontally. Water would flow from the inlet pipe, down thru the foam, then through the bulkheads at the bottom of the baffle and then into the K1 media chamber. When they need cleaning I can yank it out, replace with a clean 2nd foam and rinse the dirty one out under the tap until it gets swapped back in. I could have 2 or 3 different porocities of foam so that the 1st caught the big stuff and then go finer below.

If the foam is to be for mechanical only, would one need to go through the expense of buying poret foam or could regular reticulated foam from upholsterers do well enough?

Potential problems I see:

1) the foam doesn't stay in place as it becomes dirty. Solution could be to make an egg crate table that the foam sits on so it is supported

2) the foam is too porous and not filtering out fine enough particles. I assume foam can be fine enough to filter out tiny suspended particles?

Any experience with this or any suggestions/critiques?


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## nodima (Oct 3, 2002)

I've been running a 180 with 2 pieces of Poret 30 ppi foam as the main mechanical, and have been thrilled with how the tank looks. Not sure I'd trust foam intended for upholstery, as you have no idea what may have been added to it.

1 - definitely use the eggcrate you describe - I use this approach to keep the foam above a bunch of bioballs in my sump. The 30ppi does a good job of filtering - i've got the 2" thick stuff which seems to be a reasonable compromise with filtering and ability to clean it. I've had it for 2-3 years already, and don't see any signs of deteriorating etc, so I expect it to last a lot longer, which makes it a better value. I don't think it is expensive, given the performance.


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## chiroken (Sep 25, 2007)

nodima said:


> I've been running a 180 with 2 pieces of Poret 30 ppi foam as the main mechanical, and have been thrilled with how the tank looks. Not sure I'd trust foam intended for upholstery, as you have no idea what may have been added to it.
> 
> 1 - definitely use the eggcrate you describe - I use this approach to keep the foam above a bunch of bioballs in my sump. The 30ppi does a good job of filtering - i've got the 2" thick stuff which seems to be a reasonable compromise with filtering and ability to clean it. I've had it for 2-3 years already, and don't see any signs of deteriorating etc, so I expect it to last a lot longer, which makes it a better value. I don't think it is expensive, given the performance.


So you stack 2x2" on top of each other, so 4" of solid foam then? Or do you have a space between each piece? Or would it matter?


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## nodima (Oct 3, 2002)

chiroken said:


> nodima said:
> 
> 
> > I've been running a 180 with 2 pieces of Poret 30 ppi foam as the main mechanical, and have been thrilled with how the tank looks. Not sure I'd trust foam intended for upholstery, as you have no idea what may have been added to it.
> ...


Sorry, no - sump has a pair of 15" square chambers the water passes through, with a single pump chamber in middle.


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## fmueller (Jan 11, 2004)

I use Poret as divider in my sump, and couldn't be happier. I had previously used filter socks, and would never go back.

Poret has open pores, which makes it great for filtration purposes. Upholsterer foam is usually closed pored - totally different kettle of fish, and totally unsuitable for filtration! Also, upholsterer foam is not as cheap as you might think. I was looking for a piece to make a dog bed at some stage, and found I could buy the finished dog bed cheaper at Petsmart than a piece of foam of the same size at Joanne's!


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