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Any Foam Experts?! 🤣

I’d say 10 to 20 PPI.

However, Where to get good quality foam is a mystery to me!
 
Not sure if the size is right but Powkoo sell course 15ppi filter foam sponge in black.
Amazon has them.
 
I found this old thread about foam, and I have to say, the problem in the UK getting the right stuff (and ensuring it IS the right stuff) still exists!

JMorgan

Thread 'Polyether vs Polyester/polyethylene foam filters (minor rant)'

Having spent many hours of fruitless searching I'm hoping that someone here can point me in the right direction to get hold of some decent quality polyether foam/sponge filters. Possibly in Germany or the Netherlands?

Roughly 18 months ago I quite suddenly needed to expand the number of tanks to cope with growing out a few hundred angelfish fry. At that time I just got hold of what I thought were OK sponge filters - the sort typically sold on amazon and eBay, but which seem pretty universal at my LFS and other online stores. They are not terrible, but nor are they good quality. After less...
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I'm by no means an expert but as discussed in the link above it's worth every penny you spend extra to replace polyester/ethylene foam with polyether foam - assuming of course you don't get ripped off. I have recently seen some available on eBay UK. I'd just make sure you pick a seller doing returns as you'll tell the difference immediately you get your hands on it - it's a very different texture and consistency.

Poret foam is polyether foam - it's just an American branding or marketing ploy and is no different or better than any other polyether foam. Arguably spending the extra is also better for the planet as it will last ten times longer - being much more rigid it's also easier to cut to shape and to clean.
 
Hi all,
JMorgan said:
it's just an American branding or marketing ploy and is no different or better than any other polyether foam
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It is <"actually German">, but you are right about it being a "trade name". The company that makes it is <"EMW filtertechnik GmbH">.

@JMorgan you have a thread <"Polyether vs Polyester/polyethylene foam filters (minor rant)">. I've still got some of the <"Yamitsu sponge blocks"> I bought in ~2012, although they are beginning to look a little distressed.

cheers Darrel
 
Hi Darrel - it's a bit circuitous but I meant the branding was American as a marketing ploy to make it somehow automagically different from every other polyether foam under the sun. That's the line Swiss Tropicals takes in marketing it to our American friends. I'm being excessively nit-picky because Poret foam is good stuff and - if you're in the USA - it seems sensibly priced from Swiss Tropicals last time I looked.

I just get a bit ranty because there are SO many aquarium hobby based products that turn out to be used by the ton or by volume in metres cubed on industrial scales and then sold to the hobbiest by the gramme. Absolutely rubbish foam, fish food, plant ferts sold as 99% water, various substrates, montmorillionite clay etc.etc. Of course there's a somewhat blurry line between making a fair profit and being predatory, selling snake oil and lying through your teeth, with far too much of the latter two going on.
 
Hi all,
JMorgan said:
That's the line Swiss Tropicals takes in marketing it to our American friends. I'm being excessively nit-picky because Poret foam is good stuff and - if you're in the USA - it seems sensibly priced from Swiss Tropicals last time I looked.
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Yes, Stephan Tanner is Swiss and was already very much a Poret foam fan before he went to the USA.
....... Back in Europe during the 1990s, I had used Poret® brand aquarium foam for many years. Initially, I brought small volumes with my luggage to the States to build my first small fishroom in Ohio. But in 2006, my fishroom with over 60 tanks needed a lot more filter foam for the tried and tested HMF method. After failing to find a local source, I started importing the foam directly from the manufacturer, which among others supplies Eheim & Oase. I formed a company and SwissTropicals, LLC was born. Being Swiss-American ..........
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I expect things to work well, last long, and are simple to use: simplicity that works!.....
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Words after my own heart.
JMorgan said:
... because Poret foam is good stuff and - if you're in the USA - it seems sensibly priced from Swiss Tropicals last time I looked.
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Personally I've got a lot of time for Dr Tanner <"Aquarium Biofiltration - SWISSTROPICALS">, he is a high powered research scientist by day, so <"Swiss Tropicals"> is very much a side hustle and I'm pretty sure that profit isn't his major motive <"Stephan Tanner, Ph.D. – CARES Fish Preservation Program">.
JMorgan said:
I just get a bit ranty because there are SO many aquarium hobby based products that turn out to be used by the ton or by volume in metres cubed on industrial scales and then sold to the hobbiest by the gramme. Absolutely rubbish foam, fish food, plant ferts sold as 99% water, various substrates, montmorillionite clay etc.etc. Of course there's a somewhat blurry line between making a fair profit and being predatory, selling snake oil and lying through your teeth, with far too much of the latter two going on.
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I couldn't agree more.

cheers Darrel
 
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Spartacus said:
Without wanting to sound like an advert I’ve always used Pond, Aquarium And Fish Tank Filters | Finest-Filters

Free postage on any order and a good range. Normally takes about 2 days.

Now if you excuse me I need to ban myself for spamming advertising 🤣
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I can't be 100% on this because it's very hard to tell from a photo, however, because they don't describe their foam as polyether, it's fairly safe to assume it isn't. This is simply because it does tend to cost a bit more so those who are selling it make a point of justifying the price hike, by telling you how much better it is. They're not wrong.

This is made more complex by the fact that there are better and worse qualities of polyethylene foam too. I've bought sponge filters with such atrociously poor foam (feels kind of greasy, deforms and even tears very easily) that they have almost no integral strength and kinda collapse on themselves within a few months. Compared to that really crappy sort of foam the polyethylene foam Finest-Filters sell is great stuff. But it's still short-lived compared to polyether.
 
What would folks advise as a good pore size for an intake foam to stop baby shrimp being sucked up without unduly affecting flow? I’m not adverse to rinsing it out every two weeks. One of my tanks has a very fine foam I got somewhere years ago but I think it’s too fine for my other tank that has a much higher flow. I expect it would clog quickly?
 
In practical terms 30 ppi. Some of the shrimp sites will say you need 40-45 ppi to be totally baby shrimp safe, but in the real world 30 ppi is going to keep all but the smallest babies out. 45 ppi would clog very quickly on a high flow filter, it is more suited to shrimp only setups with relatively low flow.

Another alternative is the stainless steel mesh intake guards
 
We are using twin 45ppi block filters 50x50x80 in our 50 ltr tank and they have not blocked so far , though as said we do give each one a light rinse every 2 weeks.
Have lots of really small baby red cherries in the tank, no obvious signs of any going though or being stuck on the filters.
It all really depends on your tank size/flow rate and filter size/area , bit of a balancing act so you may just have to try a couple of pore sizes to find th right balance for each tank if they are different sizes/pumps etc.
 
Maf 2500 said:
In practical terms 30 ppi. Some of the shrimp sites will say you need 40-45 ppi to be totally baby shrimp safe, but in the real world 30 ppi is going to keep all but the smallest babies out. 45 ppi would clog very quickly on a high flow filter, it is more suited to shrimp only setups with relatively low flow.

Another alternative is the stainless steel mesh intake guards
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Thanks. I’ve ordered some 40 ppi to try.
I’ve had stainless steel mesh but found it clogged with dead leaves/moss etc. Foam have proven not only to protect shrimp on one of my tanks, but also to act as an effective pre-filter for the canister.
 
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