Question for others that use 30ppi foam in cansiters

[HotTunaCartel]

I just read https://aquariumscience.org/ as suggested by others on here and found it incredibly interesting and informative.  

I have sheets of 30ppi foam and was thinking about slowly adding it into my fluval 407.  

I had one question though, I do have three discs of it in my eheim classic 150 and I think it has slowed down the flow a bunch.   My current setup is in the eheim is the lower is the eheim mech followed by a aco coarse sponge, then the eheim sponge and a 30ppi sponge on top.  

Has anyone else experienced this with other canisters? 

[anewbie]

My one concern with using a denser foam in a canister filter would be stress it might place on the motor. I use dense foam in matten filters and sponge filters but in those cases there really isn't a motor to burn out; for matten filters you have to watch the water level behind the sponge as dense sponge clogs faster. Sponge filters are sponge filters; I seem to get more flow from coarser sponges so there is that consideration. In the end i'm not sure it really matters and the reason to use fine ppi is not so much for bio filtration but to pick up finer particles - just be prepared to clean them more often.

[HotTunaCartel]

On 1/9/2022 at 11:36 AM, anewbie said:

My one concern with using a denser foam in a canister filter would be stress it might place on the motor. I use dense foam in matten filters and sponge filters but in those cases there really isn't a motor to burn out; for matten filters you have to watch the water level behind the sponge as dense sponge clogs faster. Sponge filters are sponge filters; I seem to get more flow from coarser sponges so there is that consideration. In the end i'm not sure it really matters and the reason to use fine ppi is not so much for bio filtration but to pick up finer particles - just be prepared to clean them more often.

Thanks for the quick reply.  i've read about matten filters and would certainly like to try that one day.  

I hear what you're saying about motor stress, currently I'm not running any floss in it and don't think I will it just clogs up way to fast in my blackwater even with an intake prefilter which I rinse out weekly.  I thought I had a clogged hose at first but I think its the foam.   I like being able to just clean the dirty one on the bottom rinse and bit and stick it on the top.   

In regards to motor stress, would I hear that or is that something that would just burn out overtime.  I know in the fluval its completely fine to restrict flow as the manual states no damage to the motor.  But I'm not sure about the eheim. 

[Guppysnail]

I use 2-fluval107 1-207 2-307 and 1-407. Except for 2 that I had some coop coarse laying about the only thing in y canisters is aquaneat 30pii matten foam and the sponge the fluval came with. I think I had some 20 ppi I had left for a project laying around I put in 1. I never need to turn mine up full ballast. After cleaning I’m at 1/4-1/3 flow then progress and I know it’s cleaning time when I have to turn it the whole way up. (Usually 2-3 months) my tanks are rediculously high waste high stock as well and I feed generously. I have no experience with any other canisters and I always use aquaneat so other companies porosity ratings I know vary. I feel the fluval canisters are very powerful stuffed with just aquaneat 30ppi. I only use other sponge if its laying about and I run short on the 30. 

Edited January 9, 2022 by Guppysnail

[HH Morant]

I have two Eheim 2217s on my 120-gallon tank. Both are filled with 30 ppi foam which I cut to fit. There is nothing else in the filter - I put in as much 30 ppi foam as would fit. I have not noticed any slowing of flow. I only open the canisters every 3 months or so for a light cleaning. I got my foam from Swiss Tropicals.

I changed over to 30 ppi foam in stages, replacing 1/4 to 1/3 of the old media at a time. It took several months. I have had much better water clarity with the 30 ppi foam and without mechanical filtration.

When I had mechanical filtration in the canisters, I had to clean them and replace the mechanical media - the white pads - every 2-3 weeks or so.

I guess every set-up is different and maybe 30 ppi foam from different manufacturers is different.

You might try 20 ppi foam or some combination of 20 ppi and 30 ppi, and see if that increases the flow. The 20 ppi is not as efficient at biological filtration as the 30 ppi, but (according to aquariumscience.org) it is still better than almost all commercially sold filter media.

Another option is the pot scrubbers [discussed at aquariumscience.org], which are more efficient than 20 ppi foam, but not quite as good as 30 ppi. I have a lot of pot scrubbers in the sump on one of my tanks. The resistance to flow is dependent on how tightly you pack them. And the pot scrubbers are cheap.

In my experience the flow rate has been less important than the amount and the quality of the media.

Good luck!

 

[HotTunaCartel]

@Guppysnail  I've seen before that you use foam in all your filters,  I too turn down my fluval about 50%.  I have the green aquaneat as well but just haven't cut them up yet and put in the fluval.  

On 1/9/2022 at 2:57 PM, HH Morant said:

You might try 20 ppi foam or some combination of 20 ppi and 30 ppi, and see if that increases the flow

I like this idea, I might order some more aco course and mix it with the 30ppi