# Poret Foam in Sump



## Harry Muscle (Mar 13, 2007)

I'm thinking of setting up my Aqueon Proflex 4 sump with Poret foam. It's the foam used mainly for matten filters. I'm wondering if anyone has used this foam in their sumps before. Did it offer the low maintenance that's supposed to be offered by matten filters?

I'm thinking of using 6" worth of total foam in 10, 20, 30 ppi to support a 112G planted tank. Is that enough or too much?

Lastly I'm looking for input on which size to get. My sump cross section is 13 3/8" wide by 12 1/2" high (with open space above). Ideally I'd like to get the 13x13 sheets but then I would have a gap. I thought of filling that gap with a 1" think sheet of foam but I'm not sure if doing that would allow the foam to hold itself in place like a single sheet.

Any other input anyone has about this kind of setup or possibly a better and/or cheaper setup which reduces maintenance is highly appreciated.

Thanks,
Harry


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## appleton71 (Nov 11, 2016)

I just built my own 30 gallon sump for the 125 gallon community tank I'm setting up. I contacted Stephan at Swiss Tropicals and he suggested 3" of 10 ppi and 3" of 20 ppi for my setup for a total of 6". I won't have the system up for a while yet, so I can't comment on it's effectiveness.


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## OreoP (Aug 12, 2016)

I use 4 different densities of Poret foam in my DIY sump. Has been running for a couple of months now. No issues with flow or clogging


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## latent (Dec 7, 2016)

I used to run poret foam dividers in my sump until I redesigned it. 

A couple things to consider.....
1. If you use poret foam as a divider between your return pump section you run the risk to dislodging anything caught in the foam and being pumped into the main tank. This can happen during routine maintenance or cleaning. Its also a pain in the a** to siphon out once you get stuff in the return section.

2. Be vary wary of snails if you decide to use your sump as a fuge or grow-out area for plants, fry, shrimp etc. Pond snails will sneak through your foam and hang out in your return area. Once they get in there, the waste they make is significantly higher than one might think and just like number 1, you now have a return pump section full of snail crap. 

I still use poret foam in my sumps but I no longer use a piece to separate compartments from my return pump area. I will always use glass or acrylic with filter media basket on the back side to catch anything that might infiltrate my return section. 

Oreo's setup looks good in the sense that the sump is not a fuge or a grow-out area. It is simply filtration. My only concern is when it comes time for maintenance, you pull out the foam and a bunch of stuff gets dislodged during the cleaning process.


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## Freemananana (Jan 2, 2015)

I've always used poret foam and plan on using it again. Low maintenance? Yeah, sure. I probably do sump maintenance every 6 months. I'll take the foam out and hose it off and I'll take the bag of bio media and slosh it around in a bucket of tank water. I'll siphon out most of the sump water and suck the rest out with a big 'ol shop vac. Wipe down the sump and put everything back in. This is ONLY if needed. I'll rinse the medias whenever I get bored, about bi-annually. Cleaning out debris is strictly on a need-to-do basis for me. I had a refuge before and it was more of a headache than anything. I won't be doing that again. As far as foam, I had 2-2" pieces and it was overkill. I am going to use 2 pieces this time again, 2" again because of availability, and they are 10 and 30 ppi. It should be enough IMO. I do use filter floss from time to time though as well though. Mostly after I do some sort of rescaping or stirring up the substrate, I'll put a mat of it in there and let it catch a bunch of debris.


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## theDCpump (Jul 22, 2016)

Freemananana said:


> I've always used poret foam and plan on using it again. Low maintenance? Yeah, sure. *I probably do sump maintenance every 6 months*. I'll take the foam out and hose it off and I'll take the bag of bio media and slosh it around in a bucket of tank water. I'll siphon out most of the sump water and suck the rest out with a big 'ol shop vac. Wipe down the sump and put everything back in. This is ONLY if needed.* I'll rinse the medias whenever I get bored, about bi-annually. Cleaning out debris is strictly on a need-to-do basis for me.* I had a refuge before and it was more of a headache than anything. I won't be doing that again. As far as foam, I had 2-2" pieces and it was overkill. I am going to use 2 pieces this time again, 2" again because of availability, and they are 10 and 30 ppi. It should be enough IMO. I do use filter floss from time to time though as well though. Mostly after I do some sort of rescaping or stirring up the substrate, I'll put a mat of it in there and let it catch a bunch of debris.


Ha!

The people that sell fish products _don't want the great wisdom of foam sumps to spread._
They curse you.

6 months!??

Arrgh! We need new "cartridges" discarded each week!
- robot-sheep voice. sarcasm

I love it.
Poret. 
'A true breakthrough in organic waste management.


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## PEdwards (Oct 31, 2016)

Poret foam is the only media I have in my sump. The whole media section is chock full of the stuff with the finest pad on top going to most coarse on the bottom. I did it this way to avoid having to pull all the pads out when the fine pad needed to be cleaned. I've been pretty happy with it so far. The only downside I can see is that water from the trickle plate tends to go through discreet channels rather than getting spread out in the parts that aren't water logged. It does a great job of trapping particles though.


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## rballi (Mar 4, 2010)

I have used this before as dividers in my sump on a 125 and it worked fantastic, though I did get debris come loose which was kinda messy. My current build is going to be running everything through 200 micron filter socks before they hit the various densities of foam to make sure nothing large gets through, and those aren't responsible for any of the bio filtration so I can swap those every couple of weeks or more. Always had a great experience working with Swiss tropicals. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## Nordic (Nov 11, 2003)

I don't really see the point in too much mechanical filtration. That being said I do run hobs with foam intakes and it does reduce the dirt buildup inside...and leave more space for biological filtration.
I just find by using mostly ceramic media, and only a tiny bit of mechanical filtering before the water gets to it, the filters go further.
What I hate about foam cartridges and other foam blocks is that it forms mold in no time where it breaks through the water surface.


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## Freemananana (Jan 2, 2015)

I like to use a good bit of mechanical filtration. Prefilters are my favorite. I used a dual sponge filter as an intake on a sunsun302 in my shrimp tank and it was AMAZING. I would notice the flow lessen every few weaks, pull the fine foam off, hose it off in the sink, and be fine. 

As far as sumps and poret foam go, it depends on your setup. Don't take my prior experience as normal. It's a single anecdote. Depending on your load and methods, it could easily change.


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