# Poret Foam in Sump



## Harry Muscle (Mar 21, 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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## Dis (Apr 16, 2010)

That round of foam should be perfect. If you use foam the sump doesn't need any baffles.

You can ask Stephen about the 3/8th of an inch. He is really good at responding to emails.

For my sump I use the 10, 20 and I think I got the 45 ppi. The 45 ppi slows down the flow too much. If I could do over I would just go with the 30. 

I found it difficult to cult the foam so ordered the pre cut sizes which were all perfectly straight lines.


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## Harry Muscle (Mar 21, 2007)

Dis said:


> That round of foam should be perfect. If you use foam the sump doesn't need any baffles.
> 
> You can ask Stephen about the 3/8th of an inch. He is really good at responding to emails.
> 
> ...


Hi, thanks for the feedback. Can I ask what thickness you use in your sump of each foam and how often you have to clean them?

I'm also wondering if getting six 1" thick pieces might make things easier to clean instead of three 2" pieces. I figure 1" thick foam might be easier and/or faster to rinse.

Thanks,
Harry


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## Dis (Apr 16, 2010)

I also ran matten filters in my tanks and for those and the sump all my pieces are 2". My first clean was after 1.5 to 2 years, just a rinse. I think I only did it because I was moving stuff around in the tank. You really don't need to do anything with them.

With the the size of your sump you could probably go with 1", mine was larger so I needed the added stiffness of thicker pieces. Again I would ask that question to Stephen.

Shipping is expensive but my last order I bought directly from him, I was happy with the service


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## Boreas (Dec 8, 2015)

I'm also planning on running a sump using poret foam in the near future. I'm interested in hearing more from guys who have had success in the past. 

Did you use only poret foam for biological filtration? Did you have poly fill or something else for mechanical filtration before the poret? What was the design of your sump like?

My concern is that water flows much faster through a sump than a Matten Filter. Would it still be as effective?


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## Dis (Apr 16, 2010)

I used 4 liters of matrix and a whole bag of crushed lava rock put into mesh laundry bags. I also have k1 going in the middle of the sump. My tank is a 220 and the sump is 70 gallons so I wanted extra biological media


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## ksimdjembe (Nov 11, 2006)

*Foam ppi*

I love poret foam block filters (at least I think that's what they call them at angelfins)
At any rate I use these poret foam filters in my smaller tanks with and without plants. I've got them all of the ppi of 30. If I was doing a long running plant tank using this foam inside a filter, I might suggest 20 ppi and maybe some of the 30 ppi, but not all. It can clog/ fill quickly.


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## Boreas (Dec 8, 2015)

Dis said:


> I used 4 liters of matrix and a whole bag of crushed lava rock put into mesh laundry bags. I also have k1 going in the middle of the sump. My tank is a 220 and the sump is 70 gallons so I wanted extra biological media


Dis, you mentioned you don't need baffles. Did you use any in yours?

I'm planning on two glass baffles, one to direct input water down through the poret foam, water would flow under this one. and another to direct water through my bio media. Water would flow over that one. Then a large refugium that'll be planeted and my pump chamber would be separated by a poret foam block.


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## Dis (Apr 16, 2010)

Mine does have baffles, I got the sump used and set it up before I had all of my sheets of poret. I tried taking the baffles out but they were in there pretty good and sump is stuck under the tank so I can't really work on it.


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