Michigan Cichlid Association
General Category => General Discussion => Topic started by: mibwb on October 01, 2014, 06:36:55 AM
-
I've been told that there isn't a big difference between poret foam and upholstery foam....when using in the aquarium for filtration. ...anyone care to comment? I think upholstery form is toxic or is there a safe one?
-
Who told you that?
"Upholstery foam" strikes me as a very broad category of foam that would include anything used on furniture. This isn't an area of expertise for me, so maybe I'm wrong.
I do know some foams have anti-fungal claims, which means they contain chemicals that may or may not adversely impact aquatic life. I use polyester batting for mechanical filtration in some of my tanks and am careful to always buy 100% pure, hypo-allergenic polyester that doesn't include any claims of being treated for resistance to anything.
I also spent a long time walking around Michaels and Joann Fabrics looking for a foam that would be equivalent to Poret®, but never found a suitable alternative. I eventually bit the bullet and bought Poret®.
-
I tried to cut cost and use a piece of upholstery foam in a sump. my fish were swimming sideways in a matter of minutes... it made no claims of resisting anything but it nearly killed my entire tank even after thoroughly washing it beforehand. It's expensive, but it lasts forever and filters very well. I've yet to find an alternative to Poret.
-
One of the other problems with upholstery foam is it's closed cell, which means it will break down very quickly when subjected to water for long periods of time.. .it turns to a goopey mess of snot after about 6-8 months of being underwater.
-
For a few years I worked in a field of the urethane foam industry. Furniture, bedding and drapery foam are OPEN cell foams and things like insulation foam are CLOSED cell foam. The chemistry is basically the same at the macro level but there are differences and those differences dictate whether a particular piece of foam will be closed cell or open cell. Closed cell foam will not provide the desired filtering effect in aquarium applications because its surface area is not high. Open cell foam, on the other hand, works well in aquarium and other filtration applications because it possesses very high surface area for the beneficial bacteria to live and function. I'm not familiar with Poret foam in detail, per se. I've seen pictures and read articles and seen the data indicating it's a very efficient material for aquarium filtration. I know it's highly open cell in nature based upon pics and videos of water being poured through it so rapidly. It appears to be a ceramic like foam material. Like Ron, I would stay away from any open cell urethane foams that contain additives intended to control bacteria, fungi or other micro-organisms. Many of these additives are toxic to aquarium inhabitants.
-
I spent 8yrs in the furniture industry. No way in hell would I use upholstery foam without getting it from an American manufacturer that I could talk to.
Way too much is outsourced & I wouldn't trust it.
-
yah I said it backwards... either way that type of foam is bad news.
-
I would like to thank everyone for their input on the foam enquiry. ...I thought it wasn't safe or usable in an aquarium....I had saw on Utube a couple people using it but thought better than to use it. I hope my question helped others to avoid any problems.