# a great way to filter smaller tanks cheaply!



## neven (May 15, 2010)

An article on seriously fishy goes over a filter style used in europe but its the first time i heard of it. Im thinking its a good way to hide internal filters heaters from sight.

The HMF - What's That? - Seriously Fish


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## onefishtwofish (Apr 21, 2010)

looks like a great idea. it lost me at the math part.........................if i was handy dandy i would try this......but alas. i am not.


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## tony1928 (Apr 22, 2010)

Yeah go to www.swisstropicals.com. They carry all that stuff and have examples of even building a whole sump out of it. Pretty neat concept.


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## Smatt (May 27, 2011)

I don't think its a good idea to have the outlet coming out of the actual filter sponge as it will be pushing all the stuff away that you want to enter the filter!
If the outlet was piped to the opposite end of the tank then that would be better, but that kinda defeats the purpose of having that style of filter anyways.


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## Tarobot (Jun 27, 2010)

ive looked into that before but the sponge sheets are rather expensive also with the amount of DIY invovled it's much easier to buy like a hydro sponge. Though i agree hiding the heater behind it is a good idea and it does look nicer but i don't find it to be much cheaper.


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## tony1928 (Apr 22, 2010)

Yeah the sheets aren't cheap but I've read that's its pretty effective. Also the foam is way more durable than hydro sponges. I have a couple of sheets that I've used for various things from prefilters to using it in my sump.


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## neven (May 15, 2010)

as tony said, they are much more durable compared to hydro sponges and a lot less maintenance, i have to clean my hydro sponges every week when i use them on my filters because they are way too fine


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## tony1928 (Apr 22, 2010)

Yeah, I have chunks of Poret foam that I've been using as prefilters that I've been squeezing out and cleaning weekly for a couple of years and they look more or less new. When I had hydro sponges, I was afraid to be too rough on them as they would tear if you weren't careful. You could replace the Hydro sponges with a block of Poret which would last you forever. Mind you, like everyone said, Poret is not cheap but it is high quality.


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## TomC (Apr 21, 2010)

Does anyone still sell it locally? Has anyone considered a group buy?


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## April (Apr 21, 2010)

I've had them setup before. I had mine straight across one end with a PVC pipe and airline into it and water flowing over . It worked well but not for discus. Apparently once a year your meant to whack them against a wall to clean them. So I was told......
Porte is also excellent for tank dividers. They stay in place and can't be moved . 
The coarse blue is good for sumps. They have a new turquoise one better for discus. 
That corner one looks good.


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## neven (May 15, 2010)

well my main plan is to use this in my 9.8 gallons that do not have a filter, just a powerhead, detritus i becoming an eyesore but i don't want hob's


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## bonsai dave (Apr 21, 2010)

Poret foam is great. I bought some a few years ago. I would be down to getting a few more pieces . I replaced my sponge filter foam with Poret foam and it works great. Once i get my k1 media from the us. I'm going to set up a in tank filter with the foam and k1 media..


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## bonsai dave (Apr 21, 2010)

Here is a picture of my Poret foam sponge filter.


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