Differences between Mechanical Filtration Media: Sponge VS Foam:
For filtering water mechanically
such as removing solid waste particles, it is recommended to have a sponge or foam
that catches all the debris, & allow clean water to flow freely through the
media. The best mechanical filtration media can collect even very small
particles.
Foam is better than sponge for cleaning water mechanically:
Many aquarists use sponge in
their filters but you might be surprised to know that foam is better than the
long duty sponge for mechanical filtration of water. Both sponge & foam are
available in 3 forms such as Coarse, Medium & Fine.
Coarse filtration media has large
pores, medium filtration media has smaller pores than Coarse media, while Fine filtration
media has very tiny pores. Coarse filter media can trap large particles, medium
filter media can trap medium size particles, while Fine filter media can collect
very tiny particles that can pass through the Coarse, & Medium filter
media.
As compared to Foam, Sponge has
large pores, therefore, Coarse Sponge has larger pores than Coarse Foam, Medium
Sponge has larger pores than Medium Foam, & Fine Sponge has larger pores
than Fine Foam. Therefore, Fine Sponge cannot trap very little particles but
Fine Foam can easily trap them.
The rating of Fine Sponge for
mechanically filtration of water is let’s say 3.5 out of 5. While Coarse Sponge
has a rating of 2 out of 5. The rating of Fine Foam for mechanically filtration
of water is let’s say 5 out of 5 while Coarse Foam has a rating of 3.5 out of
5.
Sponge needs low maintenance than Foam:
It is recommended to regularly
maintain your Fine Sponge otherwise, it will clog up & the pores can be
fully blocked. This is the reason many aquarists setup filtration media in the
following order: Coarse followed by medium & fine foam. Hence, all the
large particles are trapped by Coarse foam, & tiny particles will be
trapped by fine foam. This will extend the life of the fine foam, however,
foams will still require proper maintenance. Even your Coarse foam can clog up
as its pores are not as large as Coarse sponge.
If pores of the media are
completely blocked, then its efficiency will be reduced. Sponge can work for a
long time compared to foam because debris can be easily removed from its pores.
It takes less time to clean a sponge than cleaning foam. Sponge can efficiently
work for a long time as it comes in very fine quality.
Sponge can work for a long time for biologically cleaning of water:
After replacing a foam, you will
lose all beneficial bacteria that it has accumulated. Hence, mechanical filter
media can also biologically clean water as they allow microbes to live inside
the tiny pores. Blocked media will reduce water flow that contains waste, &
for removal of nutrients released from waste, they should interact with the
microbes. Reduced water flow will have low interaction of nutrients with microbes.
Microbes will die when covered in debris. Therefore, sponge can biologically
clean water for a long time as it has large pores, & they do not clog up
quickly.
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