Sponges for reactor

[slowngreen]

Would a house hold sponge (thick yellow ones from home depot) be good to use at the bottom and top to keep media in a DIY reactor? Will it hold up to the salt water? Or does it have to be a certain type?

[GTi]

Would a house hold sponge (thick yellow ones from home depot) be good to use at the bottom and top to keep media in a DIY reactor? Will it hold up to the salt water? Or does it have to be a certain type?

I found the foam in my reactor was too coarse to keep the GFO from blowing out and cut circles of the blue and white filter pad and placed them at each end of the reactor. That worked for me. I would be careful about using sponge intended for general cleaning in case there are unwanted chemicals in them.

[LEEWINK]

I've just ordered from fleabay, Juwel blue fine filter foam, 90mm square and 50mm deep, gonna cut it round for a top plug in my reactor, as TMC (i'm in the UK) don't supply it with theres like Deltec do, and my sump when using Rowaphos looks a complete mess with all the fines and its dust going everywhere, if I can stop some it'll help, just makes a mess from what is a supposedly a tidy item and idea.

 

I have got what we call scouring pads here, or household pads / oven pads ect, I wouldn't use them, mine was only a fiver or so and for the risk, its not worth it to me.

[slowngreen]

yeah seems the majority of house hold sponges I looked at say right on them they have mold agents in them. Thanks for the tips guys.

[GTi]

I've just ordered from fleabay, Juwel blue fine filter foam, 90mm square and 50mm deep, gonna cut it round for a top plug in my reactor, as TMC (i'm in the UK) don't supply it with theres like Deltec do, and my sump when using Rowaphos looks a complete mess with all the fines and its dust going everywhere, if I can stop some it'll help, just makes a mess from what is a supposedly a tidy item and idea.

 

I have got what we call scouring pads here, or household pads / oven pads ect, I wouldn't use them, mine was only a fiver or so and for the risk, its not worth it to me.

This is probably obvious (or it will become so when you start the reactor) but you will want to cut the discs a little larger than the bore of the reactor so they are a snug fit. If you don't, they tend to fall down the tube when you turn the reactor off or blow all the way up when you turn it on and try to adjust the flow to get the right amount of tumbling. I found running the reactor in a small container with some RO before putting it in the tank helps get rid of the worst of the fines.

[LEEWINK]

gotchya