Anyone run into an inconsistency with some foam's so called PPI? The 'faux' poret blue stuff I had awhile back is long gone, broken apart. So I figured to use the aquaclear 110 sponges I had left over. Worked great for awhile. Supposedly 20PPI. Not! And they aren't 30PPI either but clog weirdly. Old particles cling to the pores even after washing and squeezing like a permanent deep stain. Another thing even stranger. Particles don't pull through the whole sponge! I get heavy accumulation right at the overflow on the hobs like a partition. Already had a bypass issue recently when the 225 was down about 5 inches from the top! If I hadn't caught it half the tank might have been drained. I've since shortened the Aquaclear stems to one piece instead of three. The huge sponge prefilters now cover those and it's worked better than ever.
Except I still have to watch for potential bypass every 2-3 days now from those aquaclear blocks. All the debris collects like a wall on the overflow side. Even the old blue stuff didn't do this, debris was caught through the WHOLE sponge, not just one area.
I've ordered some 15PPI pond foam sheets. If I didn't know better those aquaclear blocks seem to be 30PPI on one side only but that makes no sense. If It's their own company sponge they need to head back to the lab.
They also displace a LOT more water in the chambers than the blue stuff did at equal thickness (2 inches). They don't set level in the chambers but sit high. I'll replace this nuisance stuff once the other pads get here.
Except I still have to watch for potential bypass every 2-3 days now from those aquaclear blocks. All the debris collects like a wall on the overflow side. Even the old blue stuff didn't do this, debris was caught through the WHOLE sponge, not just one area.
I've ordered some 15PPI pond foam sheets. If I didn't know better those aquaclear blocks seem to be 30PPI on one side only but that makes no sense. If It's their own company sponge they need to head back to the lab.
They also displace a LOT more water in the chambers than the blue stuff did at equal thickness (2 inches). They don't set level in the chambers but sit high. I'll replace this nuisance stuff once the other pads get here.
