HMF FILTER

[William Palumbo]

I ran across this type of filter a little while back and I was pretty intrigued by it. Is so simple in design...and VERY low maint. It's called a HAMBURG MATTEN FILTER and like the name suggests, was developed over in Germany. Anyways it's just one HUGE bio filter!...As you can see(hopefully) by the pics...the sponge is placed tightly in the tank on one end. You need just enough room behind the sponge and the glass for the pvc uplift tube to fit. I purchased the 55 gallon kit from a place called SWISS TROPICALS(I don't know how to post the link) The kit came with the sponge, pvc uplift tube, and 3ft of quality airline tubing. Basically when air is driven into the uplift tube, it draws water from the tank, thru the sponge and flows out back at the surface. What I like about it, besides being almost maint. free and capable of massive bio-loads, is I have the heater behind the foam, out of sight, and always in contact with moving water. Is nice to get the heater out of site! I bought 2 of the 55 kits, so right now I am only usung the one filter, but I have the uplift tube from the other filter on this filter for dual flow. The only other filter I will use, is a smaller sponge filter that I can remove and place in the breeding tank when pairs are formed and removed. The foam comes in a few colors. I got the blue...but there is also black, and I want to get some of the light green to try in my breeding tanks. The only things I see that may turn people off, is cosmetics and price. My kits cost me $25 each, but they came with everything, and the piece of mind of knowing that this is quality, FISH SAFE foam. Is probally not the way to go if a decorated tank, tho I heard different mosses can be grown on it. I have not had it running all that long yet, but I am impressed with it. It has to be trimmed a bit, but is very easy to cut with a razor knife. With mine, I placed the small cut strip back in the tank so you could not see the heater and hardware, plus for $25 I aint throwing it out!...Bill

[William Palumbo]

Some more pics

[DiscusOnly]

I believe Hans uses these as tank divider.

I purchased a half dozen of these (39"x39" in sheet) thinking of using it for tank divider for 75gal as well. As it turns out, like Graham stated. It needs cleaning as well. It's much harder to take them out and clean when they are 19"x19" wet. They work great at the store as dividers for the pond where taking it out for cleaning is not an issue.

I have to rethink how I can use these. I think a better option is to use the 20"x5" cartridge sponge filter instead.

Overall, these are very nice quality foam. I am going to use these for the AC110 filter as well.

[William Palumbo]

I like the 20x5 filter myself. I'm pretty lax on squeezing my sponge filters as it is, but I see myself squeezing this filter even less. I really can not see that sized filter foam getting clogged to the point of having to take it out to clean it anytime soon, even with less than pristine tank maint. It's a big peice of sponge! In a sense I guess it's just a vertical UGF, minus the gravel. Since all I use in my tanks are sponge filters, that's why I wanted to try it, because it is a overgrown sponge(BIO)filter. I believe I stated that up front. I seen the tank divider mentioned...I think that was pretty cool, unlike most tank dividers, it looks as if nothing could get to the other side... not even free swimming fry. Anyways, I like it so far as it keeps my heater out of site, the output breaks the surface nicely, and you can actually SEE how much water is being pulled thru the filter...not just a stream of bubbles rising to the top of the tank. Now at least I won't have to worry about floating sponge filters, or sponge filters that come apart or where the plastic gets brittle and needs replacing...Bill

[William Palumbo]

Hi...I know it will eventually need to be cleaned, but in my case, I am figuring not for awhile, because it seems so much larger than my two big hydro-sponges...that I hardly squeeze out at all. I guess I will just have to see how it works out in the long run. Maybe it will eventually become a PITA, like I found with wet/dry's and canisters. But for right now I am really liking it, tho I know will not be everyone's cup of tea. Just thought I would share it, because to be honest, I never seen or heard of them before...and I consider myself to be pretty aquarium saavoy...Bill

[alpine]

I bought one large piece at an ACA convention. The are of very high quality and for what I have heard work very well. Hans uses the material . I wanted to use it on my 75 tanks but never did go through the installation and I just donated it to my club to auction at our swapmeet.
William , your setup with it looks Great.

Roberto.

[Eddie]

Nice filter Bill, I like it!

Eddie

[DiscusOnly]

Ah.. I now just realize that you got the 2" thick one. Have you thought about putting a powerhead in there? I use the 4" one and the problem with mine is that a lot of waste do get stuck on one side. I do like the idea of having all the stuff hidden in there.

[William Palumbo]

Thanks Eddie and Alpine. Vlam, I can see where a powerhead would really get the flow going. I would really only use one if I had the tank WAY overstocked with juvies or fry. But for right now, because I am in the process of getting a central air pump, I will just be using air to power it, but I will have the two uplifts on each filter, since I will have plenty of air to supply it. Tank does look funny to me seeing no heater in it!. I am going to try the other one I have in a breeding tank. The size that's in my 55 will fit the LONG way in a 20H, across the entire back glass....I can put it in like that, or trim it to fit the 20H to fit vertically in one of the ends, which I probally will try, since most of my breeding tanks are on end. That way there should be no more spawns on the heater which will be hidden, or on any lift tubes from ordinary filters...Bill

[Condor]

Bill that is a cool filter. I have been thinking about getting some of that stuff as well, I'm not far away. You can use it as part of a regular sponge filter too. Here's a link:

http://swisstropicals.com/Poret%20Filter%20Foam.html

Here you can see how it is incorporated into a fish room, if you scroll towards the bottom of the page..

http://brianstropicals.com/basement.html

[William Palumbo]

Hi Adrian...that was the site where I found it. Get it, I think you'll like it. I like the way he used it in his fishroom. Very neat and clean looking. He does sell it for stand alone sponge filters. I bought one of his 4x4 cube filters to try out, and for the price it's very nice. He has a sponge filter that you can adapt to a hydro sponge...it's HUGE...4x20 I think. I think the way I have it in my 55(HMF) will work in my breeding tanks nice, because I can hide the heater behind it, and with no stand alone filter, there will only be my spawning slate or cone in the tank, easy enough to remove...less stuff to distract the fry from attatching...Bill

[Condor]

I will be getting some. Looking forward to seeing how your setup develops. From what it sounds like to me, the sponge is a higher quality material then what we are used to using.

Adrian
(Just a side note, the websites are two different people.)

[William Palumbo]

Hi Adrian...That one website is his friends. Stephan has a link to his fishroom on there,,,very neat and clean, and his red sponge looks nice with the green plants growing in front of it. It's supposed to be much better than the standard foam most use, and safe because it is designed and manufactured for aquatic use. He has on his website a comparison chart of all the "popular" sponge filters comparing flow and cost...pros and cons. Intresting to see how these filters compare to others...Bill

[DiscusOnly]

Bill,

You can cut those 5"x20" down to the height you need. My friend and I purchased those to cut down to 5" height and used them as replacement sponge for the the hydro.

[William Palumbo]

I think what I liked about that 5x20 was how big it was! As tall as a 55. Even cutting it in half, would give you one BIG bio filter...and with two of those in a tank, you should never have a nitrogen cycle problem...Bill

[kaceyo]

I've also been considering it for a tank divider, with a breeding pair on each side. It looks much courser than the typical Hydro foam which makes me wonder if freeswimmers would get stuck or caught up in it. I would probably not use it as a biofilter though as they need to be cleaned frequently when feeding live bbs.
Dose it seem like the 2" thick stuff would hold up to large wc's etc in a 55gal tank?

Kacey

[moik]

Might want a lighter color of foam in a breeding set-up...

[William Palumbo]

Kaceyo, he does carry a light green color for Discus breeders, as I had mentioned to him about the dark colorations of the other foams possibly being a problem with Discus breeding. I am going to do the same with it as a tank divider between pairs myself. I think having it as a divider, and working like a filter, would not cause enough suction in any one place that could trap fry. It seems that the surface area would be too great to cause any serious suction. It is coarser than typical spong. I have the 2" foam, and it's made very well...not flimsy at all. When placed in the tank, the fit is tight and will not move unless YOU move it. I have it in my 55 and I make 75% or more water changes and it's just fine. Lots of body to it. To me it feels somewhat like the Aquaclear foam inserts...the bigger sized AC anyways...Bill

[William Palumbo]

I'm pretty sure it comes in different pore size as well. I'll have to double check the website...Bill

[kaceyo]

William,
It isn't so much the suction I am thinking of as being a problem as the course foam would have large enough open cells for the tiny freeswimmers to get caught up in. They tend to swim into every little nook and cranny and get stuck easily. If they come with a finer pore size, as you brought up, that could take care of the problem.

Kacey

[William Palumbo]

Kacey, I went to the site and he does list two pore sizes...

PPI= pores per inch
30 PPI=Fine
10PPI=Course

I'll have to try some of the fine sponge, at least for the breeder tanks...Bill

[kaceyo]

Sounds good. Let us know how it works if you get there before I do, and I'lldo the same.

Kacey

[Justice]

Kacey, I went to the site and he does list two pore sizes...

PPI= pores per inch
30 PPI=Fine
10PPI=Course

I'll have to try some of the fine sponge, at least for the breeder tanks...Bill

He also has 20 ppi in green here is a green 20ppi HMF in the right hand side of my 55 fry tank i think it blends in well with the blue paint, and also like You i took the strip i trimmed off and hid the gap between the tank wall and filter.

63284

[Justice]

Wow i just noticed how old the last post was after i posted bet i just gave out old info .....Sorry!

[William Palumbo]

LOL...Still a great filter!...You could probably put you heater behind the foam as well. I know certain heaters with longer tubes don't sit in there well. Gives the tank a nice clean look...I still have not tried it on my breeding tanks yet...Bill

[prat]

Funny to suddenly see this thread. I was looking at the same sort of thing yesterday on Angelsplus. They have a few videos of applications.
http://www.angelsplus.com/FiltersCustom.htm. Nice to see it recommended here. Guess I'll give one a try.

[Justice]

Funny to suddenly see this thread. I was looking at the same sort of thing yesterday on Angelsplus. They have a few videos of applications.
http://www.angelsplus.com/FiltersCustom.htm. Nice to see it recommended here. Guess I'll give one a try.Here is another place to buy one http://www.swisstropicals.com/Poret%20Filter%20Foam%20Pricelist.html




LOL...Still a great filter!...You could probably put you heater behind the foam as well. I know certain heaters with longer tubes don't sit in there well. Gives the tank a nice clean look...I still have not tried it on my breeding tanks yet...Bill
Good idea Bill thanks, I did it!

[CrazyAngels]

To all those are awesome setups, thanks for sharing great info. Also it seems there are more choices in foam now than when the thread was started.

Jorge

[Skip]

so.. do you just have a air hose in the uptake tube? can you show a picture from side(end) view of the filter..? i would like to see how its put together.

[Justice]

so.. do you just have a air hose in the uptake tube? can you show a picture from side(end) view of the filter..? i would like to see how its put together.the airline attaches to the Jetlifter tube The side of my tank is painted but here is a link showing the JetLifter tubes you can see where the airline attaches in the pic. ~HTH~

http://www.swisstropicals.com/Web%20pictures%20600%20dpi/Jetlifters.jpg

Here is a link showing how it all goes togather with the exception that the HMF kits have the Jetlifter tubes now instead of the PVC tubes

http://www.swisstropicals.com/Poret%20Hamburg%20Mattenfilter%20Kits.html

[CrazyAngels]

They do a great job showing all the details. Best yet the simplicity of it.

Can you tell us your experience with it? Do you feel like you are getting the results that would be expected of a giant Bio-filter?

thanks

Jorge

[Justice]

They do a great job showing all the details. Best yet the simplicity of it.

Can you tell us your experience with it? Do you feel like you are getting the results that would be expected of a giant Bio-filter?

thanks

JorgeJorge I have not had mine running long enough to tell yet, I do love the simplicity of it though so far.

[CrazyAngels]

Copy, Thanks Joe. I'll look into it for my QT. Or better yet for my next setup as my present QT seems to be running well with what I've got.

Jorge

[William Palumbo]

There is more colored foam out there than when I first purchased it. Also, at Swiss Tropical they have a newly designed outflow pipe that move a LOT of water compared to the older design. I have used my filters for awhile now, cleaned them maybe once...and the two tanks I have them in are always heavily stocked with no problems. Besides filtering...they are the BEST tank dividers...Bill

[mwdw]

I have been using this foam in all my HOB filters. very happy with results.

[Justice]

I have been using this foam in all my HOB filters. very happy with results.What color and Pore size do you use?

[Darrell Ward]

I've been using 2-4" thick pieces of blue Poret foam wedged in the 55 gal. sump of the 240 gal. since this past spring. This stuff is great! I just let the drains leech water through the foam as mech. filtration, and the water runs over Pond Matrix bio media, and water is pumped back to the tank. Very simple, but very effective. The foam ain't cheap, but then, what is that's worth having?

[jawfish]

Well I'm glad this old tread is still up here... Just read about them and I'm thinking of setting up my breeding cubes with these.

Anyone has set them up as corner filter ?

Cheers,

Fred

[roundfishross]

personally I had problems running this hmf style filter even with multiple lift tubes there was not enough flow to keep the tanks an evan temp with the heater hidden out of view behind the foam, this was running on a central air system it would likely work fine with power heads.

[jawfish]

personally I had problems running this hmf style filter even with multiple lift tubes there was not enough flow to keep the tanks an evan temp with the heater hidden out of view behind the foam, this was running on a central air system it would likely work fine with power heads.

I'll admitt that I'm leaning toward using a small power head to get a turnover between 2X and 3X the tank volume.

The beauty of this is that it keeps everything in the tank and a somewhat clean installation when the heater is behind the foam. Maybe not for a show tank were I would use the foam in a submerge sump underneat the tank. For a breeding and growing set-up its attractive for the person who doesn't want a central filter.

Cheers,

Fred

[Justice]

I'll admitt that I'm leaning toward using a small power head to get a turnover between 2X and 3X the tank volume.

The beauty of this is that it keeps everything in the tank and a somewhat clean installation when the heater is behind the foam. Maybe not for a show tank were I would use the foam in a submerge sump underneat the tank. For a breeding and growing set-up its attractive for the person who doesn't want a central filter.

Cheers,

Fred

I agree and I like mine so well that I ordered another yesterday to filter my Shrimp Tank.

[pekored]

I have a little bit of a different twist on this. I purchased the blue 30 ppi sponge from Swiss Tropicals and cut it to fit my compartments in my canister filters (Eheim 2213 and Fluval 305). Basically, both canisters of full of this poret sponge. My water is super clear and the filters are easy to clean. During a WC I just squeeze the sponges and they come clean very easily. I spoke with a German fellow that runs a LFS out of his basement. He claims that his father is still using the original foam he purchased many many years ago!

Regards,
Peter