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Biodegradable filter material.

4K views 5 replies 4 participants last post by  Diana 
#1 ·
Is there any type of biodegradable filter material out there? I would love to have something like that for my HOB filters. Obviously you wouldn't want to go degrade while in the filter. But to be able to toss your filter material straight into the compost pile would be great. So much good fertilizer we are just throwing away. Would pure cotton work? That should decompose in half a year.
 
#3 ·
And you can rinse filters (when it's time) in a bucket of the water you take out during water change and use it in your garden or on potted plants.

If you don't do big water changes, fill a bucket with tap water, treat it with Prime, and then rinse.

But if you want to use cotton and replace them regularly, that's up to you. You'll probably want to just replace one section at a time to avoid an ammonia spike.
 
#4 ·
For a HOB filter where I don't want to ditch or replace a cartridge all the time, I use air handler media. The type stuff that comes in huge rolls to cut to fit commercial AC/heat units? I find it is cheap and easy to cut to fit lots of different size filters and also lasts a long time. Cheap to buy , has a stiffener to make it hold the shape and very easy to adapt to different things. But not bio degradable. But it does last ten times as long as filter floss so I throw away less on the total picture.
 
#5 ·
I really don't care how often I have to replace filter material. And amonia/ nitrogen spikes don't happen in my tank. It is very will established, and heavily planted. Two filters, with a seperat bio filter on each. My water conditions dont change when I change filter material.

Has anyone tried cotton? I think I'll give it a shot if no one says it doesn't work.
 
#6 ·
Cotton could work, if you get the right stiffness in the threads so the material stands up to being wet, so water will still flow through it. I think I would search out an organically raised cotton. Cotton is the crop that is the most exposed to pesticides of all kinds. I do not know how much actually ends up in the finished material, but seeing as it is not a food I would wonder if higher levels might be permitted. Again, might not mean much for a person wearing a cotton t-shirt, but when it is used as a filter media, with a lot water rushing though it maybe it could give off some of these pesticides.

I am with the other people who posted above- I use stronger materials that hold up for a long time and can be reused with a simple rinsing. I think cotton would hold up for a while, but probably not as long.
 
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