Organic Cotton Batting - Yes or no in place of filter floss?

[enlighten]

I am considering this as a substitute to any single use plastic material. Any thoughts? I dislike the idea of tossing plastic in the waste bin at all, and I like the idea of potentially composting the batting.

Hoping to get any insight! Thank you

 

[Ron Reefman]

I only toss my plastic filter floss once every 6 months or so. I wash it out once a week in the kitchen sink. It comes 95% clean with very little effort.

I think the cotton will pack down and be far less effective.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

I am considering this as a substitute to any single use plastic material. Any thoughts? I dislike the idea of tossing plastic in the waste bin at all, and I like the idea of potentially composting the batting.

Hoping to get any insight! Thank you

I don't think cotton will work for long term submergence. The rationale is this: back in the 1940's and 1950's, there was plenty of cotton batting available, yet they used fiberglass strands for filter material, despite the handling issues with it. Then, when polyester came out, everyone shifted over to that - nobody used cotton.

Another issue is that some fiber materials have been treated with flame retardant chemicals.....

Jay

 

[jda]

Organics break down. If you leave the cotton in the tank for any amount of time, something will start to eat it for the nutritional value. Cotton is mostly made up of cellulose which is sugars and once something finds it that can break it down, it will have a feast and colonize right there. In general, if it can break down in your compost pile it is likely that the myriad of things in your tank can break it down too.

As said above, get a material that is washable. It will take some changes, but you can also design and run a tank that does not need any filter floss at all.

 

[enlighten]

I only toss my plastic filter floss once every 6 months or so. I wash it out once a week in the kitchen sink. It comes 95% clean with very little effort.

I think the cotton will pack down and be far less effective.

What brand do you use? Link?

 

[Pistondog]

I am considering this as a substitute to any single use plastic material. Any thoughts? I dislike the idea of tossing plastic in the waste bin at all, and I like the idea of potentially composting the batting.

Hoping to get any insight! Thank you

I like your intentions, however the thing that makes composting the batting possible makes its use under water not possible.
We have similar problems with finding other plastic substitutes that are biodegradable.

 

[FUNGI]

The Action of Sea Water on Cotton and other Textile Fibres

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

 

[Ron Reefman]

What brand do you use? Link?

I wish I could tell you. I bought it about 10 years ago, in bulk, because I had 4 tanks. Then I ended up hardly using it until I switched to using in the 2 40gAIO tanks I've been running for the past year. It's blue on one side and white on the other. I pull it out and rinse it in the sink once a week.