Reducing fines

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Mitchy
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Reducing fines

Post by Mitchy »

Hi all
I have been struggling with fines this year for some reason and I am after advise to help cure the problem.

I have a 3000 gall pond with BD feeding a vortex(with black knight vortex brush) then 5 bay multichamber with aereated K1,japmat,flocor,japmat,japmat then aquamax, 55watt UV, cartridge filter(now taken out blocks to often)then returns.
The skimmer line has a Hidroclean on it and tees of to a TC when I wish.

The pond is clear to the bottom but as soon as the sun appears the fines become very visible.

I do not have lots of space for much more equipment and the other half is not keen for anything higher then the pond.

I was thinking about a small elecro sand filter but seem to see many differing opinions to there use!

Any help appreciated

regards

Dave (Mitchy)
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macaws fly
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Post by macaws fly »

which of the aquamax pumps are you using ?? on the main filter.
and you havn't said one of the important things.
How many koi are in the 3000 gallons
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Gazza
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Post by Gazza »

How about converting the vortex to static K1 it works great and will catch just about anything :D
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carlejo
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Post by carlejo »

Gazza.. am I correct in saying you have the dave a filters ?.... how is your static K1 system moded.... I will be converting mine this week to link up with rest of filters, so any help/pointers would be appreciated...

P.S.
there is a large vortex(36" diam) before what will be the static one and then a bank of three nitritech 911 filters.. first 2 with 100 ltrs k1 in each then large matting cartridge in last...
thanks in advance
Carl
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tomc
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Post by tomc »

My best move ever on fines was to completely fill the last chamber with solid jap matting. No gaps and no air. (Before that chamber I have static K1 - airated K1 - and airated, submerged BHM). Since doing that my water is v v clear. As recommended by those who subscribe to the block-built filter methodology. Tom
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Gazza
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Post by Gazza »

Hi Carl,

So have you got the pond up and running now then :?: :?:

Yes i have the Dave A units which i have gradually modified over to K1 all four of mine now contain K1 and Bio Chips.

The first one is Static K1 and works great as long as you can get enough holes in the grids to keep a good flow its great.I have mine so it is segregated and the K1 all sits in its own section as it does have a tendency to get all over the place so you must keep it contained.

I have a filter grid in the bottom of my vortex with the inlet going down so any large debris stays below the grid.Then i have a grid before the transfer ports to stop the K1 escaping to the next vortex and all the poop going with it :shock:

Hope this helps.
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carlejo
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Post by carlejo »

about 4 weeks away from completion.... some detailed pics would be helpful if possible.... my idea is to have the large vortex as main settlement and then the smaller vortex as fines.... do you think this would be ok ?
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Gazza
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Post by Gazza »

I would go to try to make the large vortex as some kind of easy and the you have another vortex you can use for Bio the more bio the better i say lol.

Have you seen Bobs filter alterations as that may help you with some ideas :D
Mitchy
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Post by Mitchy »

macaws fly

Hi the pond has 10 koi 7@12inch 2@14inch 1@18inch

It is a aquamax 15000 turned down to get a turnover once every 1hour 45mins.

The vortex is built into the multibay so I am not sure how easy to convert to K1 as the exit port is rectangular and at the top!

regards

Dave (Mitchy)
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macaws fly
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Post by macaws fly »

Dave, i see your thread was :oops: hijacked :oops: by carl and gazza but i'm sure they will get round to your problem LOL :D

have you got any pics of the filter, or can you identify it from the makers website? they are all built differently and the modifications are also a little different for each.
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carlejo
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Post by carlejo »

sorry guys... no offence :wink:
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Post by Mitchy »

Yeh I will take a few pics of the filter in the morning

regards

Dave(Mitchy)
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Post by Mitchy »

macaws fly

Hi a few pics of the vortex and filter.

I have a piece of japmat across the transfer port at the moment seems to collect a load of crud. needs cleaning every other day though.


regards

Dave (Mitchy)
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macaws fly
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Post by macaws fly »

Dave, if you remove the brush ring from the vortex you could fit a home made eazy as i did.

[img]http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y199/vippy ... ie0002.jpg[/img]

or you could follow Gazza and Bob and turn the whole vortex into a static k1 filter.
[img]http://www.koipix.com/gallery/albums/userpi ... CN2896.JPG[/img]

either way you go it will help you greatly removing the fines before your bio filter.

you could also try changing the other filter bays over to either static or fluidised K1. and just keep the last bay for jap mat.

the important thing to remember is your bio-filtration water needs to be clean as you don't want to be adjitating it and flushing all the good bacteria away too often.

we found with our pond that you really need to get on top of the crud very early by flushing the first bay/eazy twice or three times a day for the first week. once you have got it to a min level it becomes easy to see when you need to flush..
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Post by Gazza »

Yes that will be an easy one to convert and once done you will soon notice the difference in the water quality as Mark said it can be hard going at first but its well worth it in the end :D
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