getting to the heart of the problem

[DaveB]

As you guys know I have had a few problems with some koi I recently purchased and have also one or two small wounds on my other koi.In the past I have usually managed to sort them out without too much trouble. This spring/summer has not been so easy.
Thinking back over the years I have always had a few issues with veining on the whites of the koi especially as temperatures rise. Without going into depth with my set up I have been meticulous with cleanliness. However the only thing which I cannot see inside once in a while is my bubblebead. Even though it has two skimmer baskets before the pump I have suspected the problem might lie there.To prove a point I pumped into the BB a cup full of sodium percarbonate and alloowed to soak for 1/2 hr. After that I was amazed at how much crap was backflushed to waste. It just doesn,t seem right so I have decided after running this for almost 10 years to bypass it completely and go directly over the shower.
This may cause a few clarity issues in th future but I would rather give up the polished water and have healthy koi.
I might try a chamber of static K1 to try and polish the water a bit. at least I can clean this regular and have a look inside on occation.
Best Regards Dave

[kimr]

Hi Dave

You are the first person I have heard say they are not happy with the bead filters, I made my own static K1 chanber for my vortex and it worked brilliantly, and I am still amased at just how much rubbish it can hold and the water return being clear. I am sure a lot of people with this system will say the same

[Gazza]

Hi Dave,

Sounds like you may be onto something and although i know guys who run bead filters i am not a fan of any closed system as you just cant see whats going on and if they are not cleaned enough they can go a bit off.

[DaveB]

Hi Dave

You are the first person I have heard say they are not happy with the bead filters, I made my own static K1 chanber for my vortex and it worked brilliantly, and I am still amazed at just how much rubbish it can hold and the water return being clear. I am sure a lot of people with this system will say the same

Kimr as always your input is appreciated. I think on some ponds they would work great with something like a seive as pre filtration in front of them would work fine to a point. However as to whether or not when cleaned you can be 100% sure that all the debre is removed. I have a home made easy screen which is brilliant at removing fines but when backflushed only removes 99% of dirt. The 1% is the problem. However I can remove the k1 and get at the 1%quite easily and do this regularly . Not so easy with a BB3. Its not the beads which is the problem, but the prefilter inside the BB. which is the problem. I thought for years that with the BB being fitted on a skimmer I would be OK with a couple of fine skimmer baskets in front as debre removal but I fear this is not the case. I honestly believe if the wounds on our koi are not healing something is amiss.perhaps my Bublebead would be better off installed after my main filtration. Just a thought

[eds]

Hi Dave,

Sounds like you may be onto something and although i know guys who run bead filters i am not a fan of any closed system as you just cant see whats going on and if they are not cleaned enough they can go a bit off.

Totally agree with this Gazza, couldn't have a filter that acted like a big strainer stuck in an inaccessible case so you couldn't see whether it was clean or not.

[DaveB]

Hi Dave,

Sounds like you may be onto something and although i know guys who run bead filters i am not a fan of any closed system as you just cant see whats going on and if they are not cleaned enough they can go a bit off.

Being a bit thick skinned it has taken me 10 years to finally give up on it. What is by far been the most expensive bit of kit I have bought is probably why I stuck with it for so long. It will be interesting to see what a difference it makes. Watch this space

[DaveB]

One main difference so far is the increased flow rate over the homemade shower, Almost double