filters

[dizzykoi]

I have just read a piece on another forum about amiad filters any body know anything about them?they are primarily for removing fines.

[Manky Sanke]

Sorry I didn't get the chance to answer this earlier Dizzy, I've never seen these particular filters before so I had to wait until I had a chance to look into how they work. They seem to be very similar in operation to an inside out rotary drum filter but with a pressure controlled automatic cleaning system. Rotary drum filters need occasional manual cleaning and the screen on these filters is smaller so it will also need cleaning but more frequently. I don't know if that would be possible or how easy it would be.

The pricing seems to be deliberately obscure. I found prices on the Internet ranging from £14 for very small ones up to over £500 for the larger sizes which we would need for filtering fines from a koi pond. I tried to download a proper price list from the manufacturers' website and that was allowable but, for some reason, you then have to apply to their sales department for a password to open it.

Did any of the posts on the thread indicate that they were cost effective or reliable?

[dizzykoi]

no, the reason for me looking was I try with a reasonable amount of success to keep my pond free of fines at the moment I am putting very fine filter wool (5microns ) in my skimmer and some very fine stainless steel screen( 50microns) in my nexus return and I have to change the wool every 24hrs and the screen every 2 days and I was looking for something little less complicated.regards Paul

[Manky Sanke]

As I said, I can't speak from experience with these but they appear to be designed to remove suspended particulates from otherwise relatively clean water so my gut feeling is that there will quickly be a biofilm build up on the screen which the cleaning cycle won't be able to clear very effectively. if that's correct then they will require frequent manual cleaning to remove it and I don't know whether that will be a simple job but I suspect you would be spending more time doing that than you're spending at the moment.

But all that's a gut feeling, why not speak to the manufacturer about whether one of these filters would be suitable for taking fines out of pond water and what, if any, maintenance that would involve?