Adapting a vortex??

[Louie]

Bit of advice if possible please?

My Easy Pod is struggling with the amount of waste I'm getting at the moment (cleaning twice a week!) so I thought I'd put a vortex in front of it to catch a lot of the crap before it gets there. Looking at this one at the moment. It's small, but will fit nicely into my shed.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?View ... :IT&ih=007

Should I just use it as a plain vortex, or do you think I would benefit from adapting it so that it does more than just spin out the waste? I was thinking that perhaps I could add some K1 or something?

I don't rely on the Pod for filtration. I also have a Powerbead 85 bead filter and a skimmer which feeds into a very good pressure filter. Water quality is good but there a lot of bits in the water which spoil it a bit. Just about to replace my Sequence 13000 with a Badu Top 6 to try and improve turnover.

Guessing that the vortex will help by stopping everything clogging up!

Louie

[Gazza]

You may find that after a while of cleaning this all out and getting a regular maintenance sorted that once all the bits have gone it will last longer.I found when i first converted to static K1 i was cleaning it out much more but that was just getting rid of all the "stuff" that my old mechanical filter was letting through.

[Jagger]

Louie,

Here's an oldie but a goody.

http://koi-uk.co.uk/mechanical_filtration_capable_of.htm

[Louie]

Thanks both of you for the advice. That's a good link and I think I'll get hold of the 24" vortex and aim to copy that design.

The Badu pump arrived today, (It's a Top Eight!) and Wow...what a difference! I know it's going to cost a bit more to run (ok, a lot more!) but the difference in flow is amazing.

My main return is about 2 feet below top, and it's great to see the fish getting pushed around by the strong current. They seem to love it, and the waste is stacking up a lot quicker in the Pod. Let's just hope electricity costs don't go up any more!!

Cheers!

Louie