Hi,
When I built my pond back in Dec I knew that I would be using an Eazy Pod for first stage filtration and so built the pond so that the water level coincided with the correct level inside the pod. All worked fine. But it means that I can only gravity feed into a filter to a max depth of 24".
The filters (Pod & bead filter) work fine but I'm left with a lot of pretty large fines in the pond that I'd like to clear up. I was going to put a vortex with static K1 in front of the pod, but the lack of water depth depth is causing problems. I would have used a 30" diameter vortex, but they all seem to have outlets that are considerably higher than my 24". And I'm not even sure that a 24" deep vortex will do enough for me. Am quite happy to make something up if it'll do the job or perhaps consider a pump fed something. Any ideas??
2400 gallons
Eazy Pod
Badu Top 8 pump
Bead filter
25W uvc
3Kw Elecro
Skimmer operating seperately into a pressure filter via Aquamax 8000
I have a spare Sequence 13,000 litre pump which I can use.
Louie
Filtration Problem.......Advice please?
Moderators: B.Scott, vippymini, Gazza, Manky Sanke
Re: Filtration Problem.......Advice please?
I'm a bit confused here. When you're talking about the height are you saying the gravity feed pipe is 24" below the water's surface? If so can't you put a couple of 45 degree bends to lower the pipe to the height you need?
I would have thought the Easy would do a good job removing the fines. Is there maybe too much water flowing through it or something? or do you just need to up the turnover so the fines are brought into the filter more quickly?
I would have thought the Easy would do a good job removing the fines. Is there maybe too much water flowing through it or something? or do you just need to up the turnover so the fines are brought into the filter more quickly?
Re: Filtration Problem.......Advice please?
The level of the water in the pond is the same level as the required depth in the Pod. And that is only 24" above ground level where the filters sit. I think the fines just aren't getting pulled into the BD to be honest. If they were then the K1 should take them out. It's not an easy one. Fish are happy though! 
Louie
Louie
Re: Filtration Problem.......Advice please?
so you have a raised pond 24" above ground level?
What size pump is on the pod?
What size pump is on the pod?
Re: Filtration Problem.......Advice please?
Hi Louie
Try using the other pump (or valve the existing one down a bit).
Maximum flow for the pod is 2200 gallons/hour but the Speck Badu 8 delivers 2850 gallons/hour - that's about 30% more than the pod is designed for!
By what you've said so far, my guess is that the pod is taking out all the big stuff, but your just sucking all the fines through the K1 without giving it a chance to settle out. Maybe the high flow rate is even breaking some of the larger waste into fine particles as it crashes through the K1.
Cheers
Try using the other pump (or valve the existing one down a bit).
Maximum flow for the pod is 2200 gallons/hour but the Speck Badu 8 delivers 2850 gallons/hour - that's about 30% more than the pod is designed for!
By what you've said so far, my guess is that the pod is taking out all the big stuff, but your just sucking all the fines through the K1 without giving it a chance to settle out. Maybe the high flow rate is even breaking some of the larger waste into fine particles as it crashes through the K1.
Cheers
Re: Filtration Problem.......Advice please?
What you're saying makes good sense Bob. I can actually see some of the muck re-entering the pond via the return.
Trouble is though, I need the Badu to achieve a decent turnover through the bead filter which as you know requires a certain amount of power. The Sequence is sitting idle because it was only returning 3600 litres an hour at the return. I'm 99.9% certain that the Badu isn't exceeding the Pod's recommended max flow, but it is at least pushing the water through at a far more acceptable rate.
Does the addition of a sieve, gravity fed from the Pod and feeding into the Badu sound like a suitable option?
Louie
Trouble is though, I need the Badu to achieve a decent turnover through the bead filter which as you know requires a certain amount of power. The Sequence is sitting idle because it was only returning 3600 litres an hour at the return.
I'm 99.9% certain that the Badu isn't exceeding the Pod's recommended max flow, but it is at least pushing the water through at a far more acceptable rate. Does the addition of a sieve, gravity fed from the Pod and feeding into the Badu sound like a suitable option?
Louie
Re: Filtration Problem.......Advice please?
Mmmm, to lose nearly a third of a pump's output through a bead filter sounds like a lot
As I understand it (but I don't claim to be an expert and have no experience of bead filters), to get the bead filter to work effectively you need a pump that operates at high pressure - that's not necessarily the same as high volume!
Sequence are known to be excellent pumps for circulating high volumes of water (size for size) given their low power consumption. Unfortunately, the compromise is that they do not pump at high pressure and are therefore less suitable for pumping water to height or through bead filters. The Spec Baduwater 8 will provide higher pressure (again size for size), will overcome more head and is more suited to use with bead filters. The compromise is the running costs (330W for the Badu against 235W for the sequence. That's an extra 95W an hour, 24/7, 365 days a year +££££££££££££s
I think you could use a smaller, high pressure pump (e.g. the Badu Top 6 @ 250W) and probably got a better flow through the bead filter than with the Sequence 13000, and not overrun the capacity of the pod (just an opinion, I've no evidence to prove this).
IMO, you're asking the pod to do too much! Certainly more than it was designed to do and I'm not sure it will be any more effective whatever you put in front of it (or behind it) if you exceed the maximum flow rate.
That said, if you have a sieve or other filter laying around, there's nothing lost by trying
- but I wouldn't invest the cost of a sieve in the hope that it might work! 
Good luck whatever you decide to try.
As I understand it (but I don't claim to be an expert and have no experience of bead filters), to get the bead filter to work effectively you need a pump that operates at high pressure - that's not necessarily the same as high volume!
Sequence are known to be excellent pumps for circulating high volumes of water (size for size) given their low power consumption. Unfortunately, the compromise is that they do not pump at high pressure and are therefore less suitable for pumping water to height or through bead filters. The Spec Baduwater 8 will provide higher pressure (again size for size), will overcome more head and is more suited to use with bead filters. The compromise is the running costs (330W for the Badu against 235W for the sequence. That's an extra 95W an hour, 24/7, 365 days a year +££££££££££££s
I think you could use a smaller, high pressure pump (e.g. the Badu Top 6 @ 250W) and probably got a better flow through the bead filter than with the Sequence 13000, and not overrun the capacity of the pod (just an opinion, I've no evidence to prove this).
IMO, you're asking the pod to do too much! Certainly more than it was designed to do and I'm not sure it will be any more effective whatever you put in front of it (or behind it) if you exceed the maximum flow rate.
That said, if you have a sieve or other filter laying around, there's nothing lost by trying
- but I wouldn't invest the cost of a sieve in the hope that it might work! Good luck whatever you decide to try.
Re: Filtration Problem.......Advice please?
For less than the cost of a seive couldn't you split the flow before the Easy and run two in parallel? This would allow you to have much higher turnover overall while having much slower flows through the pod to settle out the fines. You could even build a DIY one to save a lot of cash on another pod.