Bead or sand filter

[longboardpete]

Hi
This year i don't seem to be able to get the pond as clear as i would like, eleven fish in pond with loads of filtration, 4 bay filter with 15 brushes in first bay and 120ltrs of static K1 in second, also running eazy pod on skimmer line. feeding 100 grams of food a day and regular 100 gallon water changes a week, don't tell the wife but sometimes more. (on water meter )
Now thinking of changing eazy pod for sand or bead filter on skimmer line, this line will be fed by a aquamax 10 000.
What do you think would be best.

cheers, Pete

[steveW]

you dont say how big your pond is are you gravity or pump fed remember pump fed mashes all the po oh and makes it a lot harder for a filter to catch


the Eazypod on the skimmer should be ok. if you are pumping to the pod then maybe you need to clean it less frequently wait until the K1 starts to rise, showing its blocking. this will allow it to catch the finer material, as it starts to block this is the same principle that a a bead uses you could always fit a 3" pipe to the skimmer and gravity feed it

no expert on bay filters, but after seeing lots of advice. 1st bay = static K1, 2nd bay= fluid K1, 3rd bay algofrog, 4th=jap matting or something similar along those lines. i am sure someone will give a clearer picture on this

[longboardpete]

pond including filters comes in at a tad under 2500, main filter is pump fed but skimmer line is gravity
have tried letting k1 rise but still no better, all fish are still young with 3 small, about 7" the rest between 12" and 19". all water params are excellent so must'nt complain too much. The pond is 6' deep and i can see the bottom but it's just not good enough and have quite a lot of suspended particles.
I've attached a pic from ealier in the year, about may time, but can't get anything like this now

[Yorkie]

Hi Pete,

In preferance or order i would personally go for a bead filter instead of a sand filter!

Although sand filters will give you superb clarity, you'll find you need to be out there every night backwashing the thing to keep it running/working properly, once a week/or longer is just no good for these units, also you'll find that a 10,000ltr pump may not be strong enough to get the through flow.

Bead filters are good units to help achive clarity, but may well take a little longer gain clarity & depending on how much suspended partical you have will determind how many times per week you'll need to backwash, i would have thought no more than twice a week at most, but probably once a week would be ok.

You have an Eazy pod at present which is rated for 2,200 galls (koi pond) on your skimmer line, you colud swap that for a Poly bead 2 (bead filter) which is rated for 2,000 galls for £325.00 so fractionally cheaper than a pod

[vippymini]

save your money and add a simple fine screen (or even a piece of sponge) into the filter or one of the returns.
the problem youll find is after youve spent your hard earned cash on a new filter youll need a new more powerfull pump and then theres the increased electric bill.
it all adds up....

[Louie]

Hiya!

I think that to have a 6' deep pond and still be able to see the bottom is quite an achievement in itself to be honest!
I have a Pod which is gravity fed from an aerated BD and then pumped through a bead filter before returning through a 3Kw heater and a Uv. The gravity fed skimmer is pumped through a multi vortex but I still struggle to keep visibility throughout the whole depth of my 7' deep pond. And it's slightly smaller than yours. (2400 gallons)
I'm sure that if I threw enough money into it I could probably eventually achieve gin clear water (maybe......); but to be honest I'm actually more than happy that I can normally see the bottom, even if I do have to squint a bit!!
I'm sure a lot of other Questers would agree that your water looks pretty good!!
The filter? Well either a bead or sand filter will act primarily as a biological filter rather than a mechanical one, so I'm with Vippy..... Go for a mechanical filtration device.

Louie

[longboardpete]

Cheers you lot, you've saved me a fortune hopefully, was thinking about adding some thick wool in the centre of the eazy pod, after the K1 between the cage and the outlet, at the end of the day if blocks at all it will still flow out over the top channels and into the outlet pipe anyway.
me thinks me will try that

[Brek]

I believe sand filters were designed for swimming pools so feel they may not in the long term offer the koi keep the best water quality, regarding fines in your pond, I had the same issue, solved it with a 3 meter roll of 22mm filter wool from fleabay cut into 35cm x 8cm sheets and pushed it down around the outlet of the ezypod, got pretty filthy right away (needing changing about 4 times), although after 24 hours now have gin clear water. cost? £7 for years worth of wool.

filter wool in ezypod

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