advice needed on k1

[john5555leonard]

hi, i found a supplier for k1 but its called k2 out here ? bearing in mind i,v never seen k1 or k3 only pics, i want to use it as static media in a mechanical chamber, how much do i need and to what thickness does it need to be . the chamber is 1.10 m by 1.10 m . when used as a static media does it sink ? it comes in 50 ltr bags < same as in uk i think > i also want to use it in another chamber of the same size as a fluid bed, how much would i need for that also. i hope these do,nt seem stupid questions but i cant pop out and look at the stuff cos i have to get it from bangkok. regards john

[Gazza]

Hi John,

It all depends on how big or small your filters are to how much K1 you can used and another thing to remember is flow through the filter ass well as to much flow will pull the waste through the static K1 and pass by the biological to fast as well.

I have vortex units and they are 1m deep and 600 wide i think and these can hold 50lts of K1 easy and more and if you are using K1 for static you done have to use as much and you can do it as a trial and error once set up by adding more or less as you go.

[john5555leonard]

hi gazza,i put the size in the post already , each bay is 1.10 meter by 1.10 meter . but i did,nt put the depth which is 1 meter . for the static bed i reckon 7 bags if i make it 30 cm deep and for the fluid bed 3 bags,10 bags in total does this sound about right ??? that will cost 800 pounds. i have to order from bangkok and it will take a week to get here so i wanted to try and order the correct amount first time , if its too much can,t return, and if not enough got to wait another week to get some more. IN THE STATIC BED DOES IT SINK ??? regards john

[Gazza]

Hi John,

Sorry i missed the sizes

The amount of K1 will also depend on how much food you are going to feed and the size of the pond and if this is something you are starting off with from new it may well be worth setting up with a little bit less at first to help the maturing process as if you end up with to much K1 and not enough food for it to colonize it could take longer to mature.

I don't know how you are going hold the static K1 in place as this is one of the hardest things with K1 is it gets everywhere and you need to hold it in position. You will need to be able to put some air onto this to bubble it all up when you need to clean it and 7 bags will take a lot of air.Most of the time the static K1 part of the mechanical filter is the smallest part as this is just to stop the waste getting into the biological stages of the filtration.

Have you got any pictures of the filter system so we can see how your going to set it up

[john5555leonard]

hi gazza, the pond and filter system is not new been running for 4 years now but wanting to upgrade filter, sorry cant pot pics evidently i need photo bucket, the pond is 33000 ltrs with atman <german> pump working the filter of 25000 ltrs per hour, but this will be reduced cos it returns via a ventura . the existing filter is home made in block and consists of an 80 cm by 1.5 meter vortex with brushes then a 3 bay filter each bay is 1.10 m by 1.10 by 1 m deep the floor is steep sloped with valves its gravity fed from airated bottom drain < only 1 > its also got a skimmer that also feeds into the vortex. the return is tee,d to a 1000 ltr trickle tower filled with oyster shell . in the filter 1st bay is a 20 cm thick honeycomb cartridge ,i dont think you have them in the uk, its from germany and is a plastic cartridge designed for mechanical filtration , 2nd bay is bio balls and last bay is gravel . i want to replace the gravel with fluid k2 and was thinking of putting static k2 on top of the honeycomb cartridge . what do you think . regards john