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After reading (and re-reading) Duncan's article on using japanese matting I was just wondering about why he (and others who use it) prefer it over a fluidised media like K1.
To my mind K1 seems to have two big drawbacks - it takes longer to establish than matting (though mine seemed to establish quickly by leaving it in a bag in my established filter for three weeks before using it) and it is a bugger to contain where you want it. However I feel it has a huge benefit in that, set up correctly, it cannot retain any detritus, even that sloughed off the media itself. In fact the fluidesed media circulating around the chamber scrapes the sides and base and seems to clean the chamber! To my mind any static submerged media must have zones in it where the water velocity slows and where water velocity slows detritus can settle out. I've seen this after my K1 chamber where the water wasn't aerated and some waste used to settle out (untill I added an extra airstone! )
For my mind the boundary layer that will occur between the voids and the matting in a japanese matting chamber will be a prime space for the reduced velocity to allow waste to settle out on the matting. Sure, if you feed nice clean water into the bio section there won't be much but wouldn't a media that can't have any of this trapped waste at all be better than one that doesn't trap much? Everyone who uses matting seems to say that they clean it out every so often - doesn't that mean small amounts of waste are sitting in it between cleanings? Or is it just that matting is a much better surface for bacteria that outweighs these things?
I think you`ll find that the main remover of the majority of the fish waste would be your vortex or settlement chamber. From there, the water goes to the bottom of your filter, and then UPwards through the matting cartridge and out to your pond.
By design, some debris/fines will fall to the floor of the filter, which assuming a valve is fitted,can be flushed out at routine maintainance time, but as cartridges (as Duncan has shown in his illustration) are mean`t to be used in upflow filters, no muck is trying to be forced THROUGH the matting.
this is a real easy on the answer is J mat has a much great surface area and if used or more importantly configured correct it can no more block than k1 i have copied my Japanese matting article over along with some other good stufff
I think you`ll find that the main remover of the majority of the fish waste would be your vortex or settlement chamber. From there, the water goes to the bottom of your filter, and then UPwards through the matting cartridge and out to your pond.
By design, some debris/fines will fall to the floor of the filter, which assuming a valve is fitted,can be flushed out at routine maintainance time, but as cartridges (as Duncan has shown in his illustration) are mean`t to be used in upflow filters, no muck is trying to be forced THROUGH the matting.
Hope that makes sense and helps,
Chris (another one)
Hi Chris,
I understand what you're saying and totally agree. I was not on about matting being used as a barrier but with matting set up as Duncan's article explained. However as everyone who has a vortex or any mechanical filtration (except an RDF perhaps) knows some waste goes through the mechanical settlement and into the biological area. The idea then should be that our biological filters hold none of this waste but allow it straight through back to the pond where hopefully the settlement/mechanical filter will trap it next time.
I also agree that some debris/fines will fall to the bottom of the chamber but the key word there is 'some'! 'Some' will settle out, but 'some' won't! And of the 'some' that doesn't some will go straight up and out the filter but will 'some' stay in the matting?
However just because water isn't being forced through the media doesn't mean waste won't accumulate. My concern is that any media contains areas with slower water flows. As we all know, areas with slower flows allow suspended solids to settle out. Where the fast water flowing through the voids meets the slow flowing water travelling through the matting solids will come out of suspension and settle in the matting. What I don't know is does that waste build up there and if it doesn't what happens to it? Does it slough off the media or does some linger in the matting? The fact that people do clean the media out every so often says that some waste accumulates there doesn't it?
Duncan wrote:this is a real easy on the answer is J mat has a much great surface area and if used or more importantly configured correct it can no more block than k1 i have copied my Japanese matting article over along with some other good stufff
go take a read
dunc
I'm not talking about it blocking Dunc. I agree that properly configured it can't block unless huge pieces of debris were being allowed through to the matting chamber. However do solids accumulate in the matting? The slow flowing water in the matting must allow solids to settle out there surely? I'm sure that happens on the boundary layer of K1 (that's part of what makes it such a good mechanical filter when used as a static media) but K1 is then tumbled over and around disturbing any settled solids. I'm not saying K1's perfect! Far from it but every media has its drawbacks and I'm just trying to ascertain whether my preconceptions of matting with the limited use I've had of it are true.
It seems to me that if you had a very dirty system or ineffective mechanical filtration then someone might be better with a fluidised media to prevent waste settling out there?
I was wondering when you (or anyone else who uses matting) do your regular clean of your filters do you drain the matting chamber disturbing any particles that may have settled out in/on the matting? And does this remove most of it? Do you 'need' to clean the matting every 6 months or so, or do you just do it to be thorough as perfect practice?
ok ed im with you now i can only speak from my own experience
fines are attracted to the faster flow and dont settle in the matting itself MOf as the flow comes through and out on top you cna get a fine dusting over the top surface of the matting, this is because the fines are traveling at speed through the voids in the matting then they meet the water above the matting wwhich by comparison is not moving so it settles out opn top this is called inertial damping or settlement
this how large empty settlementy tanks work as the water flows through a 4" pipe its obviously traveling at speed then it hits a huge volume of water that is not moving this is like you throwing yourself against a brick wall but this causes the fines to drop out
i clean my cartridges about every 8 months or so and its a non event , i just drop the bottom drain on the chamber throw a sump pump in the prime vortex and pump 9000 lph througha 40mm pipe over the top of the cartridges for a short time
i used to jet wash them but there was no need for this really
BTW the cartridges are never lifted out
but i use J mat because its surface area is superior to most other media's
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