David:
I use my bead filters as mechanical filters feeding Bakki Showers, which are my Bio Filters…
Each Sunday and Wednesday I turn the pumps off, turn selector to Rinse, turn agitator on, and start my stop watch feature on my wrist watch to ensure that I only agitate beads for 2 minutes… at the end of the agitation cycle, I turn the selector to Backwash, and turn the pump back on… when the water in the glass bubble turns clear, I change selector to Rinse for a few seconds until all debris is out of bubble then set selector back to filter….
This morning, the process took 3 minutes and 32 seconds from start to finish on the 1700-gallon pond…and 3 minutes and 18 seconds on the 900 gallon pond…
In addition, I flush the bottom drain lines each evening for 1 minute by switching the selector from filter to the waste position…this bypasses the filter and flushes bottom drain lines to the yard…
Once a year, I open the filters and check for clogged slots and settlement on the bottom of the filters…Since the Aquabead filter (the new one) has it’s bottom drain in the low spot of the filter chamber there’s no settlement…The Aquadyne must be vacuumed to take settlement out because the bottom drain plug is situated an 1" or so above the bottom of the tank… Even with the vacuuming it takes less then ˝ hour for this annual maintenance…
One thing you’ve got to understand about filtration… Individual's statements re: Pros and Cons often reflect the type of filter they use (d), the time frame when they used them and the experience they had… People, who used bead filters before the advent of agitators, probably had bad experiences with clogged beads….
I can remember when, as a young man in the early 60’s, you couldn’t get anyone to buy a car made in Japan because they were crap… Now they’re the top of the line automobiles… Dr. EJ once said that Aquadyne filters were the best, the only one he endorsed, that’s why I bought mine in 2002, now he’s selling the Aquabead also…. Bakki showers work great in Hawaii, because the temps average 75-80 degrees year round…
By the way, while ORP readings are not the only indicator of water quality, they are a good indicator…Our readings are always in the 350-400+ range, which indicates excellent pond conditions…
As Paul Harvey always says "You have to know the other half of the story"
Aloha! Mike