| Tewa, KingKong, Valarc: If you are going to continue the discussion on this board, please remember that the tone of the postings should be in keeping with the tone of this board. I think too many participants in the Koiphen thread got overly emotional and perhaps a bit frazzled? ....I think pretty much all that could be said about Bacteria House media and far infra-red rays was said (often thrice), but I would certainly enjoy learning of anything new.
I think a sad point in focusing on the questionable science of FIR is that the benefits of a shower filter (Bakki or otherwise) has gotten lost in the debate. I personally have no doubt that milk crates of lava rock hung over a pond will produce the same or similar results. However, I like the notion of stainless steel trays that can be placed away from the pond, are made to control the flow, will withstand exposure to sun and elements far longer than plastic crates, and are structurally sound. So, I got the Bakki Shower when building my new pond. The person with a small budget can find ways to provide for their koi, although the DIY showers may not be pretty. The person with a larger budget can go for a higher quality product that is more aesthetically pleasing. DickB makes the point elsewhere of the importance of understanding the principles involved in water filtration. Understanding the principles allows the koikeeper to provide the system that benefits the koi consistent with their budget.
As for the media, ceramic biomedia has been around a long time used in aquaria. It has proved to be an excellent media as long as the fine pores do not become clogged. The openness of the Bacteria House media seems to address that problem, and it has the weight to be suitable in a shower system. It is an expensive media. The shipping cost from Japan to a U.S. distributor and then to the customer would pay for a great deal of lava rock. It does seem to be a high quality product for a particularized use. On a short term basis, SMG's experiment showed no significant difference in performance. On my new pond, the combination of filtration used, including the BS/BH combination, produced no measurable ammonia, nitrite or nitrate for nearly 6 weeks. There was never a new pond syndrome and the water has been excellent. Many who post on this board have experienced excellent results using solely the Bakki/BH system. So, it seems to me that the system produces excellent results. I think we will need a couple of more years of widespread use before we can reach conclusions as to whether Bacteria House is sufficiently better compared to lava rock to justify the price. However, I do not know anyone using the Bakki/BH product who has not experienced improved water. I have no doubt that the same results can be achieved less expensively by koikeepers who understand the principles involved.
However, Tewa, all of the good done by these products gets lost when the discussion turns to FIR. The more the discussion focuses on FIR, credibility is lost on the most important aspect of these products: real people have had excellent results using them. Please keep that in mind. |