[androal]

Quote: Originally Posted by mitten Androal I just typed for about twenty minutes and then lost it all. Happens a lot to me. Others? So, short version. If you are only pumping 2000gph like the design limit then it just won't matter a lot what order. If you are pumping more then you could throw the springflow (3,4, 5 cubes of it) into #1 to help mechanically. Try R-Matala green and blue, course and medium, my green never clogs at all and I wish for blue. Don't fill up the whole depth, just use one or two or maybe three. Work up. Look for Maurice's site where with a little diggin you can find pics of how to convert a chamber for K1 as well as how to make an air ring. I skip air stones and I keep air in the filters, not the pond. You could run from 3 - 7 and maybe 10 cu. ft. K1 in your chamber. Work up. I use a Sweetwater 44, the same as a Medo ??. You in California? Your profile contains ZERO. But it really costs to ship spirexes so I'm guessing California. Mickey the windowman

Thx for response! Smoe follow up ???s/comments:

1) I am in NJ. the original owner of our house built the pond 7 years ago. He mentioned the cost of the filters was $$$!!!

2) You mention that I could put the springflow media in the primary vortex chamber. Wouldn't this interfere with the swirling motion of the vortex? If the springflow could actually help to trap particles, would it then be a good idea to aerate it too? My intuition says that aerating the primary chamber would cause the particles to remain suspended in the water longer...?

3) You mention that your green matala never clogs and that you wish for blue matala - why not go with blue and then gray to fine tune it?

4) You mention not to fill up the whole chamber, just to use 1 or 2 or maybe 3 (build up over time as I experiment w/results) the matala material appears to be only 1.5" thick (according to their website). They show several images on the website of alternating layers of the material (green/gray/green/gray....) I have a 48" deep chamber. If I only use 3 layers and they are each only 1.5" thick, how should they be spaced out? Or should they be stacked together - like they appear on the company web-site?

5) What is the best way to aerate the media? Should I use spheres, cylinders, or discs? I assume the stones should be located all the way at the bottom of the chamber?