How did Bead Filters get such a Bum Rap

[dick benbow]

tHIS YEAR FOR LAUGHS AND GIGGLES I RAN A BB with my three adult koi as the only filter system for them. the pond held 3 thousand gal plus and the BB was backwashed once a week thouroughly.I ran one highblow 40 in the pond for additional air. with minor fluctuations in water quality
following the cleaning, It created no problems. i DID RUN A TRICKLE OF NEW WATER 24/7 TO AMOUNT TO A CONTINUOUS DAILY 10 % CHANGE!

Am I endorsing this? NO! If you don't over feed, overstock, this system will work
if done correctly.

Most people want an easy fix, with one item to do all things. Anytime you do that you compromise. A proper mechanical system, bio system and degas air system is necessary.

for some situations I've seen a BB take a bad pond ( because of bad design, over feeding and overstocked conditions) and make it adequate.

I have also seen a good pond, kept adequate when it could have advanced with some additional tweaks, like more air and more bio!

bb'S ARE A TOOL. tHEY MAKE NEW AND BETTER ONES EVERY YEAR.

[dOHd]

Steve

Right you are. Clear water can be deadly. That is why I tested the water every other day after we started the system.

the biggest trick is the blower. You will hear the beads moving, but there is a distict sound when they actually slap the inside of the filter letting you know there are no clumps of beads in the filter. And without the vortex in front of the filter, daily or at least every other day cleaning would be in order. On this system, every 5 days seems to be working great.

d

[Mike T]

Marco:

Your Quote: "I would like to install an Bed Filter for next year, but I've heard that there are big difference between different manufacturer, wich one are you using ?"

After my Chicken Sh*t outburst on another thread on this board, I don't dare mention any product or dealer here...

Will PM you from this board with the information you requested...

d: You are right, the blower is the trick...Found out lately that if after agitating the beads for 1 minute, if I turn the blower off then restart I seem to get a better breakup of the beads...think this because slapping noise gets louder and water in clear bottle gets dirtier...

Dick: Is right, if you follow the rules of fish loads, life as a koi hobbyist will be a lot easier... Luckily for me, Steve C, gave me some great advice on this subject, hence only 6 koi in our 900 gallon pond which is still pushing it...

Aloha! Mike T

[Rich L]

One problem with beads is the retention of all waste cought by the beads. It's much better to get them out.

I dump once a day. Never enough waste to stick beads and today's shit won't be part of tomorrows.

Less hetrotropics to compete with the nitrifiers
Less waste to cover the nitrifiers
Higher ORP readings

The best combo is a sump then the beads and then nitrification, etc.

[koiloco]

Hey Joe,

I do have 45 brushes in my vortex already.

[Russell Peters]

I agree with Dick, bead filters are best used as one tool in the entire system.