filter media...what do you use and why?

[Valarc]

I use lava rock for a trickle tower in my lilly pond - and the stuff gets clogged and nasty as all get out. That's probably partially due to a lack of proper prefiltration, but I've never heard someone complaining about plastic media fouling. What I really like about k1 (or any other aerated, moving bed) is the fact that it constantly bangs together and is sort of self-cleaning. Of course the downside is that k1 probably won't mature nearly as fast as lava rock does. I think it's all a matter of tradeoffs... k1 might not handle the densest bio load per unit volume of media, but it is low maintenance, and that's right up my alley.

[Dwight]

Well a big part of the question is also what type of filter do you use. Porous rock won't work in a nexus because the K1 needs to move for the thing to work. I'm building a stream off of my pond and it has a bio-reactor at it's head. This will require a static medua so maybe porous rock will work. Isn't it hard to clean ?

[Dwight]

Would a moving media make up for less surface area some way ? The Brits seem to think so

[luke frisbee]

alfa is round and not open...lava rock is very open and "chunky"...if ya did a search for a photo i am pretty sure it would show you

[kevan]

Hi Luke,

yes this is what i thought,

as i own both, but i wasnt entirely sure as i thought perhaps they were just different types of alfagrog as both types are sold as such, but alfa grog as you say seems like large lumps of porus clay and larva rock seems more open, however it is easy to wonder what on earth alfagrog is when even repected koi sites seem to confuse the issue, by selling larva rock as Alfa grog .

such as another one...

http://www.koicarp.net/filtration/media/alfagrog.html

also here is a surface area comparison for anyone interested...

http://www.focusfeatures.co.za/biofilterselection.htm

kevan.

[Dwight]

Now tell me how you clean this stuff. The K1 , when used properly in a moving bed is self cleaning. Even a static K1 bed is pretty easy to clean because of it's open nature ( see Nexus Eazy )

[luke frisbee]

Floyd,
I have a QT with about 5cuft of lava rock in a PMS (porous media shower) thats been running for two years...when it quits working ..the water goes to heck, or the fish go off their feed i'll see if the PMS has a problem....it does look like it is getting along in its functional life..but that has been over a year?????????

(Floyd's a good Alabama name..I like bein' able to call someone Floyd. Reminds me of home)

[Dwight]

Never knew Floyd was an Alabama name. My family came out here ( Texas ) on a covered wagon from S. Carolina.

Your filter sounds kinda like a Bakki shower without the BS. Do you think it would work as well with man-made media ?

[bekko]

I use coral rubble because it seems to emit more of the beneficial yellow cosmic rays.

-steve

[mitten]

Steveh-

You do mean that your system is successful because of the YCR, right? Groovy waves, man.

Nice local media you have there. Do your local concrete suppliers use coral as their aggregate?

And to the original question, I use many different media- mats, bioballs, lava rock, BH, K1, ribbon, matala, ultrabio, brushes, scrubbers, netting. I don't have "a" pond so I don't have "a" filter, so I don't have "a" media. Some of these media do not work in some adaptations, but they all work. The scrubbers are PITA and POS but will be around as long as I have that pond. Ranchus doubled in size this year in this lousy koi pond.

Mickey the windowman