Bakki Shower/Bacteria House vs Conventional Submerged Filtration System.

[junglegeorge12]

Sounds like great news man. Nice to hear adding the BH did help the water condition out, mine is better after storms now too. I wouldimagine attributing alal the water quality to one thing would be unfair. Sounds like it is all contributing. Let us know what the new meter reads out.

How did you like the new shipment of koi? Get any nice red kohaku? My personal favorite.

[dtbh]

Got hold of the new ORP meter on Tuesday.

Here are the readings :

Source water 180-185 range
Pond water 165-175 range

Unfortunately the company selling this meter has run out of calibration solution. I have used the same calibration solution for the previous meter which I think should be ok. Anyway the new pond water ORP range seems to differ from what I used to get. I am not going to lose sleep over this difference and will use the present range as the baseline for next stage of the comparison.

The other parameters are status quo. I will by-pass the hydroponics pond near the filters (a lot more plants) today. The water to this hydroponics pond will be channelled to the BS/BH thus increasing its flow-rate a wee bit.


How did you like the new shipment of koi? Get any nice red kohaku? My personal favorite.

Hi George, they are great. We have 3 kohakus (only 1 belongs to me) and a sanke (all from Sakai Hiroshima). My favourite offspring of Miss Universe nissai kohaku "missed the plane" and will be in the mudpond for another year. Like you, kohaku is my favourite too. I have culled 3 kois from my pond (1 shiro, 2 kohakus) to make room for the 4 kois mentioned above. (I understand the owners of the other kois have decided to leave them with me).

Cheers, dtbh.

[PapaBear]

Quote: Originally Posted by dtbh Got hold of the new ORP meter on Tuesday. Here are the readings : Source water 180-185 range Pond water 165-175 range Unfortunately the company selling this meter has run out of calibration solution. I have used the same calibration solution for the previous meter which I think should be ok. Anyway the new pond water ORP range seems to differ from what I used to get. I am not going to lose sleep over this difference and will use the present range as the baseline for next stage of the comparison. The other parameters are status quo. I will by-pass the hydroponics pond near the filters (a lot more plants) today. The water to this hydroponics pond will be channelled to the BS/BH thus increasing its flow-rate a wee bit. How did you like the new shipment of koi? Get any nice red kohaku? My personal favorite. Hi George, they are great. We have 3 kohakus (only 1 belongs to me) and a sanke (all from Sakai Hiroshima). My favourite offspring of Miss Universe nissai kohaku "missed the plane" and will be in the mudpond for another year. Like you, kohaku is my favourite too. I have culled 3 kois from my pond (1 shiro, 2 kohakus) to make room for the 4 kois mentioned above. (I understand the owners of the other kois have decided to leave them with me). Cheers, dtbh.

Having seen pictures of the koi in your care I have no problem understanding why they decided to leave them with you
Glad to see things are progressing well. I've been looking forward to following your progress again.

[junglegeorge12]

Keep us posted. Glad to hear you got a nice red kohaku out of it, got any pics yet?

[dtbh]

Papabear,

Having seen pictures of the koi in your care I have no problem understanding why they decided to leave them with you
Glad to see things are progressing well. I've been looking forward to following your progress again.

Kind words indeed. Come to think of it, I get to enjoy both the challenge and the beautiful fish.

I by-passed the said hydroponics pond yesterday as planned. I will monitor to see what happens over the next few days esp the nitrates since this pond, if anything, is a potential source of nitrates.

George, I think I have posted a picture of my Big Rose kohaku nissai (61.5cm) somewhere in this thread. I will agree not many will like her esp the pattern but I just fell in love with her skin quality and the gorgeous body. The skin and hi quality IMHO is even better than the R kohaku nissai (belongs to a fellow hobbyist and now in my pond) that cost twice as much.

[PapaBear]

It would be interesting to see the change both in the pond and the now isolated hydroponics section. Both environments now seperated could have a story to tell... Just a thought.

[dtbh]

This is the 5th day after I by-passed my hydroponics pond. It is interesting to note a slight increase in nitrates (slightly more than 20ppm now). The rest of the parameters are ok. So are my kois. It is a pleasure to see the new kois having voracious appetites....they are already putting on girth. Incidentally there is still the same amount of sedimentation in my mid-water filter.

The increase in nitrates is contrary to what I had expected with the by-passing of the hydroponics (with many plants) and the increase in flow rate to the BS (hence expected incresase in de-gassing effect). Perhaps the system needs more time to equilibrate. I now tend to believe that the said hydroponics pond is more a nitrate-remover than a nitrate-contributor. Will continue to monitor before I proceed to by-pass the other filters.

[koiczar]

dtbh

I've always been told that hydroponic or "filo filter" is designed to reduce nitrates. The plants absord the phosphates and nitrates (fish emulsion fertilizer). It doesn't really surprise me that your nitrates readings went up slightly. They may go up a little more as the days pass. Hope not for your testing sake but that is "my humble opinion".

Mike

[dtbh]

Quote: Originally Posted by koiczar dtbh I've always been told that hydroponic or "filo filter" is designed to reduce nitrates. The plants absord the phosphates and nitrates (fish emulsion fertilizer). It doesn't really surprise me that your nitrates readings went up slightly. They may go up a little more as the days pass. Hope not for your testing sake but that is "my humble opinion". Mike

Hi Mike,

That would be the general expectation. It has been mentioned that with accumulation of sludge, dead leaves and roots amongst the plants it may potentially be a nett nitrate contributor.

In mine, after I by-passed the filter, I removed all the plants to do some cleaning. I am glad that my regular cleaning prior to this was quite effective; there wasn't much accumulation of debris.

Cheers.

[junglegeorge12]

have you been doing water changes and how is the nitrate level of the incoming water? have you been keeping an eye on it to see if it is fluctuating or consistent? I would worry about that if I had nitrate in my incoming water.

Give the bakki time to catch up would be my inclination. What is your gph over the shower now, and total gallons? Also, how many tiers are your showers? Just curious about how much oxygenation and flow is happening.