Best aerated media upgrade for 3-chamber vortex

[dubtaco]

Quote: Originally Posted by mitten For Double taco - 5g isn't enough, try for 30 or 40 or 50g which allows you to use 2 or 3 cu. ft. of K1.

To bad that would be impossible with my current configuration....I have a 55 gallon S.C. with micron screen, I want to ditch the micron screen but it would be kinda hard to make a 30 + gal. drum work in conjunction with my 55 gal. drum. I havn't lost hope though, I still have some ideas in my head...Mainly ditch my whole filter setup and convert to a nexus...

Ill give you your thread back now androal...

[mitten]

Well Dubby, at my house I've been tossing around the possibilty of 30g static inside 55g settling chamber all within a 450g fluid bed K1. Yep, a fake Nexus. Remember that in this configuration the only settling is course drek like leaves, twigs, bugs. The real seperation of guck is done by the static K1.

Mickey the windowman

[bekko]

I don't know what happened to the horizontal pipe with elbow to a slotted vertical pipe, but I agree that this would be the preferable configuration. You want the flow through the media to be as even as possible. This means keeping the distance from the basket wall to the closest slot as consistent as possible. With a horizontal slotted pipe you will not get even distribution.

The top of the basket needs to be at least 4 inches above the water line. When you bubble wash, the media is lifted above the water line and you do not want it spilling over the top of the basket. In addition, new media tends to ride a little higher than the water level. It is probably best to have a couple of inches of space between the bottom of the basket and the bottom of the floating mass of media to help it boil when backwashing.

The first static K filter I made is in a conventional cone-bottom vortex and there is an air ring in the basket. Since then, I have made some using 55-gallon poly drums as a tank and no longer use an air ring. I wash them with a garden hose jet nozzel held above the the media and shooting downward. The water jet entrains a lot of air and boils the media pretty well. I also stick the hose down to the bottom of the media and stir it a bit to make sure there are no clumps hiding down there. Then I stick the hose down between the basket and the tank wall to stir up accumulated sediment in the bottom of the drum as the water is being dumped. It doesn't take any longer to wash with the hose than the air ring. The flat-bottom drum leaves a little debris behind, but not enough to be a concern. I sure like the price of an $8 drum compared to a fiberglass cone-bottom tank. Just wish the K-1 media was not so expensive.

In one small filter, I have a mixture of K-1 media and polyethylene resin beads. Resin beads are much less expensive. The K-1 keeps the beads from packing like they do in a bead filter. The only problem is that the slots in the outlet pipe have to be much smaller to retain the beads and I have had the small slots foul and clog several times.

-s tevehop

[androal]

Quote: Originally Posted by bekko I don't know what happened to the horizontal pipe with elbow to a slotted vertical pipe, but I agree that this would be the preferable configuration. You want the flow through the media to be as even as possible. This means keeping the distance from the basket wall to the closest slot as consistent as possible. With a horizontal slotted pipe you will not get even distribution. -s tevehop

OK! Got it! I just got a little confused (that happens sometimes, which is why I like to ask so many questions to get it all clear!!!) So, a basic question about the basket construction...

I am thinking of using a 30g trash can as the basket (readily available and very cheap). I could cut the bottom off and attach a mesh screen to the base of it. This design would force the water to enter the static K1 chamber ONLY from the very bottom of the basket, then rise through all the K1 media, then get 'sucked in' to the slots on the verticle pipe, cut along the pipe as close to the surface as possible. Right?

QUESTION: HOW MANY SLITS, AND WHAT DIMENSION FOR THE SLITS? If the verticle pipe is 4" diameter, then the total area of the slits needs to be at least 4"? So... would 6, 1/4" wide, 4" long slits be enough to keep the proper flow rate?

Also, how far down the basket should this verticle pipe extend? If the basket is 28" in diameter and 24" deep and the slits are only 4" long, located close to the surface, then why, on many of the pictures I see, are people extending the length of this verticle pipe further down into the baskets? (well past where the slits end)

I think I am getting closer to the solution here!!!!

Thx for the very patient and extremely helpful responses!!!

[bekko]

I'm sorry, we're running in circles here. If water will only enter the basket from the bottom, then the horizontal slotted outlet pipe is what you want. With the solid wall of the trash can, you will not get short-circuiting.

The 4 inch pipe has a cross sectional area of (2x2x3.14=) 12.5 square inches. Therefore, you would like the slots to have a combined area os 12.5 square inches. Say the slots are cut cross-wise into the horizontal pipe on the ventral side. Each slot is 4 inches long and one-eighth inch wide. The slots are spaced every one inch along the pipe. Slots are cut in 25 inches of the 28-inch pipe. The total area of the slots is 4 x 0.125 x 25 = 12.5 square inches.

-steve h

[androal]

Ok... so it doesn't sound like there is any need for a bend in the pipe, or a need for a verticle pipe section to run down into the center of the basket at all.

The earlier idea of simply running a single horizontal slotted pipe, with a cap on the end of it accross the top of the chamber is fine. As long as the math is right on the surface area concept for the slots (4" pipe has surface area of approx. 12", so area of the slots in the pipe needs to be at least 12")

The idea is that water will flow from the bottom of the basket, up through all the media, and into the horizontal slotted pipe located at the surface of the vortex... very simple...!!!
Now is there any concern with this design about the 'even distribution' idea, where you were mentioning that the distance from the edge of the basket to the slots in the pipe should be as evenly distributed as possible to encourage even flow throught the media?

[androal]

well... I completed the suggested static K1 conversion to my primary vortex this afternoon. The suggested design took just under 4 hours to build with a total cost of $85 - all parts were readily available at my local HD.

Very simple design, very easy to complete. I will try and post pictures when I get back from our vacation next week.

The finished basket is 22" diameter X 24" deep. Total volume is 10.6 cubic feet. Hopefully it's big enough!!! It turned out to be smaller than I initially thought it was going to be.

Slotted pipe runs horizontal accross the top of the chamber, with 4 18" long slots 1/4" wide cut into the underside of the pipe.

I have not installed the media yet... any suggestions on quantity of K1 to purchase. Or any experiences with the Bio Flo-9 from rauschert mentioned earlier? Its about 1/3 the cost of the K1...