K1 - K3 - K Chips ?

[bekko]

Eugene, what would it cost to bring a new product shape to market? Are these things extruded like pasta and then chopped? Would the same extrusion machine be used and only the die changed to get a new shape? Excluding the resin, what does it cost to make a ton of this stuff? Any idea? Inquiring minds....

-steve

[MikeM]

I think JR's posting of the Siporax claims was very instructive. Siporax was (and is) an excellent media, but simply was not a wonder cure for filtration issues. The pores clogged, the functional surface area was no better than many other media in practical operation in most systems. In a very high end system with near perfect mechanical removal, it performed superbly. Of course, not many such systems, so not much of a market except for a relatively few aquarists and those who thought they getting greater surface area per liter of media than they actually were.

The lesson is not that the EA claims fail for the reasons that Siporax failed, but that marketing claims should not be accepted without critical thinking.

The EA product is undoubtedly a fine one. The only question is the relative cost/benefit compared to K-1 or other media. For those with the means and desire for however much extra "gusto" they can get out of their filter systems.... go for it. Kind of like buying the expensive premium grade and brand gasoline for a Toyota Corolla...it will give a slight performance boost, although hardly economically rational. When it comes to koi, we do a lot that is economically irrational... isn't that the fun of it all?

All of that said, even after reading the terse explanation on the EA site, I do not understand how it is a critter would find a home on the Bio-Chip that would not find a home on K-1, unless the special environment created is unsuitable for the biofilm housed on K-1, and that biofilm out competes the critters that find a home on the Bio-Chip. The idea that "surface tension" is somehow involved needs further explanation for me. The Bio-Chip surface seems far more exposed than the interior of K-1. Or, is it actually that the Bio-Chip captures fines that do not get lodged in K-1, thereby providing a "plate" on which critters can feed which would not feed on such fines in suspension? I'm simply curious how it is supposed to accomplish what is claimed, without regard to the economic rationality of it.

[Eugeneg]

[quote=bekko;84339]Eugene, what would it cost to bring a new product shape to market? Are these things extruded like pasta and then chopped? Would the same extrusion machine be used and only the die changed to get a new shape? Excluding the resin, what does it cost to make a ton of this stuff? Any idea? Inquiring minds....

Steve
The cost of a new products has down cosiderably due to computerised tooling machinery . Then even lower cost as now you can get moulds made in china at a fraction of the cost . If one wants a new product you can change the moulds in less than an Hr . To make a ton I do not know as the new moulds are far more efficient . By efficiency it is the cooling time so a shape like k3 would not only save resin but would cool a lot faster therefore would be lower cost to produce may be the speed of pasta
The Nexus moulds were made in Italy because they invented the new blow moulding technique this allows for thinner and stronger walls as well as amazing quick cooling times . So the cooling time is down from about an Hr to 15 min . Or looking at a production of 24HR that means up from 25 to a hundred per mould . I bet when the sales increase they will send the moulds to Canada as resins are a lot lower cost and a lot of empty trucks that transport fruit going back empty to the USA .
Regards
Eugene

[John Kenny]

Can anyone tell me about my new found friends in my bio falls? They look like little inch worms and live in the rapids of the falls there are thousands of them. I also have snail like creatures living in the bio filter as well as jelly like cling-ons in skimmer baskets.

[KoiCop]

John . . .

Do the little inch worms look like these? If so, black fly larvae.

[Russell Peters]

Quote: Originally Posted by John Kenny Can anyone tell me about my new found friends in my bio falls? They look like little inch worms and live in the rapids of the falls there are thousands of them. I also have snail like creatures living in the bio filter as well as jelly like cling-ons in skimmer baskets.

The jelly like cling-ons are baby snail like creatrures.

[carolyn swanson]

So, are these creatures good, bad, or just ugly? They must be getting some nourishment or they wouldn't be there.

I've heard that they harbor eggs, larvae, or whatnot from parasites and make it much harder to rid the pond of the parasites as the uglies are almost impossible to kill with commonly-used chemicals. True?

[JasPR]

I'd say that not 'all small things' can be talked about in the same breath. Our closed systems are bacteria based. From there, many background species can be noticed in spring and summer. But note, they are seaosnal and of not much use in the big picture. I posted a thread on NI reading the 'hatches' we see in our ponds in late spring and summer. These can be a food source for koi but really antecdotal in the big picture. And I don't know too many indoor pond hobbyists that are not sooner or later bothered by tiny flies attratced to the filter water for breeding.
But what we are talking about in the filter conversation of truly tiny forms of life, mostly protozoa ( trichodina, ich ect) , nematodes, fungi, trematodes, monogenea, copepods etc.
I made some points earlier that I will make again here-

IF you treat you pond for costia or ich or trichodina with an agent like PP or formalin , these species are gone for the season, or at least severely cut back. This is one reason I hate to treat ponds unless it is obviously necessary.
Secondly, if a pond is maintained well, there is very little in the way of nutrient source for life higher than bacterial/agal/fungal levels. As I mentioned, heterotrophic free bacteria swarmers can reproduce once every twenty minutes. The population of background species really can't competitively compete with that kinda reprductive power.
Thirdly, smooth walled ponds, of excellent turnover and current do not really provide environment for many species ( other than agal 'forests' on the pond wall). Certainly, a clear filter chamber with high turn over and high current is not a likely place to find such species ( most live in mulm rich , leaf covered wild ponds for example). Not to say they are not in your pond! And not to say that they can't be a good productive member of the pond. But to cultivate them as part of crowded biosystem? Not practical and not necessary.
I suspect that the invention of this media design was in response to issues of fines always associated with fluidized bed type systems. By definition, they are dynamic and non trapping. This is a good thing and represents advancement in bioreactor design. But because it is MOVING and NON TRAPPING, there is no real settlement potential. This then, causes fines to be present based on stocking, food type, prefiltration efforts and dwell time in filters. I have an article coming out in one of the koi magazines on dwell time and do not want to go into it until the article comes out next month. But suffice it to say, fines should be dealt with in the ponds overall design. JR

[carolyn swanson]

Yes, we have been over this several times. I was just trying to change the subject.

[KoiCop]

Quote: Originally Posted by carolyn swanson So, are these creatures good, bad, or just ugly? They must be getting some nourishment or they wouldn't be there. I've heard that they harbor eggs, larvae, or whatnot from parasites and make it much harder to rid the pond of the parasites as the uglies are almost impossible to kill with commonly-used chemicals. True?

Black flies bite. While koi love to eat black fly larvae, the larvae in our waterfalls & mini-streams are beyond their reach; mosquito dunks, however, easily and effectively eliminate them.