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  • Page 3 of 3 FirstFirst 123
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    Thread: K1 Microbead reviews? Question on pump

    1. #41
      kevin32 is offline Inactivated
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      Quote Originally Posted by jasonnstephjung View Post
      I thought it was more of an issue with just not having sufficient filtration... Do you think it is still not cycled?
      not sure. did you show levels of nitrates at all?

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    2. #42
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      I am assuming the water is being tested and the numbers for ammonia and nitrite are zero, pH is a reasonable number, KH is over 100ppm. If not, that is the place to start. Filters cycle faster with higher KH values, and the pH is more stable with KH over 100ppm. If any of your testing is showing anything but the above, let us know and we will work with getting the numbers right. Much cheaper than other treatments, if that is the problem, and the other treatments may not even be needed.

      The bacteria in the MicrobeLift PL is not the right type of bacteria for ammonia and nitrite digestion, though it does preform one function well, it drains the wallet. It may be good for use in a gravel bottom pond as it is more of a cellulose digesting bacteria, like a septic tank, digesting solids in that would be trapped in the gravel. It is just money wasted in a pond with proper filtration. If you are having problems with establishing the correct bacteria so that the ammonia and nitrites consistently read zero, there are a couple of bacteria out there that are useful, but they have to be shipped on ice, stored on ice and used quickly, so anything that you find in the pet store, aquarium shop, or Amazon, is not going to be of much use.

      I don't know what you are experiencing when you do not do the major daily water change, noted with the Prazi treatment, but if it is odor and the ammonia and nitrite are zero, it is probably a bacterial cloud that will eventually die off, but it can be helped on its way with the use of UV. I had a problem getting aquariums to cycle to clear, thought he ammonia and nitrites were good, the smell was bad. I installed a small UV and within a couple of days had clear water with no odor. The good bacteria are attached to solids, whereas the cloud is not. It may be contributing to the digestion of the ammonia and nitrites, but is the wrong bacteria and killing them off with the UV allows the good bacteria an opportunity to feed and take over the bio function.

      If you have a fish shaking the head, it could be anything that is irritating the gills, like ammonia, extremely high or low pH, or parasites. If it is parasites, it is most likely flukes, but without a scrape and scope to verify that, I would do the complete shotgun treatment since any parasite that is on the fish may be in the gills causing irritation, which is the cause of the head shaking. Use Proform C, MicrobeLift BSDT, or similar, three days in a row with 25% water changes before each addition and then use either the Prazi, or Fluke-M, added with the last treatment.
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    3. #43
      jasonnstephjung is offline Senior Member
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      Quote Originally Posted by kevin32 View Post
      not sure. did you show levels of nitrates at all?
      Yes. After the koi were in for about three weeks the ammonia was 0, nitrite 0, and nitrate ~40. It is possible that I need to reduce feeding at this point, but there seems to be too many spikes besides. We just want to give them better while we save for an RDF. Which I have looked into, but I can only find prices on the ProfiDrum.

    4. #44
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      Quote Originally Posted by RichToyBox View Post
      I am assuming the water is being tested and the numbers for ammonia and nitrite are zero, pH is a reasonable number, KH is over 100ppm. If not, that is the place to start. Filters cycle faster with higher KH values, and the pH is more stable with KH over 100ppm. If any of your testing is showing anything but the above, let us know and we will work with getting the numbers right. Much cheaper than other treatments, if that is the problem, and the other treatments may not even be needed.

      The bacteria in the MicrobeLift PL is not the right type of bacteria for ammonia and nitrite digestion, though it does preform one function well, it drains the wallet. It may be good for use in a gravel bottom pond as it is more of a cellulose digesting bacteria, like a septic tank, digesting solids in that would be trapped in the gravel. It is just money wasted in a pond with proper filtration. If you are having problems with establishing the correct bacteria so that the ammonia and nitrites consistently read zero, there are a couple of bacteria out there that are useful, but they have to be shipped on ice, stored on ice and used quickly, so anything that you find in the pet store, aquarium shop, or Amazon, is not going to be of much use.

      I don't know what you are experiencing when you do not do the major daily water change, noted with the Prazi treatment, but if it is odor and the ammonia and nitrite are zero, it is probably a bacterial cloud that will eventually die off, but it can be helped on its way with the use of UV. I had a problem getting aquariums to cycle to clear, thought he ammonia and nitrites were good, the smell was bad. I installed a small UV and within a couple of days had clear water with no odor. The good bacteria are attached to solids, whereas the cloud is not. It may be contributing to the digestion of the ammonia and nitrites, but is the wrong bacteria and killing them off with the UV allows the good bacteria an opportunity to feed and take over the bio function.

      If you have a fish shaking the head, it could be anything that is irritating the gills, like ammonia, extremely high or low pH, or parasites. If it is parasites, it is most likely flukes, but without a scrape and scope to verify that, I would do the complete shotgun treatment since any parasite that is on the fish may be in the gills causing irritation, which is the cause of the head shaking. Use Proform C, MicrobeLift BSDT, or similar, three days in a row with 25% water changes before each addition and then use either the Prazi, or Fluke-M, added with the last treatment.
      Yes, we test the water. We have water-softened well water, so the KH is always high (over 200) and the pH is 8.0.
      So the beneficial bacterias that we have been adding don't really do anything? Or are you just referring to the MicrobeLift PL?
      Today I noticed the water had a slight cloudy look with an oily appearance on the top. I tested, and came back ammonia 0.5, and nitrite 1. My husband did just clean the filters last night, but he wasn't over aggressive.
      A s far as our smallest koi goes, we did try the Proform C. Despite that, the water continued to get worse, but we did finish that treatment. Since the koi was still shaking its head that's when I tried to start the Prazi treatment but by the second day the water was so bad that we stopped, changed a bunch of water and put the UV back on

    5. #45
      kevin32 is offline Inactivated
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      Post

      Quote Originally Posted by jasonnstephjung View Post
      Yes. After the koi were in for about three weeks the ammonia was 0, nitrite 0, and nitrate ~40. It is possible that I need to reduce feeding at this point, but there seems to be too many spikes besides. We just want to give them better while we save for an RDF. Which I have looked into, but I can only find prices on the ProfiDrum.
      yeah most likely reduce the feeding. it is very difficult to remove ammonia and nitrites from water changes from my experience. when getting a nitrite spike while cycling I feed through this, but if you saw 0,0, and nitrates at 40, it was cycled but now is not keeping up with the fish load and feeding amount.

    6. #46
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      Quote Originally Posted by jasonnstephjung View Post
      Yes, we test the water. We have water-softened well water, so the KH is always high (over 200) and the pH is 8.0.
      So the beneficial bacterias that we have been adding don't really do anything? Or are you just referring to the MicrobeLift PL?
      Today I noticed the water had a slight cloudy look with an oily appearance on the top. I tested, and came back ammonia 0.5, and nitrite 1. My husband did just clean the filters last night, but he wasn't over aggressive.
      A s far as our smallest koi goes, we did try the Proform C. Despite that, the water continued to get worse, but we did finish that treatment. Since the koi was still shaking its head that's when I tried to start the Prazi treatment but by the second day the water was so bad that we stopped, changed a bunch of water and put the UV back on
      Yes the MicrobeLift PL is almost worthless, draining the wallet without doing anything for the bio.
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    7. #47
      jasonnstephjung is offline Senior Member
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      I came across a pressurized sieve at Hanover that might work better for our setup. But I'm curious if anyone has experience using one? It sounds like attempting to siphon for gravity flow is a bad idea. Here is the product: https://www.hanoverkoifarms.com/prod...cal-filter-16/

    8. #48
      jasonnstephjung is offline Senior Member
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      Quote Originally Posted by RichToyBox View Post
      Yes the MicrobeLift PL is almost worthless, draining the wallet without doing anything for the bio.
      Thank you for letting me know. I was using this as a sludge remover, but if it doesn't work, then I will save my money.

    9. #49
      Essex Koi is offline Senior Member
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      Quote Originally Posted by jasonnstephjung View Post
      I came across a pressurized sieve at Hanover that might work better for our setup. But I'm curious if anyone has experience using one? It sounds like attempting to siphon for gravity flow is a bad idea. Here is the product: https://www.hanoverkoifarms.com/prod...cal-filter-16/
      The fact that you’re getting spikes in Ammonia and Nitrite says you need more bio-filtering. You mentioned a 55 gallon barrel with K1, which has a strainer basket on it - is it aerated? How much K1 does it have in it and how long has it been running? Before spending any money, it would be good to take stock of what you have and if it can be made more effective.

      K1 media can take up to 6 months to be effective and is also temp dependent - what temp is the pond? It also needs a lot of air to act in a biochamber.

      Also whilst I remember...the Eazypod builds up a lot of goop at the bottom of the central K1 micro chamber, the K1 needs to be emptied (I do mine every six weeks) into a bucket of pond water, the central chamber vacuumed out and the K1 washed using two buckets of pond water. You’ll be shocked how much crap is in there.
      Last edited by Essex Koi; 01-20-2018 at 05:22 PM.
      Main pond 4000 US Gallon, 22 Koi. Oase Proficlear Premium + Bio Module, Bitron 120 w UVC, Bakki Shower, Dura 7+ ashp. Grow on tank 600 Gallons with Eazypod Automatic and 70 litre K1 biochamber.

    10. #50
      Essex Koi is offline Senior Member
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      Prices are very expensive for koi gear in the USA from what I can see, usually it’s the other way round!

      https://www.hanoverkoifarms.com/prod...ve-iii-filter/

      http://www.koilogic.co.uk/aquaforte-ultrasieve-iii/p377
      Main pond 4000 US Gallon, 22 Koi. Oase Proficlear Premium + Bio Module, Bitron 120 w UVC, Bakki Shower, Dura 7+ ashp. Grow on tank 600 Gallons with Eazypod Automatic and 70 litre K1 biochamber.

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    11. #51
      jasonnstephjung is offline Senior Member
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      Quote Originally Posted by Essex Koi View Post
      The fact that you’re getting spikes in Ammonia and Nitrite says you need more bio-filtering. You mentioned a 55 gallon barrel with K1, which has a strainer basket on it - is it aerated? How much K1 does it have in it and how long has it been running? Before spending any money, it would be good to take stock of what you have and if it can be made more effective.

      K1 media can take up to 6 months to be effective and is also temp dependent - what temp is the pond? It also needs a lot of air to act in a biochamber.

      Also whilst I remember...the Eazypod builds up a lot of goop at the bottom of the central K1 micro chamber, the K1 needs to be emptied (I do mine every six weeks) into a bucket of pond water, the central chamber vacuumed out and the K1 washed using two buckets of pond water. You’ll be shocked how much crap is in there.
      Our 55 gallon drum is halfway full of static K1. The 5 gallon bucket that is in it we drilled holes into and we agitate the K1 with air to clean. So not really a moving bed. It has been running as long as we have had the koi inside- since the first week of October. The temp in the show tank is 68 F (heated basement).

    12. #52
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      Quote Originally Posted by Essex Koi View Post
      Prices are very expensive for koi gear in the USA from what I can see, usually it’s the other way round!

      https://www.hanoverkoifarms.com/prod...ve-iii-filter/

      http://www.koilogic.co.uk/aquaforte-ultrasieve-iii/p377
      Yes very expensive, that's why this time I thought I would seek advice. Pod isn't as good as I was hoping, but I did read somewhere that they suggested 2 Pods over the cost/size of the Nexus. Not sure if there is any value in that statement or not...

    13. #53
      Essex Koi is offline Senior Member
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      With your fish load, there’s definitely not enough bio-filtration. I’d be inclined to first run the Eazypod to empty into the 55 gallon K1 drum and aerate the drum, then return to pond. This will give you (on paper as a best case scenario) the ability to feed up to a 1lb a day according to EA official figures, but in reality about 50-60% of that.

      I’ll also add that it took 5 months for my K1 to become effective in a heated pond - mine is also at 68f just now, but was at 75f in Oct / Nov.

      Or alternatively what I’ve done is run a cheaper pressurised filter (Hozelock Bioforce Revolution) to my aerated biochamber (rough;y 25 Gallons K1 in a 60 gallon chamber + 20lpm air pump) and the biochamber is still clean, started running in August and doing the job of removing Ammonia / Nitrite. My readings today are ; Ammonia <0.05 Nitrite 0.05 and Nitate at 20ppm. Feeding 0.6lb Saki Hikari a day.

      My figures on the 8th of October were:

      Pond temp 75f

      Ammonia 0.2

      Nitrite 0.2

      Nitrate 10

      Feed: 0.4lb a day
      Last edited by Essex Koi; 01-20-2018 at 06:35 PM.
      Main pond 4000 US Gallon, 22 Koi. Oase Proficlear Premium + Bio Module, Bitron 120 w UVC, Bakki Shower, Dura 7+ ashp. Grow on tank 600 Gallons with Eazypod Automatic and 70 litre K1 biochamber.

    14. #54
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      Nope and like yourself, I’ve learnt the hard way about the Eazypod ...I’ve seen folk here locally with the Nexus and their ponds are running pretty good. Also do not consider the 220, it’s going to be a false economy yet again. The 320 will give you a lot more bio in the long run.
      Last edited by Essex Koi; 01-20-2018 at 06:24 PM.
      Main pond 4000 US Gallon, 22 Koi. Oase Proficlear Premium + Bio Module, Bitron 120 w UVC, Bakki Shower, Dura 7+ ashp. Grow on tank 600 Gallons with Eazypod Automatic and 70 litre K1 biochamber.

    15. #55
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      Quote Originally Posted by Essex Koi View Post
      With your fish load, there’s definitely not enough bio-filtration. I’d be inclined to first run the Eazypod to empty into the 55 gallon K1 drum and aerate the drum, then return to pond. This will give you (on paper as a best case scenario) the ability to feed up to a 1lb a day according to EA official figures, but in reality about 50-60% of that.

      I’ll also add that it took 5 months for my K1 to become effective in a heated pond - mine is also at 68f just now, but was at 75f in Oct / Nov.

      Or alternatively what I’ve done is run a cheaper pressurised filter (Hozelock Bioforce Revolution) to my aerated biochamber and the biochamber is still clean running since August and doing the job of removing Ammonia / Nitrite. My readings today are ; Ammonia <0.05 Nitrite 0.05 and Nitate at 20ppm. Feeding 0.6lb Saki Hikari a day.
      Right now we have the pod and the 55 gal drum both split off the pump which runs 3650 hr. In addition to aerating the 55 gal drum, do you suggest a pressurized filter instead of a sieve, either pre Pod or pre 55 gal drum?

    16. #56
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      Quote Originally Posted by jasonnstephjung View Post
      Right now we have the pod and the 55 gal drum both split off the pump which runs 3650 hr. In addition to aerating the 55 gal drum, do you suggest a pressurized filter instead of a sieve, either pre Pod or pre 55 gal drum?
      I don’t know the pricing in the USA, but that sieve you are looking at is really pricey. If you can get a cheapish pressure Filter and run it pre-55 gallon drum, it will help with the mechanical side of things and your drum will take over the bio. The Eazypod can be left to deal with mechanical filtering.

      Then, when you’ve saved up enough or can afford it, get the ProfiDrum or nexus as you see fit.

      For me, the pressure filter set was about £500 and it’s one of the best available here in the UK

      https://www.aquacadabra.com/hozelock...kit-1404-0000/

      Afaik, they’re not available in the USA, but I’m sure there must be an equivalent.

      I must stress that I do the usual air cleaning with the Eazypod four times a week, same with the Bioforce pressure filter - it’s a turn handle clean operation. Then every six weeks, I empty both filters completely and clean them out.

      In the Spring I’ll look to get a combi 50 drum.
      Last edited by Essex Koi; 01-20-2018 at 06:47 PM.
      Main pond 4000 US Gallon, 22 Koi. Oase Proficlear Premium + Bio Module, Bitron 120 w UVC, Bakki Shower, Dura 7+ ashp. Grow on tank 600 Gallons with Eazypod Automatic and 70 litre K1 biochamber.

    17. #57
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      The https://www.hanoverkoifarms.com/prod...-pond-filters/ filters appear to be the same as https://www.koiphen.com/forums/showth...-Sieve-Filters. Zac manufactures these and is a member of the forum. You might give him a PM or email and ask to have him call and discuss the merits of these filters and how they work with other equipment. I would say call, but he is the one doing a most of the work and as such the work area is so loud that he can't hear the phone.
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