Does Biological Media Need to be Replaced in a Well Established Pond?

[bvadel]

Question.....I have a very well established pond (7+ years) that I maintain on my own however since I travel a bit for work, I have a company that generally comes 1x / month to just check in and make sure everything is OK.

They recently noted some leakage at the top of my Ultima II filter - see photos - and sent me a quote for repair. In their quote (and in talking to them), they said "it's time to replace the biological filtration media").

My question is this....
Does biological filtration media need to be replaced in a well established pond? I have a long history/background with salt water aquariums and once I had biological media established - it was a great thing and I would just let it be as long as the pond and fish were OK.

My pond and fish are OK so I'd like to hear from Koiphen members....Does biological media need to be replaced in an established pond or is that a bad idea? My first insticts were that it's a bad idea / suggestion BUT I'd love to hear from the experts. Please let me know. Thanks!

[coolwon]

My DIY approach
Switch off the pump.Lower the water if need be and remove the "O"ring,which appears to

be weeping.

Remove a hand full of the media and decide how robust the material is.

If you find it is not breaking down, but probably very dirty with 7 years of water being

delivered through it, you could probable wash it yourself with a water pressure cleaner.

Using the pressure cleaner and your pond water,lay out the material on a sheet of plastic

on an adjoining flat area, gently drive the dirt through the media and out.

Lower machine cleaned media into a barrel of pond water which is aerated to keep the the

media alive.Complete cleaning the dirty stuff and keeping it well aerated.

Dismantle the tank and give it thorough wash out.

Checkout out the front hand valve for wear and worn parts.

DIY is all about becoming familiar with the equipment and whats involved, if you could be

bothered with the work.

[coolwon]

You would need a small auxiliary water pump to feed your pressure cleaner.

A filter strainer in between the pump and pressure cleaner to keep the suspended matter

in the water would be beneficial and less frustrating than having to clean nozzles in the

pressure cleaner.

As you probably know, your mains water is mixed with harmful chlorine to keep the water

lines safe from harmful bugs sitting in all the surrounding pipe work leading to the

adjoining homesteads.

[bvadel]

so....getting back to my original question.

Does established BIOLOGICAL Filter media (what generally comes stock with an Ultimate II filter) generally need to be replaced or should it generally 'last a lifetime'?

Just trying to understand if the pond maintenance people are actually offering accurate advice or bad advice.

Als,o if it is replaced, wouldn't you want to keep some of it IN the filter so that we aren't starting 100% anew and could just seed with some of the media that already has good bacteria living on it?

[Jerome]

Did you ask the Sacramento Koi guys? I found them very approachable and impeccably honest...

[UnkleTim]

I cured my leak in the same spot by using heavy doses of koi clay daily for a week. It plugged it up.

[coolwon]

I cured my leak in the same spot by using heavy doses of koi clay daily for a week. It plugged it up.

Did you try to tighten the nut and bolt?

Can you answer bvadel questions, if you own the same ULTTIMA FILTER?

[bvadel]

So I shared some of the feedback here with the service company and they replied as follows. —- what would YOU do? ⬇️⬇️⬇️
-----
We can try replacing o ring first if that is what yo would like us to do.

I have attached a picture of what happens when filter media is not replaced. The beads will break down and disintegrate over time. As they do that they become hard and unmovable which means the filter isn't working.

Our techs have seen this happen many times and if we don't replace the media as it breaks down it can damage other parts of the filter. Its much cheaper to replace the beads then to buy a new filter.

I will leave the decision up to you

[coolwon]

Put your mind at rest,read all about the ULTTIMA 11 on, YES Google.

it's all there,pages of it.

Even references to your model in Koiphen.

GOOGLE your ULTTIMA 11

Bio - mechanical - filtration

[coolwon]

I Googled where is my ULTTIMA 11 filter made.

I was presented with a video of dismantled ULTTIMA 11. bio filter.

Judging by the video, you would not need to replace the 8.5 lbs bio logical filter media.

Very nice equipment.I am impressed.

Ask your monthly pond service team,why they do not wipe the white carbonate off the

valve to give you some idea how big the weeping leak is?

They should at least wipe the equipment down after each visit.

[YourFriendlyPondGuru]

The media in the Aqua Ultima II only need to be replaced if you have lost some from backwashing (this would mean you need some replacement internal parts most likely). Aqua Ultraviolet, the manufacturer, clearly states that the media NEVER needs to be replaced in these units. Be aware that replacing the media requires the unit's serial number and has to be ordered. It cannot be purchased off hand. There are many off-brands out there, so be cautious.