Glassbeads in Pool Filter, Before or After Biomechanical?

[fly4koi]

My current setup is an Aqua Ultima biomechanical pressurized filter followed by a Pentair pool filter that's filled with sand. I've bypassed the sand filter because I believe it's not suitable for koi pond. The water quality is fine, though there are suspending particles because the biomechanical is not fine enough to trap them, ironically the algae growing on my waterfall acts as a bog and trap them and make water clear, but I do have to clean them up from time to time.

I've purchased glass beads media to replace the sand, the vendor suggested to change the order of the filtering so that it'll go through the glass beads first then the biomechanical to make it more efficient, does anyone have similar setup as mine and can share their experience? Thanks in advance.

[aquaholic]

There are numerous threads about glass bead media here if you search ( I find using google search with Koiphen keyword better than the forums search function).

How much algae or particulate matter do you have? How much routine maintenance are you happy with? I think that will affect your decision and why there will be differing opinions and success stories. So my answer is; " it depends... "

If your reseller is very experienced with KOI and has been out to see your situation, I'd go with their recommendation.

Having very fine mechanical filtration will mean faster blocking, more frequent maintenance and perhaps requiring a larger capacity water pump (with higher electrical bills). Placing a coarser mechanical pre filter ahead will reduce the maintenance on your finer filter but possibly increase maintenance frequency on the coarse filter.

I previously used a sand filter which was excellent for water clarity but installed a self isolation loop so I could circulate chlorine or PP monthly in safety to eliminate bio film which ultimately creates channelling and reduces effectiveness of back flushing. This was good but if I had to do that again, I'd use two sand filters in parallel to streamline the maintenance further. Run PP or chlorine for a week to naturally disipate. It's like having a brand new mechanical filter again.

I've moved to a drum filter with internal UV.

Please do post up your results (good or bad) over time.

[JMorris271]

After the vortex filter's I have the mechanical course filters first to catch all of the larger crapola, that didn't fall out in the vortexes, floating algae and so on. Then I clean up with my fines in 2 bead filters. The fines don't clog up much at all. Backwashing with a blower agitating the beads takes care of any channeling.

[aquaholic]

After the vortex filter's I have the mechanical course filters first to catch all of the larger crapola, that didn't fall out in the vortexes, floating algae and so on. Then I clean up with my fines in 2 bead filters. The fines don't clog up much at all. Backwashing with a blower agitating the beads takes care of any channeling.

Would you say the backwash with blower agitation is good enough to completely remove your vortex and mechanical pre-filters? Because eliminating maintenance aspects is always a good thing. Or reducing the time for maintenance is a plus. Why do you have two bead filters? Are they in series or on completely independent loops?

[aquaholic]

My current setup is an Aqua Ultima biomechanical pressurized filter followed by a Pentair pool filter that's filled with sand. I've bypassed the sand filter because I believe it's not suitable for koi pond. The water quality is fine, though there are suspending particles because the biomechanical is not fine enough to trap them, ironically the algae growing on my waterfall acts as a bog and trap them and make water clear, but I do have to clean them up from time to time.

I've purchased glass beads media to replace the sand, the vendor suggested to change the order of the filtering so that it'll go through the glass beads first then the biomechanical to make it more efficient, does anyone have similar setup as mine and can share their experience? Thanks in advance.

I haven't tried glass beads personally, just offering my opinion.
I would take the path of least resistance and simply replace the sand with your glass beads to monitor for a reasonable period. You should conceive some method to measure for improvement.

If you do need to move filters about, perhaps use rubber coupling connectors until you are completely satisfied. Hopefully you can remove one of the filters completely.

[fly4koi]

I have this bead call perma bead, supposedly it's being used professionally in zoos, and supposedly is non-clog and non-biofilm forming. Anyhow, I'll keep current plumbing and report back when I get to it, thanks again.

[aquaholic]

I looked up Perma-Bead but they arent glass. Hopefully it works out well for you.

Before you purchase, have you considered the raw HDPE granules? The base material used to manufacture K1 and countless other media variations. You can purchase different specific gravity (densities) depending on the buoyancy desired. I bought several 25kg bags ridiculously cheap and they look similar in size and shape to the perma-bead. Be aware the granules tend to escape and get everywhere so protect your water pump impellars.

[coolwon]

m

I have this bead call perma bead, supposedly it's being used professionally in zoos, and supposedly



is non-clog and non-biofilm forming.


If this is in the pond filter circuit.

What is it's PURPOSE ?????????????????





Anyhow, I'll keep current plumbing and report back when I get to it, thanks again.

[fly4koi]

I looked up Perma-Bead but they arent glass. Hopefully it works out well for you.

Before you purchase, have you considered the raw HDPE granules? The base material used to manufacture K1 and countless other media variations. You can purchase different specific gravity (densities) depending on the buoyancy desired. I bought several 25kg bags ridiculously cheap and they look similar in size and shape to the perma-bead. Be aware the granules tend to escape and get everywhere so protect your water pump impellars.

Yea, apparently it's plastic sinking media, they are round, dense, and smooth though. I have a bio-mechanical before the sand filter, and the sand filter was supposed to "polish" the water except that sand is not proper and gunk up rather easily and at times stink up the water. I didn't design the pond, the previous owner did, so I ended up bypass the sand filter and was able to keep the water at better quality parameter wise with better power efficiency w/o the sand filter.

[aquaholic]

For sinking media, look towards PETE which is polyethylene terephthalate. It has a density of 1.38-1.39 gm/ml.
Unfortunately biofilm will still build up and channeling can occur but stirring doesn't take much effort.
Any small plastic extrusion or plastic molding company should be able to provide you with raw product.
They are sometimes sold as gem/rock polishing products too but that would be an exensive way to purchase.
Australian example https://www.gemworld.com.au/products...c_granules_1kg

In my case, I used a floating granule of LDPE (Low Density Poly Ethylene) as mechanical filtration through an open top barrel. Dirty water was directed through a static media bed of these granules and when I wanted to clean, I would fill and flush to waste several times. The same material used for K1 which has a density of 0.95 gm/ml. A 25kg bag cost me $3.75 several years ago. I knew it would be cheap when they gave me 5kg for a free sample to try out!

I made up some prefilter screens to prevent the media getting into my pumps. Used to filter a rack of grow out tubs.

[fly4koi]

That is a pretty amazing setup, unfortunately I don't have the space and the filtration setup is actually inside of an indoor utility room. Attaching a photo of the beads and also what I meant by particulates, it's a 4ft deep pond with flashlight shining into the bottom during daylight. I think I might be a bit OCD about it, but oh well, life's struggle...

[rainblood]

Im not an expert on anything but did do some research on bead filters as I recently had to purchase one and a couple of points I found:

1. I believe beads, no matter what kind, will clog over time even with a blower
2. Converting a sand filter is a little more complicated than simply swapping out the media

I went from a RDF only set up to an Ultra Sieve plus bead filter.

[aquaholic]

Im not an expert on anything but did do some research on bead filters as I recently had to purchase one and a couple of points I found:

1. I believe beads, no matter what kind, will clog over time even with a blower
2. Converting a sand filter is a little more complicated than simply swapping out the media

I went from a RDF only set up to an Ultra Sieve plus bead filter.

Did you add a seive and bead filter onto the RDF or did you replace the RDF?
Did it reduce or increase maintenance time?

[aquaholic]

That is a pretty amazing setup, unfortunately I don't have the space and the filtration setup is actually inside of an indoor utility room. Attaching a photo of the beads and also what I meant by particulates, it's a 4ft deep pond with flashlight shining into the bottom during daylight. I think I might be a bit OCD about it, but oh well, life's struggle...

Those particles are quite big and suspended so filtering them out should be easy. The trick is working out how to clean your filters easily. Hopefully those beads work out for you.

[fly4koi]

So here's what I meant, my waterfall has algae/moss growth and I can tell they are trapping debris and making the water clear, because periodically when I clean the waterfall I can visually tell the water is less clean, so those sediments are what I'm trying to get rid of. They might be dead diatoms, maybe I should scope the sand and take a look. My other thought is to parallelize the bio and the sand filter and rejoin before the UV, but these day I don't really use the UV since I found using algae to consume nitrogen is making the water healthier which is more important than looking "clean"

[JMorris271]

Would you say the backwash with blower agitation is good enough to completely remove your vortex and mechanical pre-filters? Because eliminating maintenance aspects is always a good thing. Or reducing the time for maintenance is a plus. Why do you have two bead filters? Are they in series or on completely independent loops?

It depends on what kind of system you want. I use the vortex filters to make the bead filter's job easier and more efficient because it doesn't get clogged up with the heavier gunk. I could remove the vortex but at a price. I wouldn't get the amount or quality of filtrating I want. The only other filters I use are the buckets on the pumps. The more filtration there is, the larger the fish load can be. I have the area they need to exercise so I want to match the filtering capacity to the load I want to keep. That's why I have 2 beads in series. The first bead is for bio and the second is for more bio and to polish. It also may be a bit for my ego. I find that the more filtration I have, the less time I have to spend maintaining it. So in my way, no I can't take anything out. That's just me.

[rainblood]

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[rainblood]

Did you add a seive and bead filter onto the RDF or did you replace the RDF?
Did it reduce or increase maintenance time?

No I took the RDF down completely. When RDFs work - they are the best...however when they don't - you want to fill in your pond. Theres really no in-between.
I initially went with the USIII only and clarity was complete ****. Once I couldn't stand it anymore I added a GCTek Alpha bead filter which improved clarity tremendously.

It takes about 5 minutes to hose down the sieve and backwash and blow the bead filter.

[Swamped]

Been using a cartridge filter with my sand gravel and bog filter. Crystal clear water with a weekly hose down. No clogging sand or losing beads

[coolwon]

No I took the RDF down completely. When RDFs work - they are the best...however when they don't - you want to fill in your pond. Theres really no in-between.
I initially went with the USIII only and clarity was complete ****. Once I couldn't stand it anymore I added a GCTek Alpha bead filter which improved clarity tremendously.

It takes about 5 minutes to hose down the sieve and backwash and blow the bead filter.

Very good advertising.

For a good make.

That was a good make!

Until?

What make is it, was it.?

Stainless or PVC?