JohnHuff
I know nothing.
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- Apr 17, 2012
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I read another intro thread and it's another new pond owner building Skippys. The only reason I can think of is that the Skippy website has been there forever, there are a lot of references to it and they're easy to build.
Some of the most vital things for beneficial bacteria to grow are flow and by extension, nutrients and oxygen. Since the media of a Skippy is static media that doesn't move, sooner or later they're gonna clog up. Therefore flow will decrease and ergo whatever nutrients and oxygen will decrease with the flow. There is a good reason that waste water treatment plants do not build giant Skippys to treat their waste water.
There are many methods to get nutrients/O2 to bacteria but one of the most fundamental ideas is that the media should be constantly moving so that the flow of nutrients/O2 won't get blocked. Therefore, static media is a no-no to me.
Once you've got moving media and access to nutrients, the next thing is O2. There are some schools of thought that most O2 exchange occurs at the surface but it's easy enough to increase O2.
These methods are:
1- air pump, cons to the home ponder is that you have to add another device.
but this problem is easily solved by making your filter a:
2- shower filter
3- have the incoming stream of water fall drop onto the surface causing aeration
Really, with all the information that is available on the internet, there is no reason not to having moving media in your home filter.
I apologize in advance if I come across as a pompous know it all (please say no when replying) but the advantages of moving media is so evident I feel that I must bring it up (again).
Some of the most vital things for beneficial bacteria to grow are flow and by extension, nutrients and oxygen. Since the media of a Skippy is static media that doesn't move, sooner or later they're gonna clog up. Therefore flow will decrease and ergo whatever nutrients and oxygen will decrease with the flow. There is a good reason that waste water treatment plants do not build giant Skippys to treat their waste water.
There are many methods to get nutrients/O2 to bacteria but one of the most fundamental ideas is that the media should be constantly moving so that the flow of nutrients/O2 won't get blocked. Therefore, static media is a no-no to me.
Once you've got moving media and access to nutrients, the next thing is O2. There are some schools of thought that most O2 exchange occurs at the surface but it's easy enough to increase O2.
These methods are:
1- air pump, cons to the home ponder is that you have to add another device.
but this problem is easily solved by making your filter a:
2- shower filter
3- have the incoming stream of water fall drop onto the surface causing aeration
Really, with all the information that is available on the internet, there is no reason not to having moving media in your home filter.
I apologize in advance if I come across as a pompous know it all (please say no when replying) but the advantages of moving media is so evident I feel that I must bring it up (again).