Has anyone tried to hook up a Tetra bio-active pressure filter?

[lillysbaba]

I have had my hands in pond water for thirty years now; our first pond was 450 gallons and when we moved we put in a 2000 gallon 5X17 ft pond (size due to limited yard space). I have a Ultima II bead filter with a sequence pump and priming pot which I installed myself 10 years ago. It works great. Two or three years ago we installed a bog filter with a waterfall and many plants. My husband and I made the filter box out of concrete and if anyone wants to know how not to do a bog filter we can certainly help! It works great now is all I can say about that. In addition we have a small submerged filter box with a 1200 gph pump that goes to the UV light. We have six very large koi and three babies from last year (yech, spawning with big fish makes a big mess!) In the past we have split the intake to the bog filter so that half of the suction goes to a freestanding Oase skimmer. The skimmer is great for removing surface stuff, but inevitably something would cause the skimmer to float up causing the pump to cavitate disturbing the bog filter as well. We removed the skimmer over the winter but it was quickly evident that it did a good job so we bought another pump to run the skimmer routing the water through a Tetra Bio-active pressure filter.In the description it states that 1 1/2" ID hose is needed and based on that we ordered 50 feet of hose and a pump that would accommodate 1 1/2" hose. Now I am ready to do the hook up and I see that the threaded outlets are 1 1/4" not 1 1/2". If I had known that I would have gladly used 1 1/4" hose but it clearly states in the literature and on the filter itself that 1 1/2" hose should be used. In addition, the female connectors that attach to the threaded outlet have a barb that accommodates a 1 1/4" hose not a 1 1/2" hose. I found adapters that will take the 1 1/4" thread to a 1 1/2" barb but they do not screw on to the 1 1/4" outlet. The threads appear to be the same width but the tetra threads are quite rough. When I called Tetra they said that they would bring it up with the engineers (big help to me!). I was also told that no one else had called to report difficulties; that's also extremely helpful! In addition to that, the basic design of the connectors is flawed: at some point the lid to the filter will have to be removed which will mean that the hoses will have to be disconnected. If the screw on connector is not a swivel the hose will be extremely difficult to remove from the barb. I guess no one thought of that during the design phase.
One way to make this work is to use 1 1/4" hose but the instructions clearly state that 1/12" hose be used and I will be stuck with the cost of the hose I have as well as purchasing 50 more feet of hose.
Has anyone had this issue with this filter?
Sorry this is so long but wanted to provide as much info as possible.

 

[sissy]

not sure you want to use what I do ,but you can use sump pump hose .I have had the same hose on my pond for over 7 years now 10 dollars for 20 ft .Got mine at lowes it comes in 1 1/4 and 1 1/2 inch .You do have to cut and attach it at the smooth spots and not the ribbed part

 

[Meyer Jordan]

! 1/4 inch tubing is OK for this filter based on what tetra states in the product instructions.

http://cdn.spectrumbrands.com/~/med...omy/Manuals/BioActivePressureFilterGuide.ashx

 

[Dave 54]

! 1/4 inch tubing is OK for this filter based on what tetra states in the product instructions.
View attachment 88991
http://cdn.spectrumbrands.com/~/med...omy/Manuals/BioActivePressureFilterGuide.ashx

I totally agree with Meyers statement as nearly if not all filters UV-C's nowadays have these multi adaptors all you need do is select the right one and saw the other off .
Then connect your hose up to it , what hose are you planning to use ?

Dave

 

[lillysbaba]

I totally agree with Meyers statement as nearly if not all filters UV-C's nowadays have these multi adaptors all you need do is select the right one and saw the other off .
Then connect your hose up to it , what hose are you planning to use ?

Dave

Hi Dave,
It should be that simple, shouldn't it? Based on the Tetra booklet in the box that came with the filter, I purchased 1 1/2" hose but the hose is too big for the largest hose connector on the filter. The largest is 1 1/4". Needless to say, I am really annoyed because 50 ft of 1 1/2" hose is a large expense. I won't be purchasing any more Tetra products in the future!

 

[sissy]

you can buy different adapters from tetra ,or better yet tell them and they may send you one free .I bought a laguna pump and one of my adapters would not stay on the pump .I e-mailed them and 4 days later I got a new one in the mail

 

[lillysbaba]

you can buy different adapters from tetra ,or better yet tell them and they may send you one free .I bought a laguna pump and one of my adapters would not stay on the pump .I e-mailed them and 4 days later I got a new one in the mail

Hi Sissy,
I talked to two different people at Tetra and they were completely no help at all. One of the responses I got was "no one has ever called about this problem before", as though maybe I had no clue about what I was doing and the other was from a woman who basically told me that if you are a woman they think that you don't know what you are talking about. I will figure something out (have plumbed multiple pond filtration systems by myself) but am greatly disappointed with the lack of support from them. I have scratched them off of my list of companies that I buy from. Will post my solution when installation is complete.

 

[sissy]

ask them if you can e-mail a pic of how it is fitting together

 

[Dave 54]

Hi Sissy,
I talked to two different people at Tetra and they were completely no help at all. One of the responses I got was "no one has ever called about this problem before", as though maybe I had no clue about what I was doing and the other was from a woman who basically told me that if you are a woman they think that you don't know what you are talking about. I will figure something out (have plumbed multiple pond filtration systems by myself) but am greatly disappointed with the lack of support from them. I have scratched them off of my list of companies that I buy from. Will post my solution when installation is complete.

You dont have to buy tetra pipework @lillysbaba just something that is a near match thats all.
If I recall we had a similar problem with one of the external tetra filters we once owned [the 13,000 and got around it by purchasing a cheaper pipework that was acctually the right size to that of tetras miss-fitting pipework .


Dave

 

[sissy]

I found that sump pump hose is soft enough at the smooth ends to fit my pumps with ease .Doesn't cost much and lasts forever .I have even stepped on it before when I was rebuilding the pond and it popped right back to shape .I abused it badly when I was rebuilding the pond and it was already quite a few years old .Sorry I always repeat this but I am cheap and when I find something is cheap and it works I like to let people know .The only thing I found it is getting harder and harder to find stainless steel clamps that have the stainless steel screws in them .Seems alot of them don't use stainless steel screws .The only ones I can find that are good are the ones at lowes .The ones at home depot say stainless steel but the screws rust after a month .I know with my laguna pumps this hose fits the best and I have a couple of tetra pumps and it fits them also .I also have garden treasures filter tanks with UV's built in and it fits them also

 

[morewater]

Your hose problem has been addressed by others. The one thing about the Tetra pressure filter I can't stand is the actual media that they use. Get rid of it and replace it with BioBalls. The Tetra media becomes very brittle over time and starts to break up, creating a mess that will actually find a way out of the filter and into the pond.

 

[lillysbaba]

Your hose problem has been addressed by others. The one thing about the Tetra pressure filter I can't stand is the actual media that they use. Get rid of it and replace it with BioBalls. The Tetra media becomes very brittle over time and starts to break up, creating a mess that will actually find a way out of the filter and into the pond.

Thanks for that recommendation; it's interesting that Tetra reps say that they have not had complaints.
Went to hook up the system today and guess what, they didn't include the gasket so I still can't run my skimmer! Can't wait to get my rebate, then I will blast them on every site I can think of. Poorly designed sub-standard products. I will stay away from them.