Moving Bed Biological filter

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To keep things interesting I tried to design the filter tanks for my pond so I could change things around and experiment a little. My "biological filter" tank originally had submerged "Jap mat", or Matala mat along with some Savio Springflo media in it, but I found this stuff accumulated algae and other debris, and although I only felt I had to clean it once a year at the end of the season, I decided to change the media to something more efficient and self-cleaning. I decided to go with a moving bed filter.
The idea of the moving bed filter is to provide a solid media like Kaldnes that the nitrifying bacteria can grow on, but because the media is always moving it makes it almost impossible for debris to accumulate on it so in essence it is self-cleaning.

This is a before picture.
full


This is an after video.
I took the underwater video to check and see how much of the Kaldnes media was sticking to the outlet pipes.

"Kaldnes Bio Filter Media suited to fluidized or moving bed tank systems. Kaldnes can support about 35 lbs of fish per 2 cubic feet of media, where fishes are fed 1.5% of their body weight per day. A safer measure is a maximum of 0.55 lb of food per 2 cubic feet used, in order to ensure the best possible water parameters are achieved.

How It Works

Kaldnes bio media provides the maximum active surface area for the bacteria to colonize, more than other types of static media. It is this process which removes harmful ammonia and nitrite from the water.

As the Kaldnes media moves within the filter, it causes the old dead bacteria on the outside to be displaced. This makes space for younger, heavier feeding bacteria to rapidly colonize. Within the wheel is a protected surface, which enables colonies of bacteria to naturally follow their life-cycle of maturing, dying and then fueling the latter stages of the nitrification cycle.

Unlike foam, matting, or other forms of static filtration media, the Kaldnes media is designed to move freely within your filter. The constant chaotic movement of the air causes the media to self-clean and thus requires no maintenance. This allows the filter to reach optimum effectiveness without the disturbance of periodic cleaning, avoiding unnecessary loss of bacteria within the filter."
 
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Looks great!
Did you also upgrade your mechanical filtration to capture this dislodged detritus?
Thanks
Didn't have to upgrade the mechanical filter. I've already been using a DIY quilt batting cartridge type filter which is located after the bio-filter tank. It works really well for capturing the fine stuff that gets past the vortex settling tank and the bio-filter tank. Although Ideally I think would have had that quilt batting filter even before bio-filter tank, but with my gravity feed system it just isn't possible because of the water level drop from tank to tank. But now, in this case, it probably makes more sense to have it after the bio-filter.
Interestingly the specs on the media say 2 cubic feet of that media can support 35 lbs of fish fed on a diet of about one lb of per day. I'm a long way from that, I'd be stretching it to say I had maybe 3 lbs of fish, so I should be good for a while. (y)
 

Meyer Jordan

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Thanks
Didn't have to upgrade the mechanical filter. I've already been using a DIY quilt batting cartridge type filter which is located after the bio-filter tank. It works really well for capturing the fine stuff that gets past the vortex settling tank and the bio-filter tank. Although Ideally I think would have had that quilt batting filter even before bio-filter tank, but with my gravity feed system it just isn't possible because of the water level drop from tank to tank. But now, in this case, it probably makes more sense to have it after the bio-filter.
Interestingly the specs on the media say 2 cubic feet of that media can support 35 lbs of fish fed on a diet of about one lb of per day. I'm a long way from that, I'd be stretching it to say I had maybe 3 lbs of fish, so I should be good for a while. (y)

Yes, you are on the safe side with this level of biofiltration. Kaldnes K-1 has a SSA of 500 m3 and Kaldnes Flat Chip has a SSA of 1200 m3. You must have the Kaldnes Flat Chip.
 
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Looks good. I just installed the Savio filter, so am hoping the springflo media, doesn't get too dirty!
What I found was that the top surface would accumulate sediment, much like it might accumulate dust in a dusty house. while the bottom side would always stay clean. So if you think about it, there was always 50% of it (the bottom side) would never accumulate any mulm "pond dust". It cleans easy, I would just reach in and shake it and most of the stuff would float away (although some would settle back on the springflo media again).
Also, I don't know why, but that Springflo material (strapping) never seemed to develop the slimy feel that other bio-media does, The slimy feel is caused by the layer of beneficial bacteria. Which led me to wonder if it's really how good a media it is for growing a biological bacteria colony on???
 
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What I found was that the top surface would accumulate sediment, much like it might accumulate dust in a dusty house. while the bottom side would always stay clean. So if you think about it, there was always 50% of it (the bottom side) would never accumulate any mulm "pond dust". It cleans easy, I would just reach in and shake it and most of the stuff would float away (although some would settle back on the springflo media again).
Also, I don't know why, but that Springflo material (strapping) never seemed to develop the slimy feel that other bio-media does, The slimy feel is caused by the layer of beneficial bacteria. Which led me to wonder if it's really how good a media it is for growing a biological bacteria colony on???

Immediately after I typed my post, our big cedar tree came down in 50 + mile an hour winds! It came down over the pond, smashing to smithereens, my Japanese Shower Filter, I just bought last summer. Winds are too high, to safely assess for more damage. I ran out and unplugged the pump to that filter.
 
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Oh No!
That is a bummer. Trees can be pretty unpredictable in strong winds, I hope the it dies down quickly and you don't find any more damage.
 

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