Baeya,
I am a newbie to this forum, so please pardon me for jumping in with "newbie" advice. What I have is only a suggestion, but it might be something for you to ponder (heh heh - no pun intended there).
For a bio-converter filter I have decided to try Kaldnes K3 bio-media. To make this media work, you must have four things present as I see it.
1] High water flow rate and 2] High aeration
Both of these serve to agitate the Kaldnes media. This media requires motion in the water to roll it over and over like elbow macaroni in a boiling pot of water. If you keep it moving, it works well.
3] Oxygen and 4] Ammonia.
The same bacteria (Nitrosomonas and Nitrobacter) require the oxygen just as most living organisms that we are used to do, but the Nitrosomonas bacteria needs the ammonia expelled from your fish as their food source and the Nitrobacter bacteria require the Nitrites which the Nitrosomonas bacteria give off or expel as waste for their food source.
The Nitrobacter bacteria expel nitrates as their waste product and your plant life in the pond (or a bog filter) will consume this. Although, the nitrates are safe for your fish, nitrates can also lead to that green murky water (algae growth). That's just fine for your fish, but you don't like it because you cannot see them - the fish - well.
This is the stuff I have read so far in my own research (you may already know about all of this). However, you may not be familiar yet with the Kaldnes bio-media.
You can research this yourself if you are inclined. After researching it myself, I see the advantages and disadvantages of it.
Advantage: It won't clog up and reduce your water flow through the filter. Sediments and other debris are continually "knocked off" the bio-media due to the rolling/boiling action.
Disadvantage: You need to provide a source of agitation (vigorous aeration or high water flow or both) in order to get the media rolling.
Kaldnes K3 media is about the diameter of a quarter. They are round discs about 1/4" thick and open in the center with a few "spokes" inside for the beneficial bacteria to grow upon. They are made from some plastic (not sure what).
When I first placed them in my bio-converter tank, they floated on top and would not do their thing. I read that it took a while for the bacteria to grow on them and that would weight them down enough so that they would roll in the water and not float so much near the top. This was misleading. It is not the bacteria that weights them down. The plastic that these Kaldness K3 bio-media discs are made from actually absorb water over time. It is their gained water weight that causes them to sink appropriately.
I placed 1.8 cubic feet of this media in a 55 gallon plastic barrel and agitated it with aeration from the outside perimeter of the barrel. The media follows the current of water which circulates from the bottom of the tank up and back down in a very nice fashion. It looks really great! I am sold on it!
It does exactly what the filter pads or scrubbies do in a Skippy filter, but the little discs keep moving around and therefore cannot get jammed up with sediments or dead bacteria or algae etc.
The Kaldnes bio-media was not originally designed for use in pond filters. That was not their intention. It was designed for treating waste water (sewage even). But, someone found out how well it worked and they have been marketing it for pond and even acquarium filtration systems. Search Google and You-Tube and you will find quite a few videos of the media in action.
I don't think this addresses your pH problem (at least not in any direct way), but you did question or state something about a bio-media system /filter. I thought that I would present what I have learned about it so far. I am highly impressed with it and glad I bought it. I do not have my entire system going yet, but have been testing each piece and part along the way.
I just want you to check it out and see if it is something that you could possibly use. Good luck on your issues.
Gordy
I am a newbie to this forum, so please pardon me for jumping in with "newbie" advice. What I have is only a suggestion, but it might be something for you to ponder (heh heh - no pun intended there).
For a bio-converter filter I have decided to try Kaldnes K3 bio-media. To make this media work, you must have four things present as I see it.
1] High water flow rate and 2] High aeration
Both of these serve to agitate the Kaldnes media. This media requires motion in the water to roll it over and over like elbow macaroni in a boiling pot of water. If you keep it moving, it works well.
3] Oxygen and 4] Ammonia.
The same bacteria (Nitrosomonas and Nitrobacter) require the oxygen just as most living organisms that we are used to do, but the Nitrosomonas bacteria needs the ammonia expelled from your fish as their food source and the Nitrobacter bacteria require the Nitrites which the Nitrosomonas bacteria give off or expel as waste for their food source.
The Nitrobacter bacteria expel nitrates as their waste product and your plant life in the pond (or a bog filter) will consume this. Although, the nitrates are safe for your fish, nitrates can also lead to that green murky water (algae growth). That's just fine for your fish, but you don't like it because you cannot see them - the fish - well.
This is the stuff I have read so far in my own research (you may already know about all of this). However, you may not be familiar yet with the Kaldnes bio-media.
You can research this yourself if you are inclined. After researching it myself, I see the advantages and disadvantages of it.
Advantage: It won't clog up and reduce your water flow through the filter. Sediments and other debris are continually "knocked off" the bio-media due to the rolling/boiling action.
Disadvantage: You need to provide a source of agitation (vigorous aeration or high water flow or both) in order to get the media rolling.
Kaldnes K3 media is about the diameter of a quarter. They are round discs about 1/4" thick and open in the center with a few "spokes" inside for the beneficial bacteria to grow upon. They are made from some plastic (not sure what).
When I first placed them in my bio-converter tank, they floated on top and would not do their thing. I read that it took a while for the bacteria to grow on them and that would weight them down enough so that they would roll in the water and not float so much near the top. This was misleading. It is not the bacteria that weights them down. The plastic that these Kaldness K3 bio-media discs are made from actually absorb water over time. It is their gained water weight that causes them to sink appropriately.
I placed 1.8 cubic feet of this media in a 55 gallon plastic barrel and agitated it with aeration from the outside perimeter of the barrel. The media follows the current of water which circulates from the bottom of the tank up and back down in a very nice fashion. It looks really great! I am sold on it!
It does exactly what the filter pads or scrubbies do in a Skippy filter, but the little discs keep moving around and therefore cannot get jammed up with sediments or dead bacteria or algae etc.
The Kaldnes bio-media was not originally designed for use in pond filters. That was not their intention. It was designed for treating waste water (sewage even). But, someone found out how well it worked and they have been marketing it for pond and even acquarium filtration systems. Search Google and You-Tube and you will find quite a few videos of the media in action.
I don't think this addresses your pH problem (at least not in any direct way), but you did question or state something about a bio-media system /filter. I thought that I would present what I have learned about it so far. I am highly impressed with it and glad I bought it. I do not have my entire system going yet, but have been testing each piece and part along the way.
I just want you to check it out and see if it is something that you could possibly use. Good luck on your issues.
Gordy
