Trickle Tower Filter Pump

[dieselplower]

I don't feed trolls. Sorry.

In two posts in this thread you said my advice to prefilter the water was "out of left field", "makes no sense", and advised another member to beware of my advice.
I then provided a source that did suggest prefiltering (the very first article I read. Sure I could find more) and another member provided a video showing why prefiltering is important.
If you are going to insult me and be proven wrong twice and then call reply with nothing to defend your opinion but rather call me a troll, I would guess you now realize prefiltering is a good idea? You should just man up and admit it.

 

[Waterbug]

Bio-film is actually quite sticky and this adhesion is strong enough for troubles to happen. The low flow rate of a trickle tower is not sufficient to knock off these fine particulates that attach to the TT medium. The video below visually demonstrates this fact.

Yes. Here's the pic you've seen me post more than a few times.

I wouldn't call bio film sticky, especially in water, but certainly bits of stuff can get stuck in there.

So lets say a mechanical filter should be used before the TT. What size particle would we need to keep out of the TT. 50 micron? 100 micron? 200 micron? We'd certainly be talking about some state of the art rig. And even those don't remove 100% of all particles. Lots get thru. I mean we're not talking RO I hope. So there would still be a lot of particles flowing over the TT, it would still clog...if that was possible, maybe in 6 months instead of a week? But there were tons of top end Koi keepers running these for several years and never cleaning them or using any super duper mechanical filters.

It just doesn't make any kind of physical sense.

Now yes, if a person has a super mechanical filter then sure, why not put the TT after it. And who knows, given certain water conditions it might even perform a little better (if that extra bit was needed) Certainly doesn't hurt anything. But it sure isn't required.

And then you have the reality of two kinds of ponds. If a pond keeper has a high end mechanical filter I'm going to guess they're not going to choose a TT for bio. Not today. They're going for a shower. On the other end we have people with a pump and no filter whatsoever. For them a TT is still a great choice. Nothing else is needed and the filter never has to be cleaned. Suggesting they have to install a really good mechanical filter for the TT to work makes no sense to me. I mean we're not even in the ballpark, This isn't even close enough to consider.

TT were the first almost never-have-to-clean bio filter for ponds. It was their main plus. They converted ammonia 24/7 and didn't drop off like bead filters did.

I didn't have time to read the rest.

But by all means keep talking people out of TTs or tell them they need a filter system before the TT that's bigger than their pond. If you can do that I say it serves them right for not doing any research for themselves.

 

[Priscilla]

I don't know what you mean by platys? Plants? I like TTs but wouldn't have any effect on string algae.

Platys are tiny (about 1 inch fully grown) red fish with black tails, they have been multiplying by the hundreds in the pond. I need to get rid of some.

 

[Priscilla]

Thanks for all the advice guys.

I suppose this is going to open up the argument even more, BUT what is the difference between shower and trickle? Is it just the flow rate of the water?

This is something I am going to build while my 2 yo naps and no doubt my 5 yo son will help. Its not going to be top of the line, I just need a little extra help because the platys (guppy like fish) are busy having babies.

Charles asked about plumbing, haha! I'm going to put a pump in the pond and run a tube (pond tubing - whatever its called) to the trickle/shower tower. I would imagine this is going to come out as a hybrid of the two.

I hope as long as pond water runs down over some lava rocks that are stacked on something that allows air to flow around it, I am good.

 

[crsublette]

blah blah blah

Keeping this short for other's wishes since they're right, you're not worth the effort nor the effort in finding the specific article by the American Society for Microbiology that clarifies the issue...

Suffices it to say... Research is a good thing and research tells me you are blowing smoke... Below hyperlink's prove it...

Trickling Filter - Wikipedia
Trickling Filter - Akvopedia
Garrck J.S. Thorn thesis of Development of an Immobolized Nitrosomonas europaea Bioreactor for the Production of Methanol from Methane (the source of WB's illustration)
Filtration and reuse of water in fish farming
Asm.org freshwater filtration sticky adhesive biofilm - "much of microbial life exists in biofilms, whose residents are embedded in a sticky matrix of secreted polymers."

 

[crsublette]

Thanks for all the advice guys.

I suppose this is going to open up the argument even more, BUT what is the difference between shower and trickle? Is it just the flow rate of the water?

This is something I am going to build while my 2 yo naps and no doubt my 5 yo son will help. Its not going to be top of the line, I just need a little extra help because the platys (guppy like fish) are busy having babies.

Charles asked about plumbing, haha! I'm going to put a pump in the pond and run a tube (pond tubing - whatever its called) to the trickle/shower tower. I would imagine this is going to come out as a hybrid of the two.

I hope as long as pond water runs down over some lava rocks that are stacked on something that allows air to flow around it, I am good.

If you are using a submersible pump, then a very simple filter sock will be perfect. If you find the right material with large enough holes that will not clog, make a bag out of this material, put a little chopped up foam pads in the bag, then put your submersible pump in the bag. Here is a simple pre-filter that I built for my submersible pump back when I first started my pond; it works greats and absolutely never clogged once and not even when it was matted with leaves.


A shower tower is a high flow rated wet/dry filter and can be quite noisy sometimes like a high waterfall. The Birdman New Test tank gives a good picture of one particular style of a shower filter.

A trickle tower (TT) is a low flow rated wet/dry filter and is like the sound of a gentle creek. Your video does an excellent job of demonstrating a trickle tower.


Shower tower is a better bio-filter simply due to the fact of the high flow rate, except everyone does not need this. If you have a high stock density pond or tank, then a shower tower would be good for you.

Trickle tower is for more average to low fish stock density ponds and for quarantine tanks. When built quite large, a TT can handle bio-filtering a high stock density pond.