k1 kaldness

[shookONES]

1g of media per 100g of aquarium volume is standard. Also keep in mind, the ratio of water/media is also important. You want to have roughly 60-70% media in your given chamber.

PS Amazon has K1 and K3 on sale for about half what it would normally cost.

 

[Jesseliu13]

1g of media per 100g of aquarium volume is standard. Also keep in mind, the ratio of water/media is also important. You want to have roughly 60-70% media in your given chamber.

PS Amazon has K1 and K3 on sale for about half what it would normally cost.

i paid about 75-80 for 2 cubic feet mike for k1. thats about 54 liters.

 

[Charney]

i paid about 75-80 for 2 cubic feet mike for k1. thats about 54 liters.

where did you get it from?

 

[Jesseliu13]

i got it from ebay. amazon has the same deal from the same person pretty much. i am skeptical it is true k1 though. could be knock off. i have 54 liters in my tank now. looks similar/legit but it doesnt really matter. all filter media is a surface for bacteria to grow on. you could throw a bunch of bottle caps and let them tumble around and it would be the same, just not as efficient.

 

[Jesseliu13]

ok so i just set up my moving bed filter. couple things that seem to be problematic with my sump...
1. either i have too much media or not enough bacteria. the k1 just floats to the top and overflows out of the chamber into the input chamber and output chamber. could be because they have no bacteria and just float too much, they float much higher than expected even with large volume.
2. i took out about a 5 gallons bucket worth and caused more of a mess! the media then skyrocketed upwards and fell into the other chambers.
3. 1 liter of air per 1 liter of k1 as uarujoey said is definitely not enough. or maybe that its because my media again isnt cycled but shouldnt be an issue like presented. i have a air pump rated up to 110 gallons. though it was like worth 9 dollars. i believe its called millenium air pump or something.
4. waterflow is a bit strong for my sump in a 55 gallon aquarium. my sump is a 55 gallon aquarium aproximately 40 gallons worth of k1 chamber space. approximately 4 cubic feet minus the 5 gallon buckets worth. my sump has over 1100x4 worth of flow IN the sump from the drilled 7/16 holes in the acrylic baffle. so flow THROUGH the sump isnt an issue. BUT i have approximately 580 gph give or take from the PVC overflow i made with 1.25 pvc.. it causes much of the filter media to shift into 1 direction causing a clump up towards the output side of my sump.
5. the air lines i am using are flexible ones made from china (not that the country of origin matters). it was like 1 dollar each 12 inches from one end to the other end of the sump. the issue is that the flexible air line is extremely porus, meaning the bubbles coming out the air line is very smalle and plentiful. BUT from what i can see i believe it reduces the strength of the bubbles pushing the media. so i may just make my own airline from pvc or find a new alternative to male larger bubbles.
but could be also related to problem 3.

Theoretical solution? -

larger air pump. i am probably going to buy a whisper 300 to increase air flow.

Mesh net - to cover the media chamber preventing media from falling out the chamber into the intake and output chambers or out of the sump.

acrylic cover to reduce the humidity from accumilating and destroying my basement while reducing water level in tank.


The BD will just have to make due with more water changes and the single fx6 for now.

 

[Jesseliu13]

i changed my mind. i looked at the tetra whisper 300. only does about 2.9 liters per minute. and the "rated for 110 gallons" is very mis leading. it probably only does about 0.6 liters per minute. so i bit the bullet, killed my wallet, and bought a alita av40 pump. rated at 50 liters per minute. about 145. also bought 2.2 lbs of hikari massivore for the new ray. from kens fish. there does my rent.

 

[shookONES]

K1 will float for a good while. You typically want to add it to your sump in stages rather than all at once. Also, your air pump is way too small. Rather than waste your money on a whisper, look into the larger diaphragm pumps from Jehmco. That's what a lot of us use and have no issues.

 

[shookONES]

...take a pic of your sump so we can physically see what's going on.

 

[predatorkeeper87]

i changed my mind. i looked at the tetra whisper 300. only does about 2.9 liters per minute. and the "rated for 110 gallons" is very mis leading. it probably only does about 0.6 liters per minute. so i bit the bullet, killed my wallet, and bought a alita av40 pump. rated at 50 liters per minute. about 145. also bought 2.2 lbs of hikari massivore for the new ray. from kens fish. there does my rent.

youre a fish keeper, rent comes second to maintenance and stock.

 

[rodger]

Jessilu, it just sounds like an improperly designed MB. You should have some sort of screen that prevents the media from moving from one chamber to another.