Bio- filter questions

vamptrev

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Apr 23, 2007
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I've been using the bottom drain on my reactor once a week. And every week, I drain out a good gallon worth of crap.

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Then your design is flawed.

You have your air stones on the bottom of the reactor? Can your stones handle what the air pump can put out?collecting debris on the bottom dosnt make sense


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burbon44s

Candiru
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May 13, 2012
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Well, I mounted the air stones to an upside down garbage can lid with holes in it. The lid is on the bottom of the reactor.That way, debris has somewhere to go and stay out of my sump.

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DIDYSIS

Mantilla Stingray
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Feb 9, 2012
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Ya the idea of self cleaning media is that is cleans it self of everything which is super small and goes through the tank and is filtered out with your mechanical filtration depending how fine it is. 2 cubic feet is allot of media and can do great for most setups.

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vamptrev

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How is debris getting to the reactor? Isnt it getting filtered before? It would be better to just let the reactor push the debris back out by itself, let the pump push it back to the tank, and get filtered out. Having debris in the reactor is a bad idea. Your nitrates are going to grow higher and your k1 is gonna get dirty. The whole purpose of a reactor is its self cleaning


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burbon44s

Candiru
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May 13, 2012
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I've just got a sponge filter.
The real fine debris must be getting in from there.
I'm thinking as long as I drain dirt once or twice a week, it should be OK.
Bio reactor drains back into the sump.

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DB junkie

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All my designs must be "flawed" then cause there's dead bio in all of them. The point of a moving bed is to knock the dead bio off.

I have enough dead bio coming out of them I actually use socks AFTER the reactor.
 

burbon44s

Candiru
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May 13, 2012
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All my water parameters have been fine.
I just always thought that debris would be heavier and sink to the bottom of reactor.
Reactor outlet is gravity fed back to the sump, so most debris and dead bacteria should sink.

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vamptrev

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I would call it crap falling off your media not dead bio. You think your bio is growing so heavily and fast that it is falling off? That would suggest that you dont have enough surface area to keep up with the amount bacteria that is trying to grow? That seems impossible to me especially since you have a ton of media.

What filter socks are you guys using that isnt filtering this stuff out?


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burbon44s

Candiru
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May 13, 2012
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Crap has got to be getting through sponge filter.
All the media looks clean to me.

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DB junkie

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I would call it crap falling off your media not dead bio. You think your bio is growing so heavily and fast that it is falling off? That would suggest that you dont have enough surface area to keep up with the amount bacteria that is trying to grow? That seems impossible to me especially since you have a ton of media.

What filter socks are you guys using that isnt filtering this stuff out?
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Do you KNOW it's "crap" and not dead bio? I don't know how to tell the difference.

I use 200/100 micron socks from Mcmaster Carr, but I'll gladly throw them away and get whatever you have since they seem to suck so bad...... Just tell me what to get and where to get it.

Don't you use different media and less air then we are? Maybe there's something to that?

I'll be the first to admit I have no clue what I'm talking about, so I'm more then open to some "enlightenment" :naughty: I'm under the impression bio doesn't live long and when it dies I guess I just assumed it doesn't just disappear?
 
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