I need more AIR!!! K1 Fluidized bed

[M3AN ONE]

So I have 6 cubic feet of k1 or 170 liters. I purchased a active aqua 4 port and its not even putting a dent in the 3 cubic feet I put in the sump 85L. I see from other threads it should be 1 liter of air to 1 liter of media. If thats correct I need a 170 L pump which seems excessive. Any recommendations on the pump size i would need. I am trying to have the quietest one possible for the size. I have to 8 inch disk in the sump and 2 air stones one 16 inches and the other 21 on the edges. As a secondary flow source there will be the return of a Ultima 2 2000 flowing 2500 GPH into the same chamber and 2 2 inch drains from the main tank. But the end of the drain will have a filter socks which will minimize flow. I was thinking of using elbos to point the to certain areas in the sump. If there was no filter socks I wouldnt even need a air bubbler.

 

[M3AN ONE]

Picture is of sump chamber only half full with k1 3 of the 6 cubic feet

 

[M3AN ONE]

Ended up going with this its 80 wats which is less than Ideal but it puts me at 80 Liters per minute and I have 160 Liters of K1 so we will see if its enough. Half of the recommended rate but it seems based on the reviews like a strong pump.

 

[malawi500]

Why not just use powerheads?

 

[M3AN ONE]

I thought air pumps were more affective with k1

 

[M3AN ONE]

now there is way more air but still not moving k1 I guess its because its too new. Just bought fish safe ammonia to begin cycling tank

 

[kendragon]

You may have too much media packed in there. There is no room for them to shift around. K1 is a floating media so applying more air when it's already floating does help much in tumbling it. However, the whole principle of the biological media is to expose the media surface with air. Though your media doesn't move it is okay since the air is finding it way to the surface and give the media below air as it travels up.

Sinking media with air pumped below will give a better tumbling effect.
Floating media will move better with water from above pushing it downwards.

I packed my Nexus filter with K1, K2, K3 and K1 micro. Media does not move but works beautifully.