Hi . I have a problem with my K3 moving bed. It is set up in a sump and in the third chamber. Wish I could post a diagram but never seems to work on here. Basically the water enters the third chamber over the top of the baffle and exits from underneath into the fourth chamber. I found this the best set up for starting the initial movement of the K3 media which is then pushed on in movement by air stones. The trouble is that media that sinks end up getting sucked against the egg crate at the bottom of the exit into the fourth chamber. This ends up restricting flow in the sump and in turn means the level of water in the first chamber where all the main tank water enters rises to a uncomfortable level. I end up having to stir the media once a week or so to move it away from the egg crate. Do others find this problem or do you run your moving beds differently? 1 don't want to get rid of it because I think it is doing a really great job. Just wish the media would not end up getting sucked against the egg crate at the bottom of the chamber. I run five air stones along the length of this chamber to try and keep things moving but the sump is 2.5 feet wide and I struggle to keep the bed moving. Any thoughts would be appreciated thanks.
moving bed issues
- Thread starter jim barry
- Start date
Bigger air pump would be the first suggestion. Alternately, could you put an airstone right at the place where the K3 accumulates?
I was using a regular petstore air pump (the biggest they had) but it still wasn't enough. I upgraded to the Jehmco 20LPM pump with 2 12" airstones and it keeps my K3 moving without any issues.
I was using a regular petstore air pump (the biggest they had) but it still wasn't enough. I upgraded to the Jehmco 20LPM pump with 2 12" airstones and it keeps my K3 moving without any issues.
I have a big air pump 60LPM from memory but no help apart from obviously causing a lot of bubbles elsewhere in the bed. I have place the bubble disks in a length of rigid pipe to try and keep them all in a line at the exit point of the chamber. It helps nut a lot of the media still ends up getting sucked toward the egg crate partitioning. I wonder if I should use long type air stones instead of bubble disks??
Can you open up the partition (the exit point of the chamber) either by drilling a bunch of small holes or a cutting a big hole and covering it with egg crate? Seems like that would be a good way to reduce the vacuum power that is being created to pull down the media.
I don't have a hard partition, my chamber has only egg crate on each side and the water passes freely through it.
I don't have a hard partition, my chamber has only egg crate on each side and the water passes freely through it.
OK, one last suggestion then I'm out of ideas...
How about creating a full height egg crate partition about an inch or two in from the glass partition. It will make your chamber slightly smaller but will reduce the vacuum effect that's pulling the media down and blocking the flow.
How about creating a full height egg crate partition about an inch or two in from the glass partition. It will make your chamber slightly smaller but will reduce the vacuum effect that's pulling the media down and blocking the flow.
Hi dxdx, just thought i would feed back to you following our conversations. I tried the egg crate and could not get a full hieght sheet into my sump as there was not enough head room. So i made up a box from egg crate around 6"x4" that covers the whole width of the tank. This now covers the exit point at the bottom of the K3 chamber. It was difficult to get it into place and had to shut the whole tank down to do it, but it appears to have worked. The media is moving better and does not get sucked against the exit of the chamber. The water level in the firt entry point of the sump has only dropped about a centimeter but i am happier with this than before the change. Thanks very much for bouncing ideas around with me. It was very helpfull
