New filter design

[epond83]

Very cool! Not sure how your over flow works but your sump looks supper full, when the pump shuts off is there enough room in the sump for the extra water to flow down.

Also with a sump your water level changes in the return section and yours seems pretty small so depending on your amount of evaporation you might see a lot of fluctuation.

 

[B_IN_SD]

Thank You for doing such a good job documenting this build. We have all [ or at least the people that have been following this thread ] learned quite a bit on how to set up a K1 filter. The black abs piping is a nice touch.

I started cycling some K1 with a power head in a 10 gl. Does the noise of the K1 beating on the glass go down when you use air to fluidize the K1 ? I am waiting for a rebuild kit for my air pump to arrive.

 

[soul_assassin]

Great job. Have you tried placing the bubble strip underneath the 90* water output pipes on the right side to prevent that little section of k1 trapping? You could also point the 90* pipes towards the tank this way.

Either way, I think your K1 sump is working great.

Good luck on the stingray pups...

 

[joey02]

Very cool! Not sure how your over flow works but your sump looks supper full, when the pump shuts off is there enough room in the sump for the extra water to flow down.

Also with a sump your water level changes in the return section and yours seems pretty small so depending on your amount of evaporation you might see a lot of fluctuation.

The sump is pretty full. I have modified my overflow and returns so that very little water flows down to the sump when the power cuts out. Even though it doesnt look like i have a lot of extra room for that to happen, i actually have double what i need.

I get what your saying with the evaporation and the pump section. Already thought of that. I adjusted the standpipes that let the water flow to that area. Now, in order for the pump section to run dry, the entire sump has to run dry. All sections will run at the same levels for now on.

Thank You for doing such a good job documenting this build. We have all [ or at least the people that have been following this thread ] learned quite a bit on how to set up a K1 filter. The black abs piping is a nice touch.

I started cycling some K1 with a power head in a 10 gl. Does the noise of the K1 beating on the glass go down when you use air to fluidize the K1 ? I am waiting for a rebuild kit for my air pump to arrive.

Using a powerhead to fluidize the media does make it really noisy. Its basically smashing the K1 against the glass. Once you switch to the air pump, that noise goes away. I too tried using a pump and then powerheads , air is by far the best method. You dont have to fluidize it to cycle it. I cycled mine in a static state.

Great job. Have you tried placing the bubble strip underneath the 90* water output pipes on the right side to prevent that little section of k1 trapping? You could also point the 90* pipes towards the tank this way.

Either way, I think your K1 sump is working great.

Good luck on the stingray pups...

Thank you. The 90degree elbows are
already pointing to the right. I think thats what you meant by pointing them that way.. Im going to get some more supplies for the air. Not sure what im going to do yet. I think i may be lowering the drain pipes, so they are below the water line... then running air behind them. Then on the other side, where water enters, air behind there. Then one right down the middle. Thats all i need. Currently, all i have is what you see in the last vid. I'll have something set up soon. As soon as all of the K1 is cycled and i get my air set up, i wont see any of it floating or getting stuck anywhere.

 

[B_IN_SD]

Will you help me understand this a little here, Are you using all of your air pump's volume to fluidize the media if not what percent are you using ? Could you have gone smaller on the air pump ? Have you checked your dissolved oxygen level yet ? and last have you added all 100 liter of K1 to this filter ?

 

[joey02]

Will you help me understand this a little here, Are you using all of your air pump's volume to fluidize the media if not what percent are you using ? Could you have gone smaller on the air pump ? Have you checked your dissolved oxygen level yet ? and last have you added all 100 liter of K1 to this filter ?

No, i am not using all of my air from my pump yet on this filter yet. Probably around 75% of it though. I find i need around 1Lpm per liter of K1. My pump is rated at 90Lpm.

I could have gone with a smaller pump if i had stuck with just 50L of K1. I would then have needed a pump rated around 50Lpm.

I have not measured my dissolved oxygen levels yet.

I have not added all of my k1 to the filter at the time of the last video.

 

[joey02]

Miniature version:

[YT]ROkhHGIPwj4[/YT]

 

[Egon]

Interesting! I can't believe how simple that is. I might throw a couple of those in my sump.

 

[scott s]

Joey, do you really think that much K1 is needed? How do you "measure" the amount needed for a tank? You probably answered this on a previous page, just cant remember. Thanks.

 

[joey02]

Interesting! I can't believe how simple that is. I might throw a couple of those in my sump.

It really is that simple. I am uploading another video similar to to the miniature filter now. Using much more common media. You might enjoy that one as well.

Joey, do you really think that much K1 is needed? How do you "measure" the amount needed for a tank? You probably answered this on a previous page, just cant remember. Thanks.

Yup, answered this in post 10.

None the less, i'll answer it again and save you time.

Do i really think this much K1 is needed for my tank? not at the moment.

K1 kaldnes is rated at feeding rates. K1 rates 1L of media to be able to process 5 grams of feeding a day. 50L = 250 grams of feeding/waste.

Large farms and hatcherys have reported that it is actually able to handle double that amount.

A good rule of thumb is to figure out what percentage of body weight of your fish you feed. Then you can calculate how much K1 you need.

I feed about 2-3% of the fish's body weight. So i can have 27-40 pounds of fish per 50L of K1. If you dont know what your fish weigh, then calculate how much you feed in a day by weight of it.

But this is only based on feeding rates. Also needed to be considered is the size and type of fish. Large fish require a lot more 02. One by product of respiration is ammonia.
Some species of fish are bigger waste producers then others as will threw urinating as well.

I'm keeping stingrays in this tank, and they are massive ammonia producers. So i am not only considering feeding rates, but also other possible ways they will create ammonia.

So based on having 80-100 liters of K1, i am able to feed around 1-2 pounds of food a day(depending on who you listen to. Kaldnes, or reports from farms). Which more then i will ever feed this tank. I am currently feeding around a 150-200 grams of food a day. give or take. That means i have 2.5-5 times more media then needed. Lets say the reports from the farms are not true, and K1 can only handle 250grams of food a day per 50L of media. Then that means i have around 2.5 times the amount K1 i need to handle my current feeding rate.

So 80-100L of K1 accommodates my feeding with no problem. Im not sure if K1 ratings also consider other means of ammonia, but i doubt it does. So the extra K1 i have accommodates that. Even then, i still have too much... the extra K1, is going to accommodate growth of the fish as well. which means more feeding and more ammonia production. Having said this, i have enough K1 to support my fish for life, without having to add more K1.

Hope thats answers your question.