New project, will take a long time

[Yanbbrox]

As soon as you get a pump that will remove enough water at a rate that will allow gravity to work then T might see why it's called a gravity system...

When you first pulled open that valve, was the water flowing fast enough to move the K1 around, till it reached equilibrium?

No, the first chamber rushes through like mad but then once the others start to fill everything slows down, theres no movement in 3 at any time

If you get a "powerhead" pump in there to spin/perculate the media and you might be able to remove the air pumped into that vortex, you might also be able to ommit that basket as well...
Then maybe put a strainer on the intake pipe of the bigger pump??

Just throwing out some ideas...

Thanks for the ideas Zen, the more the better

Do you have the air under it yet? Does the k1 need to spin or just stay fluidized as the air bounces it around? I have read running you want just enough air pushing past to keep it moving, and also that it will fluidize a little better as the biofilm covers it. I don't have have any first hand experience with it though.

Also think about sizing your larger pump to your first vortex which is your SC, too much flow and the solids may not settle. I have read rough guideline is 10x turnover for a round SC.

No there is no air under it yet but I think that has got to be the answer. Spinning will help push the older bacteria to the side and then fall, but your right as long as it moves then that won't matter too much. Annoyingly the pump I've got at the moment runs the system just fine, you can actually see heavy solids falling to the bottom of the SC

i see you are going through another hurdle... and i am here to tell you..you will jump through this hoop too.. do not dispair..

I see project re-motivator has rejoined this little discussion, thanks Liz

You might want to lay off the popcorn, you'll be 2 fat to type anything by the time I'm done

Sorry guys, I've been a bit down on this whole project the last day or so plus today it's rained non stop and I've not done anything on it when there is still so much do. Next weekend I'm going to try and get the flagging down then it's done, plus flagging never leaks

 

[Yanbbrox]

[yt]<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/ZUGDqx_5vrg&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/ZUGDqx_5vrg&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>[/yt]

 

[Yanbbrox]

[yt]<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/50t8pYDO4UQ&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/50t8pYDO4UQ&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>[/yt]

 

[Yanbbrox]

[yt]<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/nC2OqJwkcy0&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/nC2OqJwkcy0&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>[/yt]

 

[zennzzo]

Sometimes it's good to step back and take a look at it differently...
Weekend will be here soon enough...

 

[Yanbbrox]

Sometimes it's good to step back and take a look at it differently...
Weekend will be here soon enough...

Good advise, Mrs Y said the same thing

 

[mrunlucky07]

Annoyingly the pump I've got at the moment runs the system just fine,

If thats the case I would hold off on buying a pump until you are really sure your final plans. If you still plan on adding a skimmer down the road you can get a large pump for that to keep as much physical debris out of the BD system as possible. Let the BD take care of bio, and the skimmer for high turnover mechanical.

How about trying teeing your current air pump and running half the air to the k1? You could just make a temp ring diffuser by poking a bunch of holes in a hose. I have wondered if one of those "soaker" irrigation hoses may even work as a diffuser since it is already full of tiny holes. Not sure if they have any fungicide in them though. I would just give the air a try before investing in a new pump.

 

[Yanbbrox]

If thats the case I would hold off on buying a pump until you are really sure your final plans. If you still plan on adding a skimmer down the road you can get a large pump for that to keep as much physical debris out of the BD system as possible. Let the BD take care of bio, and the skimmer for high turnover mechanical.

How about trying teeing your current air pump and running half the air to the k1? You could just make a temp ring diffuser by poking a bunch of holes in a hose. I have wondered if one of those "soaker" irrigation hoses may even work as a diffuser since it is already full of tiny holes. Not sure if they have any fungicide in them though. I would just give the air a try before investing in a new pump.

I did think about running the air pump via a T the only downside with doing it would be I'd need to valves to control the air flow. The plan for the weekend is just to run the air pump into 3 and see what happens, if there is a ton of movement then the T is the way to go for now.

The skimmer is something I need to be looking into now just for the future and to see how a retro fit can be done.

Thanks for the input

 

[Loulou]

Man, this is progressing a lot

 

[zennzzo]

Man, this is progressing a lot

It's been slow the last coupkle of days too...