Ultima II pond filters

[Charney]

Hi All
I have a nice size fish room that i am looking to upgrade soon. Currently I have a lot of sumps and DIY setups. Ideally want to upgrade to a few Ultima filters
Few questions for those of you that have them.
how do you size them appropriately?
Do you stay within their max flow rate?
Do you use the ultima media?
What pump are you using? I prefer DC pumps but open to anything
Is the ultima alone enough for your setups?
Thank you

 

[pacu mom]

While my big tank set up isn't close to being completed (longest big tank upgrade in the history of fish forums), I'll share with you what I have read about them (mainly on MFK).

One member with a 1700 DIY tank regretted not having a drain close by for backwashing his Ultimas. Other members have complained about particulates in the water and needing to resort to additional mechanical filtration. I can't help but wonder if their tanks are overstocked. Another member warned about a lot of water needed to thoroughly backwash Ultimas. The tank will have to be stocked so a lot of water can be drained during backwashing, i.e., not full of fish from the floor to the top.

That said, what I have read about Ultimas sounds exceptionally good, and I plan on using two Ultima II 4,000s on my big tank for primary biological filtration. Each Ultima comes with a recommended flow rate, so you can select a pump with a matching flow rate. I have very limited experience with pumps with my only experience being with a Reeflo Hammerhead pump which has been running continuously 24/7 for over 17 years. Made me a believer in Reeflo pumps. Will be running Reeflo Barracuda Gold pumps with the Ultima II 4,000s, and will have 120W UV sterilizers on the return ends (also matches the recommended flow rate of the UV sterilizers.)

If you go with Ultimas, you might consider using an In-line sight glass to view the backwash as it is discharged.

Valves VariFlo® Sand Filter Control Valves, In-line Sight Glasses

Hayward’s VariFlo® XL multiport control valves, engineered for maximum flow at lower pressure drops are the professional’s choice in multiport valves.

hayward.com

Ultima bio-mechanical media is unique. I wouldn't consider any other media to use with an Ultima.

Filters

Aqua Ultraviolet’s Ultima II pond filter is an advanced bio-mechanical filter designed specifically for extreme loads and elevated rates. It features our patented cyclonic backwash system that will do all the dirty work for you – just set the value to backwash and rinse, and the filter’s...

aquaultraviolet.com

Hope this helps.

 

[M3AN ONE]

Very helpful

 

[LukeOscar]

one thing to keep in mind with the giant canisters is the pressure. they will have the pump loaded down like its pumping at 15ft head pressure at all times. when looking into it myself i found that the pump requirements were to great for my setup. so i went with a huge sump instead.

 

[pacu mom]

Here's a thread on backwashing

Ultima Filter Backwashing

Good Evening all. Looking for some feedback/opinions on filtration. As some of you may know I’m in the process of building a 900 gallon plywood aquarium. Plan to filter with a sump and an Ultima II. Aquarium will also have a continuos drip. That said who has experience with the backwashing...

www.monsterfishkeepers.com

 

[johnny potatoes]

I had one an Ultima 1000 on a 450. I also had a sump for the heaters, extra media and filter socks. You will need the filter socks. The backwash feature is priceless. I could dump 250 gallons in 10 minutes very usefull for the large water changes necessary on these bug tanks. I ran the drain through the wall and would flood the yard with the water. Also I used the same model pump on the sump. You can plumb it with crossover pipes from the Ultima to the sump separated by valves. This way if you loose a pump you can run both systems off one pump. I wouldn't set up a big tank without one.
Good luck

 

[M3AN ONE]

I had one an Ultima 1000 on a 450. I also had a sump for the heaters, extra media and filter socks. You will need the filter socks. The backwash feature is priceless. I could dump 250 gallons in 10 minutes very usefull for the large water changes necessary on these bug tanks. I ran the drain through the wall and would flood the yard with the water. Also I used the same model pump on the sump. You can plumb it with crossover pipes from the Ultima to the sump separated by valves. This way if you loose a pump you can run both systems off one pump. I wouldn't set up a big tank without one.
Good luck

What pump did you use for the ultima im looking for something quiet. Was thinking Syncra SDC 9.0 wifi for a ultima 2 2000

Syncra SDC 9.0 WiFi Controllable Pump (1000-2500 GPH)

New Generation of Controllable SDC Sicce Syncra Pumps Sicce pumps are used worldwide and have always been known for producing high-quality pumps. Now Sicce has introduced the SDC line of pumps that incorporate their quality standards into a DC powered pump. Control the pump through the included...

www.bulkreefsupply.com

 

[johnny potatoes]

What pump did you use for the ultima im looking for something quiet. Was thinking Syncra SDC 9.0 wifi for a ultima 2 2000

Syncra SDC 9.0 WiFi Controllable Pump (1000-2500 GPH)

New Generation of Controllable SDC Sicce Syncra Pumps Sicce pumps are used worldwide and have always been known for producing high-quality pumps. Now Sicce has introduced the SDC line of pumps that incorporate their quality standards into a DC powered pump. Control the pump through the included...

www.bulkreefsupply.com

I used the reeflo, not sure of the model though. If your interested I will give you a deal on it. Thanks

 

[DThompson]

I have an Ultima II 2000 on my large tank. I also have a sump under the tank for redundancy, but I think It could run on just the Ultima alone. I've found that if the pump is pushing to much water through the filter, it pushes waste back into the display tank. I think that's what pacu mom is referring to. I have a ball valve on the outlet side of the filter that I close slightly to slow down the flow and it keeps waste from re-entering the display tank.

I currently run my filter on a Reeflo Dart/Snapper, and it pushes to much water through the filter (that's why I have the ball valve on the outlet). I recently purchased a used Red Dragon 3 (DC 100w version) to hopefully cut down on energy cost and noise. The Red Dragon should push approximately the same GPH of water, so hopefully it works.

I bought my Ultima and Reeflo pumps used about 3 years ago. Not sure how old they were already, but I'd say they're probably 10 years old now. As others have stated, the backwash feature is priceless for doing water changes. I have a 50' soft hose that I roll out either into the yard or the nearest bathtub that I connect to the filter when I need to clean it out. Takes about 10 minutes to drain 200ish gallons of water.

My only complaint with the Ultima is that it doesn't always seal correctly when I change it from backflow to filter to rinse. This could be because it's old/well used and it could be because my inlet hole in the aquarium is about 8" off the bottom of the tank, so it sucks in some sand every once and a while. So I think there's sand trapped in the filter gasket, not allowing it to seal completely sometimes.

I just purchased a gasket replacement and new media for the filter. I plan to replace that in the next couple months and I'll put updates on my thread for that process. The reason why I'm changing filter media is because I don't even know what's in there right now. I bought it used and I could feel/hear media in the filter when I was hauling it around but was to nervous to open it up, thinking I'd screw something up at the time.