k1

[cichlidwife]

hey ya guys... thinking going K1...... pros and cons please

mike

[Syndicate]

Need a larger air pump unless using a LP will be a bit louder due to the bubbling

Other then that it's the best media money can buy at this point in the hobby

[JayPee]

I love mine. I was running it in the old system.

Then straight into the big tank sump it went.

My K1 tank is spotless clean as even the bottom.

So no build up of gunk.

If you don't seal off their section properly it will get out and flow with the water.

[Donny@ageofaquariums]

Yea I rate it highly, even better if you have it in a nexus!

[adriancorrea]

What about in a sump????

Im running some in a plastic water bottle that I have attached to the outlet of my sponge filter, Works well

Cheers

Adrian

[Tomartin]

Hey guys, I don't wanna sound noob, but what is K1? I also see it referring to frontosa and other cichlids? heh

[th3f0rg0t3n]

Hey guys, I don't wanna sound noob, but what is K1? I also see it referring to frontosa and other cichlids? heh

think you might see the term F1 in reference to frontosa / other africans,

K1 is a filter media,

[Tomartin]

[MENTION=6988]th3f0rg0t3n[/MENTION] - Yes you're right, I was referring the F1, I shall ask Finn to avoid steering this thread from it's intended purpose haha

[adriancorrea]

What does K1 do?

does it clear the water or act like a filter media?

Cheers

Adrian

[Donny@ageofaquariums]

Its a filter media.

Basically bits of plastic to grow biofilms on.

They are nuetrally boyant though, so can be tumbled in water to keep the biofilms fresh and vigorous.

[DanesFish]

So are they floating black pastic bio balls..? That tend to interlock.

[ozmo]

hey ya guys... thinking going K1...... pros and cons please

mike

The only downside I find is the need/want for more. It's a bit like using Macropore or Purigen. You just can't get enough.

[ozmo]

So are they floating black pastic bio balls..? That tend to interlock.

Not black. They are white, initially, until they become seeded at which point the turn off-white and sometimes green-ish depending on the amount of light they receive.

[DFishkeeper]

Here you go guys, straight from the manufacturers mouth :

Koi Pond Filters | Buy K1 / K3 | Evolution Aqua Ltd

Cheers, Doug

[adriancorrea]

Thanks for that Doug

Interesting reading there

Cheers

Adrian

[steve6610]

just a question for the guys who run K1 in there sumps, do you use other media, like noodles, bio balls, or just K1 and jap mat or dacron,

[th3f0rg0t3n]

generally use all media's with the K1,

a section divided in the sump for the K1 to tumbled/churn around and get good movement like donny said keeps the bio film down

so other sections of the sump are as normal with other media's

[DFishkeeper]

In the nexus filter, there are two beds of K1.

The first is a solid static bed which acts as your mechanical prefilter trapping solid waste, this bed is backwashed using your air supply to clear the trapped solid matter. I backwash mine twice a week.

The second bed is the moving bed which provides your biological filtration.

If using K1 for biological filtration only in a sump, you should still have some sort of prefilter set up to trap and remove the solid waste.

Cheers, Doug

[rayray2281]

In the nexus filter, there are two beds of K1.

The first is a solid static bed which acts as your mechanical prefilter trapping solid waste, this bed is backwashed using your air supply to clear the trapped solid matter. I backwash mine twice a week.

The second bed is the moving bed which provides your biological filtration.

If using K1 for biological filtration only in a sump, you should still have some sort of prefilter set up to trap and remove the solid waste.

Cheers, Doug

Hi, I'm running k1 in my sump, is it ok to run k1 using the inlet water to move the k1 around, or should I use k1 in another section of the sump, or could I run k1 in 2 sections,

here's a pic

I'm running two sumps exactly the same, one is doing a far better job than the other, the one in the pic is not doing as well,

Any info is appreciated

[flatfish]

Hi, I'm running k1 in my sump, is it ok to run k1 using the inlet water to move the k1 around, or should I use k1 in another section of the sump, or could I run k1 in 2 sections,

here's a pic

I'm running two sumps exactly the same, one is doing a far better job than the other, the one in the pic is not doing as well,

Any info is appreciated

I find air is a necessity when using k1. I have tried just using the flow from the sump pump and using a wavemaker. After a couple months or having problems I swapped back to air and find my k1 works alot better. Imo you meed air

[JayPee]

There was a discussion about which order to put the media in a while ago.

Most people said first so that's where I put it.

I don't really think it would matter where in the sump it goes.

If it goes first it gets the first contact with the dirtiest water.

I still have Dacron, jap mat, clay balls, noodles in the other section of my sump.

[steve6610]

that's my 2 sumps i'm going to be using for my 9 fry tanks and 18 breeding tanks, (africans) all tanks are approx 160ltrs per tank,

return water will come into the back of the smaller sump, it will then run to the front where i'll have 2 holes drilled at the top so the water will then feed into the front of the second sump, this front section will be where i'm putting my K1, it will then feed into the large back section where my sump pump will be sitting, to stop the K1 getting into the pump section i have some bags of noodles placed where the water feeds into the back section, the smaller sump will have different media, jap mat plus dacron,

sump sizes are 4 x 18 x 20 and 4 x 18 x 12, i'll be using a 10,000 lph pump,

this is a photo of how i'm using it at the moment, but it will be getting changed over the next week, just need to get my breeding rack finished so i can change the sump,

this is running the 9 fry tanks, K1 in the front with air tumbling it, and bags of media under it, lol, the basket is for my dacron, works good, also have jap mat under the K1, just keeping it seeded so i can put it into the small sump when they are connected

Edited October 6, 2013 by steveandjules

[DFishkeeper]

My understanding is that one of the biggest benefits of having an efficient prefilter that is cleaned regularly, like the static K1 bed in the nexus filter, is that you catch and remove most of the solid waste before it gets to your biological filter, which is the moving K1 bed in the nexus.

This reduces the nitrates in your water, as only very small solid waste and liquid waste get through the prefilter and are broken down resulting in nitrates. If you give your biological filter the first contact with the waste water from your tanks, you lose this benefit. You also risk clogging up your biological filter over time.

Cheers, Doug

[adriancorrea]

So what the best first the K1 and then the rest of the media or vice versa

Cheers

Adrian

[DFishkeeper]

The prefilter goes before any of the biological media to trap and remove solid waste.

A well setup moving bed of K1 media with adequate water contact time should not need any additional biological filtration. In my opinion, people sometimes limit the effectiveness of their biological media by running their systems with too high a turnover, therefore limiting the contact time of their water with their biological media. If you wish to have other biological media in addition to the K1, it shouldn't really matter what order you put it in after the prefilter. Keep in mind that bacteria in a biological filter will only exist in sufficient numbers to deal with the available food source, so if your initial biological media (eg K1) is effectively dealing with the available waste, any further biological media is just taking up space waiting for food to become available to enable bacteria colonisation.

Cheers, Doug