"RichToyBox" wrote in message news:TTWlc.24510$_41.1774337@attbi_s02...
Fish produce ammonia through their gills and other waste. Ammonia is toxic.
Bacteria convert the ammonia to nitrIte. Nitirite is toxic. Bacteria
convert nitrIte to nitrAte. NitrAte is fertilizer. If you don't have
enough plants to use up all the fertilizer, then algae does the job for you.
The bacteria form on all surfaces in what is called a biofilm. The biofilm
covers the pond, the plumbing, plant roots, and filter media. With a sand
filter, the biofilm builds up on the sand grains and clogs the filter such
that you are running very high pressures indicating a need to backwash. The
biofilm is stubborn to wash off, and you don't want it to be washed off.
Therefore sand is a poor filter material. Find a material that is smooth
and will barely sink to make backwashing easier and the filter run better.
The bead filters are sand filters that have the water run through in an up
flow method with floating plastic beads, but there are plastic bead media
that are heavy enough to settle, and these should be used in the standard
downflow mode of a sand filter. The beads should all be the same size to
accommodate water flow without clogging.

Start with testing of the water to see if the filter is working to get rid
of ammonia and nitrites since these can kill fish.

Once the filter has been converted, a lower energy pump, like a Sequence,
should be adequate, and will save you mega bucks in electricity.


Could anyone give me some clear instructions on how to convert an
existing sand filter to a bead filter. from what i get , you can can
just add beads and replace the sand. If i am wrong please correct me.
Thank yo uall very much for the posts so far.

Matt