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Thread: Jap matting

  1. #1
    Senior Member Rank = Mature Champion smartin's Avatar
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    Jap matting

    Good evening all.

    What is the general consensus on jap matting should it all be fully submerged at all times or is it best to have the matting at a height so that say the top 1 to 2 cm are above the water line allowing bubbles from the air line to move around and in between the jap pads prior to a drum cycle taking place? once a drum cycle has taken place the water levels increase slightly in side which just about cover the matting but as the water levels drop as dirt builds up on the screens the tops are slightly exposed, thanks Steve.



  2. #2
    Extreme Koi Member Rank = Nanasai Fishplanetkoi's Avatar
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    Jap matting is meant to be fully submerged at all times. If as you say your top 20mm is out of the water intermittently then there probably won't be much active bio in the section that dries out intermittently.

    You could cut the top say 25mm off and place it lower in the chamber, then you will be getting all the benefit from it. Either that or raise the water level in your drum if possible, to ensure full immersion.

    Although matting is probably thought old school these days, it is still a very good media, and I still use it along with K1.

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  4. #3
    Evolve design flaw?

    This is similar to the issue I was having with my drum/bio which is effective what you have although it’s all connected in one piece whereas mine are separate.
    The drum has a min/max level on clean side and a level sensor on the dirty side.
    The level on the dirty side will be the same as the level in the bio side so as the the drum screen blocks and the dirty side level decreases, so does that in the bio. The levels should match after a cleaning cycle however, you may also have pump “drawdown” coming into play. Ie, the faster your pump sucks, the more the water drops on your dirty/bio side.
    On my separate system, I’ve had scope to lower the drum so it’s clean side is at maximum and I’ve lowered the bio side a tad. It does mean I’ve “lost” a bit of water volume in the bio as this was something I hadn’t considered when laying out my system. I’d allow for the loss of water by making the bio side a bit longer if I were doing the same thing again. I would think someone running a combi might be able to do some comparative photo’s as it should be quite noticeable on one of those.
    Also, you can’t really lower the bio side to compensate too much else when you turn the pumps off and the levels equalise, it’ll flood, or the clean side of the drum will spill into the waste outlet.
    Your levels will also drop if your pond suffers a lot of evaporation.
    I’ll do a little sketch in a tick, picture paints a thousand words and all that.

    If it worries you and you can’t drop the filter level (which is a PITA) then just chop the top of the matting off as suggested or don’t worry about it too much. It’s not going to make a huge difference unless you’re losing a massive percentage of the total matting.

    It might be worth mentioning to Ian although I’m surprised he’s missed this. I’d never built one before so I have an excuse lol.


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  6. #4


    Make sense?


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  8. #5
    Senior Member Rank = Mature Champion smartin's Avatar
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    Hi Guys,




    thanks for your replies...I would not say its a design flaw, for some reason one bank of matting cartridges is more buoyant than the other and the top 1 to 2cm is clear of the water especially as you say when the water level drops due to dirt building up in the screen, the left hand bank is not so buoyant, both banks are attached to plastic uprights which can have some length cut off which would then sink them below the water level which is what I will have to do I think so that they are fully submerged at all times, I did not want to remove them just yet as the filters are showing signs of bio life so for the moment I am using a 5l plastic container (only a third full) as a weight to keep the matting under water, cheers Steve.
    Last edited by smartin; 11-07-2019 at 10:02 AM.

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  10. #6
    Is one side getting a bit more air than the other?
    Maybe one side is resting on the air tubes at the bottom of the chamber and the other isn’t?
    Just a thought


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  12. #7
    Senior Member Rank = Mature Champion smartin's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by bigcarpchaser View Post
    Is one side getting a bit more air than the other?
    Maybe one side is resting on the air tubes at the bottom of the chamber and the other isn’t?
    Just a thought


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    Hi BCC - good point I have checked and the air tubes are inbetween the cartridges, the length of upright the banks are supported on are the same as well, quite strange, I can only put it down to the right hand bank gets air from either side and so has more air within the matting making it bouyant and the left hand bank only gets air from one side and so is not so buoyant ? that's my take on it lol, for the moment with the EA bottle its all under water now, cheers Steve.

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  14. #8
    I’d still give Ian a call mate


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