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Thread: bakki shower

  1. #1
    Extreme Koi Member Rank = Yonsai jasonp's Avatar
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    bakki shower

    Hi All

    I am thinking of upgrading my pond filters and adding a shower. I am looking for general advice like how to size them and where to buy them. I know everyone takes about Bakki shower house media being the best but pricey option, are there any cheaper options. Is a stainless steel shower better then plastic and why? Flow rates are another item that seems to vary a lot, anyone got experience or what flow rate do you use. Best place to position the shower for pond circulation in a rectangular pond. Is it best to have below pond water level returns. Any thoughts would be gladly received.



  2. #2
    All I can say that'll really help is that I've got 200 litres of Crystal bio in a roto concept gravity shower. My parameters are ammonia 0, nitrite 0, Nitrate hovers around 10ppm.

    I have very happy fish, seven of them in 8000 litres, all between 40 & 60cm. 12k superfish pump (with losses, I'm getting around 1 turnover/hour).

    There are no other filters on the pond, and the water is superb.

  3. #3
    Senior Member Rank = Nanasai Handy Kenny's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by jasonp View Post
    Hi All

    I am thinking of upgrading my pond filters and adding a shower. I am looking for general advice like how to size them and where to buy them. I know everyone takes about Bakki shower house media being the best but pricey option, are there any cheaper options. Is a stainless steel shower better then plastic and why? Flow rates are another item that seems to vary a lot, anyone got experience or what flow rate do you use. Best place to position the shower for pond circulation in a rectangular pond. Is it best to have below pond water level returns. Any thoughts would be gladly received.
    JasonP, If you look at some of the Momotaro videos on you tube they run their large Bakki showers on HUGE ponds and they probably know what they are doing. Some are plastic boxes. For my wee 20,000 litres pond a titchy Bakki shower should achieve the same results even I suppose if didn't use the top class ceramic media.

    Kenny

  4. #4
    I've got a stainless steel bakki shower with genuine BHM in it (as well as some other media).
    Would I buy one again? Nope. I think my home made moving bed with micro k1 is just as good.
    I bet Momotaro probably make as much money out of selling BHM as they do out of selling fish these days.


    In theory, theory and practice are the same.
    In practice, they aren't.

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    Extreme Koi Member Rank = Kyusai TinyTony's Avatar
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    best thing I added was a bakki and bhm within a year dropped my nitrates from off the scale 150 to 40 which is out the tap level.

    its been bullet proof . if your gonna do then use bhm or midori and get a decent flow over it . mines ran separately, unfiltered past 6 yrs . I also had a multibay and japmat on the bottom drain. added a drum in july and k1 bio.chamber but the showers still ran separately

    I hate the k1 btw but no room for the multibay

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  8. #6
    Haha, all you need to decide is whether you believe it's a complete waste of money or the best thing ever then.
    Good luck bakki shower
    To be fair, I'm not saying it's rubbish, it is good. Just not the step change in my experience some people would have you believe.
    I've had box filters, pressure filters, Nexus, Bead, Sieve, Drum, Moving bed, Bakki Shower and if I had my time again I'd go drum and moving bed.


    Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

  9. #7
    Moderator Rank = Supreme Champion Feline's Avatar
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    I believe ive got the advantages of a Bakki shower without the disadvantages by having it inside the filter house with underwater returns. I can't hear or see it in the garden and it doesnt cause heat loss. Some people like the look of a shower on the pond wall, but personally I don't.

    I went for the genuine SS Bakki not a plastic shower because I wanted it to be strong, they are are available with spiggot tray, and they have a design that allows good air flow between the trays. Many of the plastic copies out there don't seem to have the same open design.

    I do think if you are going to go to the expense of getting BHM or a similar media in there you will only get the true benefits if you put a lot of flow over there. If you don't then it won't reduce nitrates. This does mean also you need to invest in a fairly expensive pump, and you need a mechanical filter that can cope with that high flow, so basically a big drum. Theres no real point buying a Bakki shower to put a trickle over it- you may as well use a cheap shower with alphagrog in it. My opinion anyway

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  11. #8
    Extreme Koi Member Rank = Kyusai TinyTony's Avatar
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    yep agree with the above

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    Senior Member Rank = Hassai dc197's Avatar
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    I think the noise of a shower is exaggerated. My shower had a moderate flow, up to 7000 Lph, going over it and it was undetectable over the sound of an adjacent moving bed.
    Last edited by dc197; 01-09-2017 at 06:04 PM.

  13. #10
    Extreme Koi Member Rank = Kyusai TinyTony's Avatar
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    Plastic showers are very quiet

    Sent from my SM-N9005 using Tapatalk

  14. #11
    Senior Member Rank = Hassai dc197's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Feline View Post
    I believe ive got the advantages of a Bakki shower without the disadvantages by having it inside the filter house with underwater returns. I can't hear or see it in the garden and it doesnt cause heat loss. Some people like the look of a shower on the pond wall, but personally I don't.

    I went for the genuine SS Bakki not a plastic shower because I wanted it to be strong, they are are available with spiggot tray, and they have a design that allows good air flow between the trays. Many of the plastic copies out there don't seem to have the same open design.

    I do think if you are going to go to the expense of getting BHM or a similar media in there you will only get the true benefits if you put a lot of flow over there. If you don't then it won't reduce nitrates. This does mean also you need to invest in a fairly expensive pump, and you need a mechanical filter that can cope with that high flow, so basically a big drum. Theres no real point buying a Bakki shower to put a trickle over it- you may as well use a cheap shower with alphagrog in it. My opinion anyway
    Regarding your point about not reducing nitrate.
    My shower uses cheap media, alfagrog and pumice, and has perhaps just 4000 Lph over it. Since adding it and allowing time to mature my nitrate has never been over 5 ppm. My tap water is 40. I have no plants, no blanket weed, and little algae.
    Last edited by dc197; 01-09-2017 at 06:11 PM.

  15. #12
    Moderator Rank = Supreme Champion Feline's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by dc197 View Post
    Regarding your point about not reducing nitrate.
    My shower uses cheap media, alfagrog and pumice, and has perhaps just 4000 Lph over it. Since adding it and allowing time to mature my nitrate has never been over 5 ppm. My tap water is 40. I have no plants, no blanket weed, and little algae.
    Sounds like your pond is not following the usual rules of the nitrification process. Any theories on where the ammonia and nitrite are going if not being processed into nitrate? I would doubt that 4000 lph is capable of smashing the ammonia out of the water.

  16. #13
    Extreme Koi Member Rank = Yonsai jasonp's Avatar
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    Thanks guys interest comments so far. I have 7700 gallon and not had and issue with water quality. I have two bottom drains into a drum filter and return via chambers of k1 and jap matting. I also run a separate line off the skimmer via a bead filter into a heater and returned via a waterfall. I use aerated bottom drains. I do plenty of water changes and my source water is hard 7.8 ish.
    I am thinking about adding the shower after the chambers just to see what improvements might happen. My fish are growing and i want to keep ahead of the biomass demand
    One question i have but cannot seem to find and answer to is why infra red would have any benefit, or what it does? I have been researching and originally 4 tiers was recommended but is it correct 2 tiers is now preferred? I am interested in finding the correct flow rate for a shower but there seems to be quite a variation in peoples set ups. I guess it depends on the size of the shower to.
    Pump wise i will probably just double up on some eco style pump i already have to start with. I won't be buying a flow friend or similar just yet.

  17. #14
    Senior Member Rank = Hassai dc197's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Feline View Post
    Sounds like your pond is not following the usual rules of the nitrification process. Any theories on where the ammonia and nitrite are going if not being processed into nitrate? I would doubt that 4000 lph is capable of smashing the ammonia out of the water.
    I have two other filters inluding a moving bed. I'm confident that the ammonia and nitrite are processed by that.
    As for removal of nitrate, I have no other explanation than the shower, although I welcome other ideas. If it were not being removed, then the readings would be far closer to tapwater than to zero.

 

 

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