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  1. #1
    Senior Member Rank = Yonsai Dudley's Avatar
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    Do I need to PP?

    I am setting up a moving bed filter. Today I had 25L of Hel-X arrive.
    I have a suitable barrel, I have air pump etc and I am ready to build it, but do I need to buy Potassium pomegranate and PP it? I thought I would pop into boots tomorrow and get some but now I see I need a prescription. Yes I can get it on-line but its Christmas post and is it necessary? How important is it to PP new media?
    Thanks Steve.

    PS. I currently have a shower filter that has just about at the end of nitrogen cycle/new pond syndrome, its been running 2 months almost now and my Ammonia has been 0 for a while and Nitrite levels are dropping, now 0.25 today. Nitrate also has started dropping now at was 20 yesterday. GH KH and pH stable. So water is ok, for now anyway. But I want to plan ahead for when the current 115 x 3-4" fish, in a 900L tank get bigger. So its not really urgent to get the Hel-X established but I know I will soon need better filtration as the fish grow on. And no, I never planned to have 100 decent size fish in 900L, I only wanted about 15-20 for a new garden pond I am building, so I bought 100 x 1-2" fry to grow on. Fortunately, or unfortunately whichever way you look at it (more alive means more work) I have not had many die and they are still growing good, so I am planning ahead. A new lager tank is going to be built after xmas, he says looking over shoulder in case wife is watching. But for now, do I need to PP this new media?
    Thanks Steve.


    Last edited by Dudley; 17-12-2018 at 11:49 PM.

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  3. #2
    Senior Member Rank = Supreme Champion freddyboy's Avatar
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    in my opinion. if you already have mature media that's doing the job right.
    just add it in. but what I gather. when new. your taking the top layer off. the new media.to speed thing s up for the new media. plus making sure there are no bad bugs on it.
    personally myself I have always PP mine to speed things up. I added another 25 lts of HELX a couple of weeks ago. for my pond bio media. I did nt pp to that. as my filters pond and all my pipe work are now mature
    and hope fully that will be mature come spring time.

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  5. #3
    it really ought to come from the supplier safe to put straight in a filter, and unless it says to 1st p.p it before using it, then I would assume it is safe.
    However it won't bubble or flow right for some days if you don't p.p it, wether that matters or not is up to you.
    Everybody says it seeds faster if its been p.p'd, I dont know if thats true, all p.p ing does, as I understand it, is strip away oxygen from the surface which is why it will boil or flow easier, I dont know why that would help it mature faster?.
    It looks mature faster because the p.p stains it brown but that doesnt mean anything.

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  7. #4
    Extreme Koi Member Rank = Kyusai TinyTony's Avatar
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    pp plastic media to strip the coating and make it less buoyant

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  9. #5
    Moderator Rank = Supreme Champion Feline's Avatar
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    I would personally PP brand new plastic media. My reason for this:

    I believe Dean DiMarco (who was one of the technical bods at EA) did some work determining that the brown residue that remains on the surface of the K1 after you PP it speeds up the biofilm formation by around 8 times faster.

    I can't remember exactly where he published that info- I guess we could ask him as he is Dixie Dean on here. He also said that the rumour that the new plastic has a shiny wax coating on the surface that PP removes is not true. New plastic media is just new plastic- but the new surface is slippery and hard for a biofilm to stick to initially.

    PP is actually very cheap to buy as you don't need to use very much each time. I personally would always stock some as it is very useful for sterilising second hand equipment, QTs between uses etc. etc. That said, you MUST make sure you have read up on how to safely use it because it oxidises every living tissue it comes into contact with. Powder breathed in will do severe damage to your lungs, and splashes of it into your eyes will oxidise your corneas. Gloves, goggles and mask are definitely advisable. Keep it away from any metal that is not stainless steel too as will oxidise most metals.

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  11. #6
    thanks Feline , interesting

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