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  1. #1

    Filter upgrade time quandry

    Hey all!


    So 20 odd years ago the pond started out with a very common vortex, multibay, pump, UV setup.





    Which did the job, but cleaning was always messy and took ages. The underside of the chambers was never truly clean and really it was always a battle for water quality.


    Then, as time moved on we upgraded to a cetus > pump > beadfilter > UV setup. (eventually we replaced beads with k1 micro).





    The aim was to make cleaning easier, more effective and improve biological capacity.


    All of these aims were met, and the k1 micro upgrade was just amazing, however, the mighty sequence 18000 pump is a huge electricity draw, and with plenty of new tech on the market why not use the opportunity to not just switch the pump out, but improve the whole system.




    So, after seeing a blue eco RDF in person and being extremely impressed by its design, I ended up buying one.









    Rather impulsively, I purchased it on the premise of "we will make it fit" rather than "will it fit?" The blue lines represent the space to work with and it now turns out, it wont fit not without having to demolish the filter shed.




    So the options are, move the drum further along, and then reduce the biological capacity, never an ideal solution. Sell the current drum and buy another with different inlet/outlet/size options, or... well thats what im asking for, maybe someone else can spot a solution.



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  3. #2
    Here is the inside area, the blue tape above represents the current wall to the end of the cetus. I have moved the ultrabead up out of the pit, and that would be a new moving bed chamber area. The area where the bead is currently sat is where all the pond bowls, food, equipment etc will be stored to not a long term solution to use this space.





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  5. #3
    Senior Member Rank = Adult Champion Gazkoi's Avatar
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    Hi,

    That RDF looks the dogs mate - i’m interested to see inside it and see it working.

    If space is the issue, personally I would not sacrifice biological for mechanical filtration.

    Gaz
    Hobby and business gone but when you’re hooked you’re hooked.

    Always happy to help!!

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  7. #4
    Rare beasts those but pretty sure someone on here has/had one


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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  9. #5
    Senior Member Rank = Adult Champion Gazkoi's Avatar
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    I run Blue Eco’s too and rate them highly.
    Hobby and business gone but when you’re hooked you’re hooked.

    Always happy to help!!

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  11. #6
    Quote Originally Posted by Gazkoi View Post
    Hi,

    That RDF looks the dogs mate - i’m interested to see inside it and see it working.

    If space is the issue, personally I would not sacrifice biological for mechanical filtration.

    Gaz
    Sure

    So here are the inlets and the outlets. Unlike most drum filters this one uses either mains water pressure, or water from the clean side of the drum run through a booster pump.

    There are no motors or control units needed.








    Inside looks slightly different with the plumbing for the rotation mechanism on the right hand side.



    The long silver tube is a water piston



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  13. #7
    Removing the float reveals the water valve that controls everything.





    Inside the drum itself is a pop up waste valve that sucks all the crap down during a cleaning cycle.





    The overall concept is similar to that of a toilet cistern. As the drum mesh clogs up from filtering, the water level on the clean side starts to drop down, the float eventually clicks open the water valve opening it up. Water pressure then fills up system which does 3 things. Firstly it fills up the water piston which drives the drum around, secondly it causes the waste valve inside the drum to pop up sucking all the water and waste down to the drain / sump and finally it activates the spray bar. Unlike most drums which do a full rotation this one works best with just a 1/3rd turn (you can do a full rotation if you so set it) and this means it filters down to around 10 microns.

    The design is pretty foolproof, with very little that can actually go wrong short of some common plumbing seals that might need replacing if they ever wear out.

    If I cant get this to fit, I would be gutted to let this go simply due to how amazingly it is built and engineered.

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  15. #8
    Next job, take the cetus out. What a great bit of kit, will be sad to see it go! Worked flawlessly for so many years, part of me wonders if I will regret changing this out.










    With that out the way can put the first return UV in place more easily accessible for changing the bulbs out. Also above the water level so no need for bulky valves as it will just drain out once the pump is turned off.





    Chopped out the old returns, reconnected with rubber connectors. The pump here is just a skimmer pump. I was thinking about trying to connect it upto the drum and remove the basket, but the work involved to enlarge it to 2 or 3 inch would be simply too much.



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  17. #9
    New inlet pipework lined up ready to move the drum filter in tomorrow.



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  19. #10
    Extreme Koi Member Rank = Adult Champion NickK-UK's Avatar
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    If it’s pump fed you could stack the drum above a bio on a metal welded frame.

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  21. #11
    Drum in!!!





    Fitting the in-drum UV bulb.





    4 inch pipework connected.





    Waste pipework connected down to sewage.



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  23. #12
    Progress so far! Fitment is very tight as you can see from having to saw out part of the wall, but ready to fit the cleaning pipework tomorrow.



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  25. #13
    Booster pump plumbed in.





    Old pump attached to the other side.





    And we are filtering!





    Its remarkable how quickly this clears a pond, it was very much pea soup with fines as there has been no filtration on the pond for 2 days, after just 2 hours sucking water through the drum the bottom of the pond was clearly visible. I have turned it all off in case of any issues overnight but so far everything seems to be working perfectly

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  27. #14
    So after a few weeks running, despite all the good of this drum it has a pretty annoying flaw and thats the pop up waste valve.


    In theory its great, in reality it simply doesnt work on a pond as the slightest twig, leaf or even some string algae stop it sealing up and thus empties a few hundred gallons out your pond.





    Fortunately the fix is easy, raise the drum up and remove the flap. Pipework disconnected (thank god for rubber connectors!!!)





    Raised up 5cm.



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  29. #15

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  31. #16
    So the issue I had next was the moving bed bay. After looking at some extortionate options including pore made fibreglass chambers, or plastic welded boxes / bio chambers that frankly are an absolute rip off I decided to make my own.


    This served 2 purposes, no1 it lets me maximize the amount of media and no2 it keeps the cost down.


    First up the base and bottom pipework





    Next a frame to support the sides






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  33. #17
    Slope the base towards the middle.





    Some fillter to smooth it all and the base is ready.



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  35. #18
    4 sides made in a similar way with tank connector flanges ready fitted.





    Slot them into the base screw together and the box is ready for fibreglassing on friday.













    Now if you compare to retail options say a QK150....


    Mine cost less than Ł120 to make, holds about 1/3 more water and media and the inlets and outlets are perfectly positioned to my setup.


    Even after paying for the fibreglass, im going to be 500 quid better off.

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  37. #19
    Fiberglass day!


    Started early to get it done before the temperature makes it unworkable.







    The 4 sides were individually fiberglassed leaving a 1 inch key around the edges. The box was then assembled in the shed.









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  39. #20
    The corners were then layered and overlapped with a healthy dollop of resin. This needs to be functional not pretty so we only used the strand and resin, no tissue.









    The inside was then flowcoated.





    As we had som extra resin and flowcoat left over it was applied to a sheet of wood to act as a potential lid.



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