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  1. #1

    Anyone notice this updated 'K1' media?

    Maybe someone's already mentioned this on the forum, but I can't search for it because 2 characters is too short as a search term.

    Nothing especially earth-shattering, but just thought I'd mention that EA seem to have released a revised version of K1micro, called 'K+'.

    I noticed it on Absolute's website, yesterday.


    EA K+.jpg


    • Class leading total surface area 1,3540 m2 per m3
    • Total protected surface area 1,025 m2 per m3
    • Moulded with minerals for faster beneficial bacteria development
    • Available as floating for MBBR or sinking, ideal for down - flow filters
    • Size - 10.5 mm Dia
    • Length - 8 mm



    Interesting that they seem to be saying they're offering it in 2 versions - one being neutrally buoyant, and the other sinking.

    Whether or not this will eventually replace K1 micro, I don't know.

    Weirdly, I could find no mention of it on EA's own website.

    One statement in particular got me thinking: "Moulded with minerals.."

    Well, that's all very well, but the nature of minerals is that they eventually dissolve into water. Is the 'K+' media coated with a mineral dope, or is the plastic actually mixed with minerals? If it's mixed with minerals, then won't the plastic weaken when the minerals inevitably dissolve into the water?

    Consequently, I'm forced to guess that it's probably just coated with a mineral dope.

    I'd like to know in more detail, so if anyone finds more info, please post it in this thread.




    It's quite similar in appearance to AquaSource BioFlo media, but, I'm sorry to say, there's a substantial price difference.


    Obviously, there have been lots of generic medias very similar to the larger K3, for many years.


    Last edited by MustBeSomethingInTheWater; 02-06-2020 at 10:55 PM.

  2. #2
    Senior Member Rank = Supreme Champion davethefish1's Avatar
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    i'd imagine it might be an inert ceramic mineral like clay, or silica that wouldn't dissolve in water, but could be added to the extrusion process.
    and provide a better substrate for the bacteria to grow on.

    i've never been a fan of plastic as a substrate for biological filtration.
    it doesn't work that well until it has accumulated a coating of minerals for the bacteria to grow on anyway imo....
    maybe thats whay they are now including it from the start...?

    also i'm not sure the sinking would be a good idea if you have very hard water,
    as they can accumulate carbonates and end up struggling to fluidise, and needing to be de scaled...

  3. #3
    Senior Member Rank = Supreme Champion RS2OOO's Avatar
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    EA marketing has a history of winding me up so I'll try and keep my mouth shut on this one, only to say that K1 is supposedly far superior to other medias such as Hel-x and KK1000 etc etc because somehow the shape of K1 is just far better at attracting the right bacteria etc etc and won't block like other medias will.

    Yet this new improved media will no doubt be more expensive and have some new bulls**t marketing that makes it better than the competition.

    In a Nexus Eazy section it will probably improve fines, but will also likely block quicker.

    They say 50 litres of k+ will handle 250 grammes of food per day. That's exactly what they said about K1, so in that respect theres no change despite the increased surface area.



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  5. #4
    Quote Originally Posted by davethefish1 View Post
    i'd imagine it might be an inert ceramic mineral like clay, or silica that wouldn't dissolve in water, but could be added to the extrusion process.
    and provide a better substrate for the bacteria to grow on.
    Maybe. Time will tell!


    Quote Originally Posted by RS2OOO View Post

    EA marketing has a history of winding me up
    ...

    Yet this new improved media will no doubt be more expensive and have some new bulls**t marketing that makes it better than the competition.

    Agreed.



    Quote Originally Posted by RS2OOO View Post

    In a Nexus Eazy section it will probably improve fines, but will also likely block quicker.
    Same thought crossed my mind - it's not mentioned very often in the koi industry that although protected surface area is important for retaining high quantities of biofilm, microscopically, it's also important to ensure good flushing of solids from the larger non-microscopic voids in the media.
    If EA have any rational sense, they may resist the temptation to market K+ for use in fines-trapping static media stages, purely out of self-preservation in case of customer backlash, but then again, I'm sorry to say.... I wouldn't put it past them!



    Quote Originally Posted by RS2OOO View Post
    They say 50 litres of k+ will handle 250 grammes of food per day. That's exactly what they said about K1, so in that respect theres no change despite the increased surface area.

    Do you ever get the distinct impression that, as the years (and decades) go by, with only very gradual iterations of 'improved' bio medias, these performance figures (which are environment-dependent, anyway) seem to get simply copied and pasted from one product iteration to the next, by an office temp, without being re-tested under real-world conditions, to ensure (relative) accuracy?

    I know it shouldn't happen, but, subjectively-speaking, it does feel that way, sometimes, when reading the performance figures.

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  7. #5
    Cynic in me can’t help thinking that the K1 media and its stable mates is actually the bi product left over from the moulding of something else.

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  9. #6
    Quote Originally Posted by Doitsusanke View Post
    Cynic in me can’t help thinking that the K1 media and its stable mates is actually the bi product left over from the moulding of something else.





    I'd love to be just as cynical, but I can't be that harsh to EA, because I think I recall seeing a video, 3 or 4 years ago, that showed an EA employee sat at a relatively small machine, making K1. I can't find that video right now, on Youtube.

    Here's some generic K3-type media being made in China:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1N1-u-VKVAw

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  13. #8
    Quote Originally Posted by Doitsusanke View Post

    Yep.

    Ceramics, too.

    ...and Japanese mat, which, apparently, is misnamed as it originated in China.


    Speaking of which, which came first - the chicken or the egg?


    youtube.com/watch?v=auG-FtLSwrc


    spieringsvis.nl/244-spierings-combi-bed

  14. #9
    I saw this recently when I purchased my Hel-x 13 and K1 and I could only find one dealer who sold it and I’ve had a bad experience with them and won’t be giving them any more of my money after the shocking customer service.

 

 

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