WHAT IS THE POWER BEAD?
Pond filter designs have evolved considerably over the years and nowadays most of them are very efficient at removing waste products from our pond water. A crystal clear pond with healthy water parameters is great – and provides us with peace of mind and the pleasure of watching our fish swimming and feeding happily.
But, like a huge grey cloud forming, that pleasure soon turns to a feeling of dread. The pond is looking murky, the fish are not looking as happy as they were a week ago. You guessed it – it’s time to clean the filter out. A dirty, smelly and time-consuming job to contend with, whether it’s the battle of the brushes or the frustration of the foams. And when you have finished that, there is so much else to clean. Your clothes, the patio, yourself…
Surely there must be an easier way of keeping the pond clean. Well, luckily there is! This is where the Bio Bead comes in.
What it consists of is a cylindrical filter chamber with accessories attached that is completely sealed as one unit – you will never have to open it and get wet or dirty. All you will need to do to maintain the filter is go through a quick, easy sequence of using levers and switches and that will be that – all the waste will be flushed away and the filter will be clean again.
HOW IT WORKS
The Power Bead is actually a very simple filter. The main chamber contains only one type of media - a specially designed bead which is positively buoyant in water, meaning it floats. Hundreds of thousands of these tiny beads are present inside the filter, which, during the maturation process, rapidly become coated with the beneficial nitrifying bacteria which are needed to consume all the harmful dissolved waste products such as ammonia and nitrite. The small individual size of the beads results in their surface area as a whole being high (around 450 square feet per cubic foot). This makes the filter more efficient because the greater the surface area of the media, the more nitrifying bacteria there will be living on it, therefore the greater the amount of waste products there will be constantly being removed as water passes through the filter.
Whilst its primary function is a biological filter, the Power Bead also performs well as a mechanical filter – for fine solids of around 1mm or less. The floating beads all form a layer at the water surface inside the filter, while it is running. The largest particles will simply be strained off during the passage of water through this layer of beads. Smaller particles will soon become trapped in the small gaps between the beads and so they will go no further until the unit is cleaned. The really fine particles will become stuck to the surface of the beads themselves, since the bacterial film covering them is sticky.
The result is cleaner, more polished water with fewer small particles escaping back into the pond. Without this type of feature in a filter system, fine sediment usually re-circulates again and again, passing through the pump where it is ground up even finer by the impeller and because the particle size is so small it is made even more difficult to remove.
THE CLEANING PROCESS
The Power Bead uses an air blower as part of the cleaning process, which forces a stream of bubbles into the layer of beads to break it apart and release all the trapped waste particles. Once all the particles have been released, the dirty water is simply flushed away to waste.
The bubble action using the blower is essential, as without it, the mass of sticky beads could remain stuck together like a giant floating cake, along with all the particles which, if they stayed, would start to break down and release toxins into the pond water.
WHAT SIZE POWER BEAD WILL I NEED FOR MY POND?
The size will depend on the volume of your pond (in imperial gallons or litres), which can be calculated as follows:
(1) Measure the dimensions of your pond as accurately as possible to find the length (L), the width (W) and the depth (D). If your pond is an irregular shape or has an uneven bottom, try to take an average measurement.
(2) To calculate pond volume:
(a) Measurements in feet:
L X W X D X 6.24 = imperial gallons
L X W X D X 28.3 = litres
(b) Measurements in metres:
L X W X D X 1000 = litres
L X W X D X 220 = imperial gallons
(3) Please refer to the chart below to determine which size Bio Bead you will need for your pond.
Tel: 01227 711163