Bead Filters: What To Know

[@imadumas2]

For what it's worth, for anyone interested in this type of filter, I have an Ultima 2 4000 installed on an approximately 3000 gallon pond with 5 koi, one huge catfish, and six large goldfish. I have used the filter for over 15 years and all I do is backwash once a week or sometimes every two weeks and it never seems very dirty and the fish are healthy. The only reason I backwash that frequently is to facilitate a weekly partial water change. My only pond issue is that my matala mat that sits in the skimmer box before the pump intake as a pre-filter gets clogged every few days during the spring and summer and so I am often having to rinse it way more often than I have to mess with my bead filter. I know serious koi owners get way more involved filtration but I couldn't be happier with the durability and ease of use of this bead filter.

[@jerseyshorepondscapesvideos]

Hi, they really do work well. The media that Aqua uses is really good for both mechanical and biofiltration. I would say that a large part of your success using his filter is the fact that you backwash thoroughly on a regular basis. That's great. A little effort goes a long way. Keeping that metala pad in the skimmer helps to keep a lot of garbage out of the bead filter as well. I have a client that had a green metala pad in this skimmer that clogged quickly too. He swapped it out for the black metala pad, and he likes that better. But it may be a trade off, as more debris may get through it to the pump.

[@sweeyong7756]

Good day mate. What size pond pool pump do you use for your size system? Cheers.

[@arianacosta1247]

Amazing in-depth explanation! Thanks

[@lydao8292]

Very very helpful and throughout thank you!

[@jerseyshorepondscapesvideos]

Thank You, I'm glad that it helped you. 🙂

[@imadumas2]

Great and thorough video! It's obvious you have a deep passion for this hobby!

[@jerseyshorepondscapesvideos]

Thank you, I enjoy doing all these videos. Hopefully they can help people out, and answer some questions.🙂

[@ericastanton2010]

Wondering if I should get a media agitator ( blower) for the bead filter if I filter the water before going into the bead filter. from your video it seems like it might not be necessary

[@danlam1177]

Thank you. Very informative. I was struggling with this filter. Water suddenly turn yellow. I used the bottom drain, I should try the top drain tmr & open it up to see if I need to clean the inside.

[@jerseyshorepondscapesvideos]

I'm glad the videos helped. I also have a video on how to clean these filters.

[@bandofbrothers-airsoftdad5810]

Great video, I really enjoyed it. I have this exact system and my basket on the wet side broke down so it sat without running for approximately a month. Now that I’ve got the basket replaced and the system working it’s taking forever for the pond to clear. That’s with me backwashing it every day. Do you think that During the nonworking time that it might’ve dried up and all the gunk is all over in there not letting it filter appropriately, which is why the pond is taking so long to clear. I’m thinking I might need to take it apart and wash the beads like you showed in this video.

[@jerseyshorepondscapesvideos]

It might be a good idea to see what's inside. I have another video that shows how to take it apart and cleaned it.

[@SanjaySchulz]

Thank you for all the videos you've posted so far! I have 2 questions regarding the Aqua Ultima II 6000: 1) I have this filter installed on a 1,000g aquarium. According to their website, this type of filter acts as a mechanical and biological filter in one. Biological filtration converts ammonia to nitrite and nitrite to nitrate via nitrifying bacteria that lives in oxygen rich water. However, to reduce nitrates you need a low flow / low oxygen environment for anaerobic bacteria to grow. How does this filter lower nitrates if the filter media inside of the filter is moving during operation? 2) If I turn off the filter while doing maintenance on my aquarium, how much time to I have before the bacteria in the filter start to die off due to lack of oxygen? For extended maintenance times, should I remove the top and stick in an air stone to keep the bacteria alive? Thanks!

[@jerseyshorepondscapesvideos]

Hi, I'll do my best to answer your questions... First, this particular brand of bead filter uses a type of media that does a good job both mechanically as well as biological, provided that the filter is backwashed regularly to not allow the buildup of solids inside of it. Some other bead filters use a different media that is more designed to grow bacteria, but not collect debris. Anyway, The flow rate is important through the filter, and you should always refer to the manufactures recommended flow rates. The nitrogen cycle that occurs in the filter is dependent on oxygen, which I would feel mostly comes from the saturated oxygen content in the water itself due to any aeration in your pond. Maybe a waterfall or even an aeration system in the pond itself. I don't believe that there is any added aeration being created within the bead filter itself. Some bead filters do have aeration included within it, but not these. Those filters are strictly bio, and will not collect debris as a mechanical filter. I feel that these aqua filters are a happy medium... and if kept clean can provide sufficient biological filtration. I also believe that most of your biologics "nitrification" happens in your pond itself. The bacteria will also grow on rocks, as well as the surface of the liner, in streams and on your waterfall. For me, my gravity fed filters act more as mechanical filters to keep the water / pond clean. Cleaning these filters regularly from top to bottom has no effect on the balance "biologics" of the pond. The end product of the nitrogen cycle that is produced from the bacteria is Nitrates. A bio filter does not reduce nitrates, it is simply the end product of biological filtration, and far les toxic than the ammonia and nitrites. Plants will absorb the nitrates to help reduce its levels, or small water changes periodically can help keep it in check. Overall, I have found that high nitrate levels are not a crazy common problem. As far as how long do you have for oxygen levels to drop and kill off the bacteria, I honestly don't know the exact time. That's a good question. However, I can't believe that turning your filter off for the time needed to do your maintenance will dramatically effect your biologics. Days,... yes, as you can then start smelling the rotting stink in the filters, but I don't think that a half hour to an hour will be a problem. This is just my opinion, you may want to investigate that question further. 🙂 I hope this helped you out, and not confused you more!

[@SanjaySchulz]

@@jerseyshorepondscapesvideos Thank you Chris for taking the time to provide this detailed explanation. I look forward to many more videos from this awesome channel!

[@davidmaines8093]

I had one of these installed last fall onto an existing pond. The installer said to let it run for 2 weeks to build up beneficial bacteria. After that I was doing once a week backwashes. Pond was closed down in beginning of December and pump and uv light taken off. Not sure bout bead cleanliness. When I have it started up hopefully soon, should avoid backwash again to allow beneficial to grow?

[@jerseyshorepondscapesvideos]

I'm a believer that most of your beneficial bacteria is growing in your pond as well, so I would say to backwash and clean your filter as you normally would on a regular basis. The cleaner the filter is the better it will work. You will get bacteria to grow in the filter as long as it stays clean. Since the beads were not taken out and cleaned upon closing, I would give it a good backwash as soon as you start it up again. If there is a lot of garbage coming out of the waste line, then It really should be opened up and cleaned, so all that old stinky debris dose not go back into the pond. Thank you, I hope that helps you out!

[@jerseyshorepondscapesvideos]

You may even need to backwash a little extra at first, if the pond is dirty after sitting over the winter.

[@ehRalph]

So does the debris ends up underneath the filter media. It seems more efficient for backwashing if the debris sat on top of the filter media and clean water exited from the bottom of the pile. I have a pool sand filter with a multivalve similar to yours and always assumed it sucked water from the bottom. But I haven’t tested it or researched and possibly my filter puts the dirt on the bottom of the pile as you described.

[@jerseyshorepondscapesvideos]

Honestly, I don't feel that the debris settles on the bottom or top. In these filters, the debris seems to be collected within the total body of beads in the filter. I've opened up and cleaned a lot of these tanks, and the debris is throughout all the media. It's never clean on top, and dirty on the bottom, or vise-versa. The particular type of media used in these filters is really good at filtering debris out of the water, some other types of beads are very good at providing surface area for bacteria, but bad at actually cleaning the water.

[@sweeyong7756]

What kind or size pump is used in this system?

[@jerseyshorepondscapesvideos]

I use external pumps like the performance pro artesian II pumps. The size depends on the size of the bead filter, and pond size. There are recommended flow rates listed for each size filter.

[@brucedonnelly5209]

man thanks for explaining all this

[@jerseyshorepondscapesvideos]

I hope it helped. Thank you for the support!

[@irynadanyliv5993]

Do I need to put sand in this filter or only beads?

[@jerseyshorepondscapesvideos]

No sand! Sand is too fine for pond filters. Only to be used for pools where the water is clean and clear. It clogs extremely fast in pond use.

[@sonnyobhan5293]

what does rinse do?

[@jerseyshorepondscapesvideos]

Rinse basically flushes out the dirty water from the tank without mixing up all of the beads from the bottom.

[@sanfordlopez]

They should just finally update the design so you can plug in an air pump or shop vac to blow air into it and you can clean it better in one minute and only waste 15 gallons of water. Instead of half the pond. I have this ultima 2 filter and I also have a DIY blue barrel with K1 media and the homemade filter is better in every way, especially in ease of cleaning.

[@jerseyshorepondscapesvideos]

I totally understand your point. The perceived ease of turning a handle to backwash makes a lot of people like it for what they think is simplicity. But not always that simple. That's why I like my gravity fed filters best.

[@davidwatkins8016]

What does the rinse cycle do? Does one of the cycle pull water from the bottom?

[@jerseyshorepondscapesvideos]

I always thought of backwash circulating the entire bed of beads, while rinse just flushes the dirty water off the top.

[@daveobrien2481]

Hello… great job on the video, but I’d like to take some time with your audience to expand on what you’ve said. I know the nomenclature you’ve used in describing some of the components are just semantics, but some of the details I think are important when trying to share our experience with this kind of filter. First of all, I know you understand this, but it’s also important for your audience to know the media used in an Ultima II filter system, like the one in your video, does not use “beads” for its media. Beaded media is a completely different type of product than what is used in the Ultima II. The Ultima II uses tubular, sinking-bed media, which is shaped completely different than are beads, and it is those differences that create some advantages and disadvantages in each type of filter using them. Let’s start with another filter much like the Ultima II in your video, but is a true bead filter: To start, a bead filter works in reverse of an Ultima II filter. That is, a bead filter uses small, round beads, about 1/8th of an inch in diameter and are COMPLETELY different from the media you tried to show your audience as part of the Ultima II filter system. These beads actually float to create what’s called a floating static-bed within the vessel. Products made by AquaDyne work this way and do use these floating beads. Because the bead-type of media floats, it creates the static-bed necessary to capture debris from out of the water column at the top of the vessel. The only way then to make a floating-bed filter work properly is to pump the water to the bottom of the vessel through the center pipe connecting the multi-port valve at the top to the clear water gap at the bottom under the static bed of beads. The water is then pumped under pressure through the bed of beads back to the top and back into the Multi-port valve where its returned to the pond. In this configuration, the bed of beads traps the debris in the water column while in filter mode (i.e.: the multi-port handle at the top is set to “filter”). When you put the multi-port valve in "backwash" mode, two connections change within the valve. First, the input to the filter is moved away from the down pipe going through the bed to the bottom of the vessel and is connected to the top of the vessel. Secondly, the output of the multi-port valve is moved away from the plumbing returning to the pond and is connected to the waste port. When you run the filter in backwash mode, the static bed of beads at the top of the vessel "blows up". This means the static bed is temporarily undone and the beads are forced into a swirling mass within the vessel. This action dislodges all of the captured debris within the bed, which is then forced out with the water to the waste port. The Ultima II filter you show in your video is completely different. They do not use floating, “bead” media at all. It uses what’s called “tubular, sinking-bed media” that sits at the bottom of the vessel rather than the top like the bead media. Because this media sinks, it creates its bed for the purposes of filtration at the bottom. This means, in order to filter properly, the water must enter the filter at the top and make its way under pressure through the bed to the bottom (this is in reverse of what we explained for a bead filter.) There, it re-enters an exit pipe you showed in your video under the bed and travels back up the through the center of the bed, without disturbing it, and into the multi-port head again at the top of the vessel. It then exits out of the filter and heads back to the pond. In this way, the debris is removed from the water column from the top down verses a bead filter, which does the same thing from the bottom up. When the Ultima II is put into "backwash" mode, the two connections within the multi-port valve are changed again to reverse the flow of water within the static-bed at the bottom of the vessel. This "blows up" the sinking bed media at the bottom to dislodge the debris and sends it under pressure out of the waste port.

[@daveobrien2481]

There are advantages and disadvantages of both of these pressure-driven vessels running beaded floating, static-beds and those running with tubular sinking, static-bed media such as the Ultima II. Both are great at capturing debris down to between 50 and 100 microns. But, as you said, the biggest advantage of the tubular media used within the Ultima II filters is the surface area. For a given amount of media, there is almost twice as much surface area given by the tubular media as compared to the beads. For example: one cubic foot of beads delivers about 400 square feet of surface area on which all that “good bacteria” grows as a part of the nitrification process (ammonia -> Nitrites -> Nitrates.) In comparison, one cubic foot of Ultima II tubular media creates about 750 square feet of surface area for the same bacteria. That's almost twice as much surface area for bio-filtration within the same filter footprint. It is also said the tubular media will not clump together because of its designed shape, whereas the beads will clump together when very dirty, which requires a blower to break them up during the backwash. Because of the tubular design, the manufacturers of the Ultima II filter claim the cost of adding a blower to their filter is unnecessary. I disagree with that opinion… let me explain why. The disadvantages of an Ultima II filter you showed in your video are well recognized by many users like you and me who have been using this style of filter for more than 20 years. The problem with the tubular media is it does tend to clog up with debris. You showed a fantastic picture of this in your video. When this clogging happens, the health of the pond and the fish are put in severe jeopardy. I have tried to make the manufacturer aware of this problem and have suggested they add a blower to insure this clogging is kept to a minimum. They reject this idea entirely as any kind of necessary “fix” and suggested instead that I backwash more often to keep this clogging to a minimum. You mentioned the same solution in your video. However, while backwashing more often sounds easy enough, backwashing these vessels properly takes a LOT of water and doing it more often is rather wasteful. So, the tradeoff is continuingly replacing the water you use to backwash because you have to do so more often, or switch to a true beaded filter with a blower. I have both filters in my system and like I said, both do have their advantages and disadvantages. The fact that you would rather see “clean water” going into this Ultima II filter kind of proves my point when it comes to this media clogging and, in my opinion, defeats the purpose of having this product acting as a filter. I mean… if it’s a true “filter” why then would we rather only put clean water through it? Answer: because we're trying to keep the media from clogging and cleaning the filter if the media does clog is a pain in the you know what.

[@daveobrien2481]

Just as an FYI... I did solve my Ultima II clogging issues by moving to a 3-phase, 3hp pump. This 3-phase operation allows me to vary the speed of the pump. I run the pump at 1hp on an ongoing basis while in filtration mode, but when I backwash, I crank up the speed of the pump to 3hp to really beat the sinking bed media up to keep it clean. And just like you at the end of the season, and before going into winter, I will open the top of the Ultima filter to check and insure the media within is not clogged. Since moving to a 3hp pump to backwash my Ultima II filter, my clogging is under control, but the extra investment in a 3-phase motor and an inverter to convert single-phase 240VAC residential power to the necessary 3-phase, 208VAC on this one circuit running the pump is not cheap. I've never tried adding a blower to the Ultima II filter, so that might be a cheaper option. Just don't tell the manufacturer I said it was necessary. Lol A few other comments about your video: Just as you said, since both the Ultima II and a bead filter are pressurized vessels, the pump MUST be put between the pond and the filter. However, I think you and I would agree when I tell your audience it is never a good idea for the pump to be the first thing your pond water sees as a part of the filtration design. Yes, you can throw a submersible pump in the bottom of the pond and pump the water out and into the Ultima II filter. This will work… but it’s also a very bad idea, because, again, the pump should never be the first thing your pond water sees in the filtration process. You kind of referenced this fact when you said you have a gravity fed filter in front of the pump. If you put the pump first, all you’re doing is mincing up all of the debris from the water within the impellers of the pump, making it MUCH more difficult to filter this debris afterward. It would be much better to have a settlement tank or some kind of pre-filter between the pond and the pump to remove all of the “big chunks” of fish poop and debris before the pump can Cuisinart it into gravy. Even if you have a wonderful bottom drain using a 4-inch return and an external pump sucking the water out of the pond, you should put some kind of pre-filter between the pond and the pump. It makes no sense to have a bottom drain working to keep all of the big chunks of debris together for easier filtration, only to turn it into gravy in the pump’s impeller blades before actually reaching the filter components. You mentioned that you have a gravity-fed pit that filters the water first. That’s exactly the right way of doing things, because what you’re doing with a gravity fed system is filtering the water before it gets to the pump and then sending the water to the Ultima II afterward. In this way, again, you’re basically sending “clean water” to your Ultima II. This is exactly why a lot of filter systems, especially in the UK, only use pressure filters on their skimmers, because the skimmer acts like a pre-filter before the pump. In my case, I do not have a gravity-fed system and yet, all of my filters are pressure fed. I get around the problems of having my pump first-in-line by using a Zakki Sieve, which acts like a prefilter before the pump. As a matter of fact, using a Zakki pre-filter allows me to add a sieve to the system above the pond, which negates the need for a pit and a gravity-fed system altogether. The point is, no matter how you do it, your audience should know… the best filter systems do not put the pump first in line. Also, you explained your process for cleaning the tubular, sinking-bed media and mentioned using a cup to scoop the media out of the vessel. I clean my Ultima II media basically the same way you do, but I have an Ultima II 10K filter, which uses 4-cublic feet of media. That’s a lot of media to try and scoop out with a cup, so I use a shop-vac. It removes the media very quickly, but I wash/clean it the same way you described. I do not remove the media from my bead filters, because I use a blower when I backwash them; I find it never clogs so I don’t have to worry about having to do this at all. It’s one of the advantages of using a bead filter verses the Ultima II. Another tip: Use 12 inches of clear PVC pipe on the waste port if the end of your waste pipe is not line of sight. If you looking to make sure the water is running clear before ending your backwash cycle, 12” of clear PVC attached to the filter’s waste port can solve this problem for you. You can find it for about $10/foot at your favorite plumbery home center. Here’s my final tip regarding the Ultima II filter system: I can tell from your video, you’ve had a lot of practical experience using this filter and I must say… the honesty you show to your audience to warn them about the clogging is extremely satisfying to see. But if you’re going to use this filter only to “polish” the water at the end of your filtration line, I would suggest using it instead as a bio-reactor or what’s called a “moving-bed” filter. As you know, most moving bed filters uses another floating bed media called Kaldnes, or K1, K2, K3 in the market place. Well, the fact is, the sinking bed media in the Ultima II filter is just as good a media as is Kaldnes when used as a moving-bed filter. Studies have shown that by continuously moving the media with air or water pressure, the amount of biological filtration is increased tremendously even when compared to using the same media in a static bed. One of the reasons is as you said: dirty media does not work as well for biological filtration as does clean media. So, if you put Kaldnes or tubular media in a static bed, it will act better as a physical filter than it would a biological filter. If you keep the media moving and not allow it to form a static bed, it cannot work as a physical filter at all, but makes for a wonderful biological filter. There have also been studies that show a moving bed filter will knock off older nitrification bacteria and allow for younger bacteria to replace it, and younger bacteria will consume ammonia and nitrites much more effectively than older bacteria. Whatever the science, floating Kaldnes or sinking tubular media, put into a moving-bed configuration, is a fantastic component to add to any pond, especially to a koi pond. Now, if you think about it, all you have to do with an Ultima II to get to act like a moving bed filter is to put it in backwash mode. Water goes in the filter while in backwash mode with the waste port connected to the pond’s return. In my setup, I connect the waste port and the output of my Ultima II 10K filter together through a pair of two-way valves controlling where the output of the filter goes. This way, I can use the Ultima II as a filter to polish my water for the first month coming out of winter when the pond is very dirty. I just put the filter in “filter” mode on the multi-port valve and then position the 2 two-way valves so the output of the filter is connected to the pond return line. After about a month, when the water is crystal clear and all of the good bacteria has recovered inside the Ultima II, I will first backwash the filter to clean the media and then leave it in “backwash” mode on the multi-port valve and position the 2 two-way valves so the waste port is now connected to the pond return line. Now the Ultima II is acting like a moving-bed filter inside the vessel. It works great and, in my case, I have increased the surface area for all that good bacteria by more than 3000 square foot within that Ultima II 10K footprint. If you think about it, that’s the size of one and a half basketball courts. I hope these tips are helpful to your audience and, again, your video was great.

[@davidwatkins8016]

Your cleaning process removes all the good bacteria off the surface of the beads doesn’t it?

[@jerseyshorepondscapesvideos]

Yes, possibly some but maybe not all. I just wash the debris out. I usually clean these filters out at the end of the season when I shut everything down anyway.

[@puppyduppy9811]

If it’s so clean then it’s not doing anything

[@jerseyshorepondscapesvideos]

Keeping it clean enhances its ability to grow beneficial bacteria. As there is no sludge to suffocate it. The amount of biological activity increases greatly. Backwashing also removes more waste from the pond