Bill,

I too have been committed to bio-balls, but they have always worked
great, so I have never thought much about changing, until this year.
A place on the internet that has it cheaper than anyone for a spool of
the stuff and is right here in Oklahoma, has got Springflo and I have
been toying with the idea of using it. My commitment to bio-balls
still stands, but what I have thought of doing was putting the
springflo in the bottom of the filter and the bio-balls on top of the
springflo, this way I was still use the investment in bio-balls, but
maybe get some more bioactivity with the Springflo. I can go with
this setup because my filter acts like a wet/dry filter and the water
trickles down through the medium.

Tom L.L.


Fish Head wrote in message . ..


Plain Bill,

Bio-Balls were touted as the thing to use several years ago and I
purchased enough to fill a 100 gallon Rubbermaid stock tank bio-filter
design. Now, I am resigned to use them forever. They ARE
indestructible. The stock tank filter required a pre-filter in the
pond, that was high maintenance and I switched to a rather exotic
filter with 4 fifty-five gallon drums. I use these same bio-balls in
the new filter system.

The bio-balls act as a bed or platform for bio-action (I guess),
although they never actually seem to have any type of appreciable
bio-film on them. The bio-balls do serve to capture bio-matter and/or
whatever micro-fine particulate matter that passes though the
bio-ball. They will act as a mechanical filter, for what ever your
pre-filter passes. They can clog and may require periodic cleaning.

In a loose state they are trouble to handle and clean. A 1/2 cubic
foot or 1 cubic foot mesh bag is ideal to contain and deploy the
bio-balls. When I need to clean my clean my filter system, I fill a
spare barrel with pond water and then shake or agitate the bags in the
clean pond water. This dislodges any of the insoluble dirt or dust
that has settled in the bio-ball crevises. THEN, I quickly throw the
bags back into the pond, so they do not dry out and loose whatever
bio-film that might be active. When the filter system is all cleaned
and ready for return-to-service then I collect the bags and return
them to their two fifty-five gallon barrels. I have a photo at my
website of the four barrels at http://bmoke.freeyellow.com/cppg024.htm

I would love to tinker with the spring-flo stuff, but the bio-balls
work for me.

Bill M.