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Getting
the best results from Black Knight filter brushes
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In
order to get the best results from the use of your Black
Knight filter brushes, it is important first to consider their
priority function.
If you are using them as a pre-filter to remove the bulk of
the coarse waste, a system of single interlocked hanging
brushes is best. If you want to trap an even greater
proportion of the waste, the brushes need to be either
vertically or horizontally double interlocked (see system
layouts)
Whichever installation design you choose, the method of water
introduction to the chamber will have an effect on the
efficiency of the brushes. Generally the water should flow
into the chamber at slow speed rather than being jetted in
under pressure. Water traveling at high speed not only causes
turbulence, which will disturb settled material, but it can
also wash off some of the waste which has been trapped
successfully in the brushes.
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Cleaning
the brushes
When
a significant amount of waste has built up on the brushes, it
should be flushed away. If there is a drain in the bottom of
the filter chamber then stop the inflow of pond water and
drain the chamber completely. When it is empty, the brushes
and the chamber should be flushed using buckets of pond water.
When the filter is clean, the drain can be closed and
filtration can resume. Cleaning in this way will retain most
of the beneficial bacteria that live on the brushes but the
rotting waste is removed and cannot do any more harm to the
water quality.
If there is a more persistent accumulation on the first lines
of brushes then these can simply be taken out, hosed down and
put back. The chlorinated water from the hosepipe will kill
some of the beneficial bacteria on those brushes but the
primary function of the first brushes is mechanical filtration
and therefore any contribution they make to the biological
effort should be regarded as a bonus.
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Biological
filtration
When
brushes are used for biological filtration, it is important to
remember that a biological colony will function only when six
to eight weeks have elapsed after the system is commissioned.
It takes this amount of time for the bacteria to reach full
strength.
Once your system is running efficiently, it is important that
the pump is never switched off for more than a few hours at a
time otherwise the biological colony will begin to die. The
same will happen if the filter materials are allowed to dry
out.
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quality
Do not
expect your water to be clear until your filter has been running
for at least eight weeks. After this time, an ultra violet sterilizer
can be used if necessary to limit the growth of
unicellular algae (the type which causes green water), but most
ponds will clear naturally. The water should be tested for
ammonia and nitrite on a regular basis to ensure that good
quality water conditions are maintained for the fish. If a
reading is persistently evident on either or both of these tests
then it is likely that the pond is overstocked for the size of
filter you are using. The only long term solutions to this are
to increase the size of the filtration system or reduce the pond
stocking level.
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