Has anyone used Bio Ribbon in their filter box to replace the lava rock?? It's supposed to really help the growth of the good bacteria in the filter.
Bio Ribbon
Never heard of bio ribbon. I have meshy sort of filters in my skimmer and biofalls. Maybe it's similar? I don't do very well about pulling my filters out and rinsing them, though the only thing with less maintenance is to have just a stagnant pond. Too many mosquitoes and then the West Nile thing around here to think of doing that. Besides, I like the white noise of the biofalls.
I've never heard of it.Butterflygardnr I just rinse off my filter in the skimmer maybe once a month and that's it. If you clean the biofalls you wash away your bacterial colony. I've been doing this for the last few years and my pond is crystal clear.
anna: I've seen them at the "better" water garden places but I don't have them. Do you think there's any advantage to those compared to the other various items on the market? Or simply someone else's idea.....
"T" :)
Sledder, The Bio Ribbon is supposed to be better . The bacteria has more surfaces to grow on. Our Local pond store has changed all of their filters to bio ribbon.(This place is huge, and is growing, the owner is a pond athority) I';m going to try to find it on line.
Very interesting!! If you find a good website let me know. So what are you presently using in your filters for your good bacteria to grow on/in?
Froto, I know that cleaning the filters washes away the good bacteria. Mine just get really goopy/slimy and nasty if I don't at least rinse the skimmer filter once in a while. I have fish and also used very rich topsoil/compost to pot up most of my pond plants. I didn't know at the time that was sort of a no-no. So I have ended up with some string algae (and I don't bother to put in the barley straw, I just pull it out and dump it in a heap under my nearby shrubs and plants for fertilizer), and the goop is likely fish poo from my goldfishes. The little tadpoles clean that pond up really nicely for me every spring. The water itself is clear, so I'll just keep doing what I'm doing now.
Hi there Annabelle15
You can purchase the ribbon for drfostersmith.com. It looks a lot like the strapping bands you see on large boxes. Some people swear by it but I think lava rock have a much higher surface area which is what you want for the colonization of good bacteria. My filter is 18" inches in diameter with about 12" inches of lava rock and 3 1" floor buffing pads for filters. Mine has run for for 1 year and all I have done is rinse out the filter pads every coupl of weeks or so.
Carl
whoops I goofed.
It should say from "drsfostersmith.com.
I should proof read befor sending?
Carl
i HAVE TWO FILTERS RUNNING IN THE POND, i THINK i'M GOING TO TRY THE FILTER RIBBON IN ONE AND KEEP THE OTHER ONE WITH THE LAVA ROCK. IT'S TIME TO SHUT DOWN THE FALLS AND INSTALL THE HEATER FOR WINTER, SO I'LL GIVE IT A TRY IN THE SPRING.