Bakki Shower Experiment

Well it's not much of an experiment. I designed and built a Bakki Shower and now I am going to test what type of changes will occur. I will be testing nitrates, PH, ORP and TDS before and after installation of the Bakki. Below you will find a chart that monitors my progress. I have 2 ponds so I will be checking both of them but only one has a Bakki installed. By doing so i hope to rule out any naturally occurring changes. I will be checking daily but I probably wont be updating the webpage daily so be patient.

Bakki Media: This seems to be a large topic of discussion on the various Koi forums. I am using black Matala with a bed of lava rock on top of it in each of the 3 trays. Why? Because it's cheap! At the moment each tray is about half full. I've already sunk a bunch of money into this project and if it works which I am assuming it will then I will probably switch to Bacteria House Media next year and do the whole experiment over again to see how the 2 compare. Since it is so expensive here is a shameless plug: If anyone wants to sponsor this experiment by sending me some media to test feel free to contact me. Please note I will only post REAL test results good or bad. A little bit about the shower itself: Each tray is 40" long and 11" tall. It is 11" wide at the bottom and 13" wide at the top. It was designed this way to make the most out of a sheet of metal and not with any sort of formula in mind (yeah I know I suck). From what I have read on the internet it is comparable in size to the average shower, maybe even a little larger.

The Test Ponds: Both ponds are your average pond that any average American might build. Pond 1 is roughly 5500 gallons and has a bottom drain, skimmer, WLim Dragon pump, Aquabead 4.25 bead filter and a Zapp Pure UV. At the end of all of that I have installed the Bakki. After the testing is done I will be installing a Wave 36 separator in between the drain and pump. Pond 2 is a 2500 gallon pond with a single bottom drain, Sequence 750 pump, a converted sand filter filled with "kaldnes like" material, feeding a Rubbermaid 150 gallon stock tank filled with Springflo. also in this system is a 52watt Aqua UV.  Both ponds are in full sun however I have covered Pond 1 about 40% and Pond 2 is covered about 60%. I will soon be increasing coverage on Pond 1 to match Pond 2. KH reading in both ponds are usually around 120 with GH usually around 300.

Tests: All tests will occur around 6pm daily. Nitrates-Aquarium Pharmaceuticals drop test kit. PH-Hanna HI98127. ORP-Milwaukee SM500. TDS-Milwaukee T75

Here is a picture of MY Bakki Shower.

POND 1 (with Bakki)

POND 2 (without Bakki)

Notes

8/19-Hope to have Bakki online tomorrow.

8/20- Bakki online about noon. Uh-oh I must not have done a good job rinsing lava because TDS is way high. Will do big water change tomorrow.

8/21- Cleaned filters and did water changes on both ponds. Suspected PH meter was not calibrated right. Did a 2 point calibration and now meter jives with drop test. edit-20% water change on both ponds.

8/22- Water is super clear in both ponds. Obvious now that clear water does not mean quality water. Lots of work to do. Really hoping Bakki makes a difference.

8/23- Temps much cooler today. Did water change on Pond 1. Water change on Pond 2 still in process. edit-10% water change on both ponds.

8/24- Got some good suggestions from the Koi-bito forums today on my testing (Thanks guys!). I added the temp line for the tests. I also added another row of holes in the spraybar. Still only able to get 75% of flow to go through the spraybar. I will increase hole size tomorrow to get to 100% I will also get more lava and try to go up to about 3/4 full. This should not impact testing as it is way too early in the testing for it to make a difference. Also I will try to figure out a good way to get more shade on Pond 1 so it matches Pond 2. This would be an attempt to get the temps closer to each other for more accurate testing. Water change also due tomorrow. Probably another a 20% change. Wish I could trickle water in constantly but I don't think my well pump would like it very much.

8/25- Water changes and filter flush on both ponds today. 20% water change. Water still filling on pond 2 while testing. Real work got in the way so I wasn't able to cover more of pond 1 or add more lava...maybe tomorrow.

8/26- Another busy day at work. Water changes tomorrow.

8/27- 10% water changes today however its been raining all day so more then 10% got changed out. Filters flushed as well. Apparently rain has a negative effect on ORP. I knew the PH would be down but did not know it would effect ORP as well. Learn something new everyday I guess.

8/28- Rain stopped and air temps went back to normal so pond temps went back up. ORP is in the weeds on both ponds. Still thinking rain is the cause. should see increase tomorrow I would think.

8/29- Performed water changes and filter cleaning AFTER tests due to time constraints. No rain today but heavy rain expected soon as we get leftovers from Hurricane Katrina. Once again I expect to see some drops in ORP very soon.

8/30- Hurricane Katrina leftovers on the way fast. NITRITES detected in pond 2. Maybe blew filter out with all the flushing. Added salt and saw immediate increase in TDS. KH low in both ponds due to rain from earlier. Added baking soda to both. We'll see what tomorrow brings but it's looking like it's gonna be a wild night.

8/31- Super windy last night and all day, in fact there were tornados in the next town over. Limited rain. No damage to ponds although I do have several large tree branches down. Finally drilled out all spraybar holes to 1/2" so now I have 100% flow through shower. I ran the numbers last night on the commercial Bakki versus mine. Commercial Bakki is 4 tier and can hold 12,000CI of media. Mine is 3 tier and can hold 15,924CI of media. Oh yeah flushed filters and did 10% water change today on both ponds.

9/1- Well 13 days since I turned on Bakki and not much change. Of course it takes 21 days to cycle so hopefully I will see some changes in another 10 days or so. Not sure why the sudden jump in orp in pond 2. Perhaps the water change from yesterday had something to do with it.

9/2- Not to much to say today. Did testing and that's about it.

9/3- Don't ask.

9/4- Filter flushes and 20% water changes.

9/5- No idea what is causing the drop in ORP in both ponds.

9/6- Filter flushes and 10% water change

9/7- Just the tests and nothing but.

9/8- Filter flushes and 10% water change. Koi in Pond 1 seem very hungry.

9/9- Had to do filter flush again on Pond 1. Flow from pump down to almost nothing as bead filter seems clogged.

9/10- Nitrates dropped in Pond 1 and ORP went up. Unfortunately flow was off again so I took bead apart to clean and one of the fittings for the spraybar broke. Got it running again but will have to replace fitting ASAP.

9/11- More cleaning of bead. Hopefully plumbing supply store will have the part I need. Koi in Pond 1 still alot hungrier then Pond 2. They will eat anything you throw at them.

9/12- Filter flushes and 20% water changes. No luck on the elbow today for the bead filter. Maybe tomorrow.

9/13- Another day of striking out on the elbow for the bead. Doesn't anybody carry the plumbing parts I need? Meanwhile the ORP is dropping in both ponds. I suspect it's due to the much cooler evening temps.

9/14- Bead filter problems still. :(

9/15- Spraybar came off bead filter while doing a backflush. Beads went everywhere. Part is on order. The good news though is with all the recent problems off the bead filter I have not noticed any nitrites or ammonia. Apparently the Bakki has no problem taking up the slack as I'm sure I've blown out the bead at this point. The bead filter is being flushed twice a day as it keeps clogging. The reason for the clogging is a lack of a settlement. I have a Lim 36 to install but I wanted to wait until after experiment was over. Guess what I'll be doing this weekend?

9/16- Well this round of the experiment is over. Maybe this spring I will try again. With added settlement and more permanent shade I expect to see some better water parameters. I am very happy with drop in Nitrates. I could see the difference in the Koi eating habits as it dropped. I didn't see the gains in ORP that I wanted but I believe it did make a difference as it now averages higher then pond 2 which was running higher on average before the bakki. Again it's not the number I was looking for but for now I am content with the results. Come Spring though it's a whole new ball game!