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Fish Mate Pressurised Filter Information
Powerclenz Cleaning System: The key selling point to the Fish Mate pressurised filter, the powerclenz is a red dial on the top of the filter, when this is moved into the clean function it creates 1000lbs of pressure that squeezes all of the foams within the filter. The dirty water is then pushed out of the filter via a hose and onto your flower beds (pond sludge makes an excellent fertilizer for your garden plants, so don't let it go to waste). By having this cleaning system in place makes the Fish Mate filtration system fully unique, it means cleaning is so easy, that it takes a maximum of 5 minutes once or twice a month. The more regular you clean, the better the life of the foams and also the better filtration will become, as bacteria is constantly being exchanged for new when cleaning.
Design Features: The rounded dustbin shape of the Fish Mate pressurised system is like any other pressurised filter system, it has been cleverly designed so that it can pump water up to a maximum head height of two meters therefore allowing you the choice of burying your pond filter underground or installing it above ground. All you need to do is take a flexible polyhose from the outlet of the filter to the top of your waterfall, or even straight back to the opposite side of the pond from your pump (this ensures the water circulates fully around the pond). Fish Mate Pressurised filters have been designed in their unique green colour on purpose, it allows the Fish Mate to be as discreet as possible in the garden as it blends in better with your plants etc.
Multistage Filtration: Filtration to fish keepers is vital, achieving a natural balance with a stocked pond unless they are constantly monitored. Pond filtration helps the nitrogencycle, this cycle in basic terms means:
- Ammonia is placed in the pond through fish excretion and throught the decaying of plant matter and food.
- Aerobic bacteria within the ponds biological filtration system converts this into less toxic nitrites.
- This is then oxidized and converted from nitrites into nitrate.
- The nitrate is basically a source which plants use as food.
The Supra media that is used within the Fish Mate pressurised filter is where the bacteria in the filter will thrive the most. When you are buying a new Fish Mate Pressurised powerclenz the amount of supra media that comes with the filter is 500g and this has a surface area of 2600ft this can hold a lot of bacteria! Fish Mate recommend that half the media is replaced every month, this is due to the fact the ceramic material that the supra media is made from, has a controlled porosity (tiny holes for more surface areas) these over six months can get slightly blocked with dead bacteria so its better to change than try and clean. The other stages of the filtration process are the mechanical filtration, in this process solids are removed these consists of fish waste, algae and decaying pond sludge. This helps to also keep the pond crystal clear, with the help of a combined UV bulb which flocculates (clumps the algae together) the previously to small algae that would turn your pond green is now big enough to be filtered out of your pond.
Maintenance: From time to time you will need to open up and give the foams a clean, or maybe replace them (Fish Mate recommend replacing the foams every season, but if they are kept clean they should last two seasons). The Fish Mate filter couldn't be simpler to open, shown in the bottom left picture there is a metal clip that holds the lid to the drum, simply flick this open and let the clip slide down the body of your Fish Mate filter and place this to one side. Next lift the lid away from the body of the unit, be gentle to prevent any water or sludge from the filter flicking up at you, as this would be unpleasant to say the least! In the right hand side picture you can see what a brand new set of foams looks like, if your top foam is not flush with the white polystyrene foam ring, this is a sign that they have become misshaped and need to be replaced. You will also need to make sure that the white foam that is used as part of the Powerclenz function fits flush/overlaps the drum when replacing, as this is how the air lock for the pressure is created. If your foams are still in good shape and you just want to clean them out, the best way of doing this is putting them into a bucket of pond water and squashing them out until clean, remember to put this water onto your flowerbed.
To replace the quarts sleeve/clean it, you will need to take all the foams away from the filter and place them to one side. Then hold the middle black up stand tube and then turn this anti clockwise which will then release the round box that holds the supra media and all the middle upstand pipe from the lid. You will then be able to see the quartz sleeve, and the UV bulb, to clean the quartz turn it anti clockwise and then remove it from the lid of the unit. Once you have removed the quartz sleeve from the lid of the unit, take a damp cloth and remove any algae, limescale or sludge that may be on it. At this time you can also replace the UV bulb (these last at their optimum for 6 months so make sure to change them every spring). Replace both parts, and then the foams, then the translucent o-ring and the lid clamp and your filter is ready to be used again.
