Originally Posted by
tolga
Hi Trevor, I've just started the process of maturing my 50 litres of K1 inside my sump with Poret foam sheets as dividers.
I thought of experimenting with a couple of tunze 6025 power heads to fluidize the media as the air pump was far too loud.
It seems to be working although there is a slight build up of k1 media around the power heads which is manageable so far. I'm intending to add two more power heads soon.
In terms of oxygen, the turbulence caused by the power heads and the volume of water draining straight into the k1 chamber from the two drain pipes appears to provide some amount of oxygen in my view. I have also installed a large oxydator unit which is a german made device producing loads of pure oxygen from a weak solution of hydrogen peroxide. It hasn't got any moving parts and appears to be safe. You can google it if you like.
So, I know you don't have a sump but my point is, air pumps are not necessary for this media to work effectively. The main thing is to provide enough agitation to fluidize the k1. It has been explained to me that this type of media uses a lot of oxygen so if you are not providing additional source of oxygen then the existing O2 levels in the tank could be depleted by the k1. So extra oxygen seems to be necessary in one form or another.
I hope that's helpful.