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LTG
OASE BioSmart 10000 Pond Filter
Amazon review directing the interested here to YardCrap.
All interested are welcome to join
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OASE BioSmart 10000 Pond Filter
--$324
Due to being influenced by cold beer last week on the porch, ordered a new pond filter to add to my arsenal.
My current outdoor set up is a few ponds of 100, 150, 220, and 4000. My favorite thing these days is a 12 foot "Branch" as the birds love it. All my ponds are around 15-20 years old. I raise fish, frogs, turtles and WTF.
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My smaller ponds just house tadpoles and frogs and require almost no maintenance or filtration. Bigger is not always better as to fun.
I do keep lots of floating plants. Now huge stands of Ivy and Confederate Jasmine have put many roots into the water to eat up the nitrates. Plants add greatly to pond health.
My history at re-rigging filters is long. The best filters tend to be the ones you alter to your needs or maybe build from scratch. The deal is to understand the nitrogen cycle if you keep critters, and understand that mechanical filters to clear the water will require maintenance. I like to hold that maintenance to just a few times a year. That cost more. The more hands on you are, the cheaper it all is.
Most folks seem to just care as to clearer water in a pond and not the Nitrogen Cycle (which I will go into later). To that end the bigger the filter, the less often maintenance will be needed before it clogs. Flow rate is always important, but more important is what happens to the water between the time it leaves the pond and is returned. One can flow water to a garbage can or big tub filled with bio balls, sponges, etc and get good results. These are hell to maintain. Never be fooled by web idiots who claim miracle filters are one and done. I would say 90% of "expert" information on the web is wrong. People read it, re post it, and it becomes common knowledge or fact
. Most things put up by these idiots is wrong.
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Filter density decides how "filtered" the water will be. Course media will not need to be cleaned as often as denser media. Denser media produces clearer water and obviously requires more cleaning. In my indoor aquariums use micron level, but that is not practical or needed in the yard. I have no experience with sand or bead filters as the cost of these is more than me, and I have no reason to believe they are better, or that I have need of them.
A pond mostly in the shade with no critters requires very little filtration as most particles will settle to the bottom. Maybe you need no filter? You will need water flow to keep things from going anaerobic.
A pond with critters or Sun will require more filtration if clearer water is desired.
In Sun, algae can be a problem. If you have no critters, just add some bleach as needed.
If all you want is the sound of flowing water, no filter needed, just bleach. A pond with no critters is dead and not much fun. Right now as I sit on the porch, Dragon and Damsel flies are buzzing over mine and laying eggs. It is a "not to missed" event! Frogs are grunting. Fish are about. No device yet built by man can help with Mosquito control as much as a garden pond with tadpoles and fish.
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The two main types of algae in ponds are string and floating. To a point string is good and fun to have. It tends to mean your pond is healthy. Critters will easily keep in under control. Floating algae makes ponds murky. Critters, falling dust, etc, add sludge.
I have used a couple UV things over the years, but don't seem to have a current need for them. One powerful enough with the right flow rate can kill floating algae and maybe some parasites, but they do not address other things. Don't be sold by hype and just assume you need a UV light to have a nice pond.
Floating algae and particles in the water can be filtered out. If your pond has full Sun, these UV may help. They will work best with more power and slower GPH. I have a couple in the shed if I ever need them.
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On to the OASE 10,000. After a beer too many on the porch
, ordered this in. No, it can't do 10,000 gallons. That is hype. I think it could do a pond of a 1000 or less and make the owner happy.
I go back 50 years, have a fond spot for gravity filters
as at one time all were that. They tend to be less efficient as to mechanical, but excellent working the Nitrogen Cycle. As to mechanical they tend to be easier to clean and maintain. I prefer pressure filters inside for aquariums and gravity outside for ponds as the needs are different. As a plus in my area, we average 5"of rain a month. Inside or outside, partial water changes are very important.
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My current set up on my 4000gal pond:
--- Two large waterfall tubs filled with different densities of Matala filter material and the pad that came with them. Matala is the best I have run across and is endlessly washable. The deal with a filter is that it is only as good as what is on the inside. I have used tons of bioballs, and different things in filters, but Matala is by far the best for outside.
That looks small, but is large, about 2' across.
These large tubs take in water in from the bottom and overflow back into the pond after water passes through the media. It is extremely simple, very low tech. They are a steal at $183, but of course the Matala I use as media runs up the cost. At each I have a 4235 GPH Tetra pump, so each set up is around $500. In my opinion, this is a great investment. These guys are easy to maintain, do the job, and you get a waterfall which adds greatly to aeration. No pond with out aeration will survive. Pond health is not about tiny bubbles from an air pump in a pond, best is water crashing onto the surface. The surface can form a film to limit oxygen if not agitated.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1
The last couple Summers have also hooked in a Tetra pressurized filter:
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https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...e?ie=UTF8&th=1
These work good and so I put one "in line" at my main indoor aquarium where only filtered water goes into it. It is a great addition inside and maybe overkill, but in the yard is a hassle. If you have a small pond or aquarium, good deal, not so much for a larger pond.
To that end, today got in the OASE BioSmart 10000.
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I set it up this morning to see WTF is going on with it. I will move it to a more permanent location soon as I discover how to use it best. So far I like it.
Lots of folks on Amazon have mentioned pump size. As an old hand, have many pumps in the shed. I hooked in a "Fish Mate Pond Pump 2300 Agricultural Pond" that is rated at 2250 GPH. The head is maybe 8 foot where I have the filter, so less GPH than that. It was enough and had water above the top board level not going through the media.
This filter is not designed for high flow rate. As there is no pressure to force things through the media, no need to pay additional electricity rates.
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Impressions today are many and may change.
-- Places for water to go in and out are poor as to engineering. They are flimsy. Just another inch of threads here and there would be very important. My inlet location bulkhead jumps the threads if I tighten it enough to stop leaks. A bulkhead is old tech, and these are crap.
As this is not a pressurized filter, I guess all can find ways to make it work, but is just a shame on their end as that should not be needed.
-- The media is sponges. I remember decades back when sponge was introduced to replace floss. All the old hands laughed, but it turned out to be better, much better. It cleans the water and is great as to the Nitrogen Cycle. Sponge is reusable after a rinse.
It does clog quickly due to being efficient.
--The water flow in the OASE 10000 is ??
One engineer posted "it is all wrong". I agree, and hope I am wrong. The course sponge is on both sides with dense ones in the middle. That makes no sense, but what do I know? No matter how you line them up, they should work, just seems to be less efficient. I suppose one could order in more and arrange them better? One should not be thinking on that for a filter as engineers should have done that thinking.
-- The size is big and that is needed for outdoors. The tub seems strong.
-- I will report as to how well the sponge in this tub clean the water. Sponge is great, and I hope it does not work me to death. As to WTF goes on inside, only time can tell.
At the end of the day as to "just thinking", must compare it to current filters in the price range. Later will go here again after it has a few weeks.![Eagerness](images/smilies/eagerness.png)
All in use now have higher flow rates. The tubs hold much more media.
The cannister uses a flat bio ball thing.
The tub is very easy to clean and the canister has a self cleaning thing that "sorta" works OK.
Neither will filter as well as a dense sponge. To that end my pond is normally clear to the 40" bottom. I dug mine 40" straight down on the sides to discourage Coons and Herons from wading.
My initial impression is poor engineering as to water in and out. In most applications even one drop escaping is not acceptable. I went to Lowes and got the rubber hook ups some suggested. Thanks for the heads up as to that. I suspect on more perment installation will need putty and tape and glue and ??. Like I said, a bulkhead is old tech. A tight water fitting should be "a given" on a $300+ filter.
I believe I can make good use of this filter. I believe it has much potential.
Will this equal one of the tubs or the cannister?
My hope is it will be an improvement on the cannister it may replace.
The OASE may/should filter mechanically better than the tubs, but I doubt it will be their equal as to "bio". When I clean the tubs, the media pads are heavy to lift out. After a hard garden hose spray as they sit in my wagon, become as light as a feather
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In the next post on this thread will look at the OASE BioSmart 10000 as to the Nitrogen Cycle and post current photos of my ponds. (older ones abound here). Maybe some Amazon readers will join YardCrap and add in thier thoughts not just as to ponds, but also other areas. No adds, no fees, lots of crap, and nothing for sale.
We are all just geezers on the porch. By design YC is difficult to join, so email to get in.
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LTG
First Impressions ![Frog](images/smilies/frog.png)
It has been running for a couple days. Later after I get a grip on how to best install it, will do that. It can't remain where I have it. I will build a stand for it at some point and painting what ever out tube is needed. The out tube here is 4". On Amazon a guy said to get a 4"X3.5" rubber converter and I will "next trip to town. The accessories included are OK, but German and not America. Even better might be a 3'5" to 3" (don't know if they make those) as 3" can handle the outflow with ease.
It is called "OASE BioSmart 10000", can it do my 4000 gallon pond? Nope.
As a plus, I get on average 5" of rain a month, which helps a lot.
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Is this a good filter, only time will tell, so check back.
Today I tried out the built in cleaning aspect.
The filter has sponge below a handle. You pull up the handle and it compresses the sponge. There is a drain hole that opens to let the dirty water run out the rear. It is what it is, and not bad at all.
For a more thorough cleaning the sponges can be removed.
10000
50000
Keep in mind that while cleaning is needed, that also washes away bacteria that is needed. A dirty pond can be healthy, one with not enough bacteria cannot be. Bacteria stick to everything, walls, rocks, tubing, etc and will be present in the water. Water with hopefully an adequate oxygen level travels over the bacteria, and they feast on crap (ammonia, nitrites) and give off Co2 and nitrates. If this is not happening in your pond, it will quickly become a stinking mess.
The deal with filter media (in this case sponge) is that it greatly expands the surface area for bacteria to live on. To that end, best not to clean the media to extreme, Knocking off the visible crud is enough.
In a new pond, there is no bacteria. In an older pond, there is more than enough to quickly repopulate after you rinse the media. If you have more than one filter, clean them at different times. When you do clean, don't go all "Mary Poppins" and do it to extreme.
This filter uses sponge. As I said above, sponge works well as to filtering mechanically and has great surface area for bacteria to live on. Most sponge clog quickly due to the density. That is good and bad. For any media to work, water must flow through it. Clear water is the result of more dense filtering, and healthy water is the result of more bacteria.
I live on a lake with a shoreline over 900 miles. In Summer, the Stripped Bass seek the deepest levels due to cooler temps. The deep places can lack needed oxygen if the lake is not turning over fast enough.
Oxygen is needed in any body of water big or small. Too little and it will go anaerobic.
A garden pond of any size needs oxygen. The best way to add it most times is surface agitation. The return from this filter crashing down might be enough for many ponds.
As the water needs to circulate so there are no dead spots (like for my Stripped Bass buddies mentioned above) place the "intake" and the "return" as far away from each other as possible.
My opinion so far is this filter would be good if you have a pond of 300-1000 gallons. If bigger, more of these would be needed. All people may start with no critters, but soon they get some as a pond with no critters seems dead mentally even if you don't see them.
Not many with a 300 gallon pond would spring for a $300 filter. As all "not" in their first rodeo know, the real cost of every thing is in the accessories.
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SMA
I know you get a lot of enjoyment from your ponds. I'm too lazy. At our last home, we had a huge beech tree. At the base of this tree was a small natural spring. When I discovered it, it was full of dead leaves. I cleaned it out, and in no time, there were crayfish and frogs. The reason that tree was so big was that it never suffered from thirst. You've got the ideal setup for enjoying nature.
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