BioLife 35/55 Internal Wet/Dry Power Filter Manual
Filtration Stages
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A live bacterial biological filtration supplement such as CYCLE will reduce the time required to establish safe conditions for a full aquarium population. It can be added directly to the "dry" chamber of the Bio-Life to promote rapid bacterial initiation. CYCLE is also highly recommended when the bacterial filter has been damaged by medication, cleaning or when new fish are added to ensure adequate removal of organic toxins at all times. Regular use of CYCLE also removes sludge, helping to keep the dry chamber fully efficient. |
BIO-LIFE FILTRATION STAGES
Bio-Life has been carefully engineered to remove all solid wastes from the filtered flow by constricting sieve size through three independent media stages. Stage 1 removes large particles; plant material, full size food flakes or chunks, as well as any other large solids.
After the water flow passes through the first stage, it reaches a foam block. Stage 2 (Foam) removes most of the particulate wastes that are small enough to pass through the primary stage. The foam pore size is ideal to trap most of the wastes without clogging rapidly. The clean water the enters the third stage.
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Stage 3 uses a cartridge to its greatest efficiency. With pure water passing through the cartridge, it is not rapidly clogged by large particles. Rather Stage 3 scrubs the passing water with a Duo-Density polyester layer. Removing and effectively trapping the rest of the fine particulate matter that has managed to pass through the first two steps.
A second layer bonded to the polyester pad containing powderized carbon is then free to adsorb liquified wastes into the huge internal carbon matrix. Liquefied wastes may be proteins, medications, dyes or other water soluble substances. Hagen UltraGrade carbon,
used exclusively in the Mech III cartridge, has a high adsorptive capacity for both liquified and gaseous impurities, ensnaring contaminants electrostatically; molecule by molecule. They are actively drawn inside the activated carbon and trapped permanently.
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After mechanically scrubbing of particulate and liquefied wastes, the water is channeled down and into the riser stem. Water flow may follow two distinct routes as it passes through the impeller chamber. Most of the water is expelled into the aquarium, but a significant amount is pumped to the drip tray above the biological filter chamber. The water has been purified of all particulate material and liquefied wastes, but ammonia and nitrite are still in the water solution itself. The water expelled from the Biological Water Input into the drip tray through the "dry" chamber where it splashes and separates into tiny droplets as it passes through media Stage 4, the Biological Core. The intricate pore structure and huge internal surface area is ideal for thriving populations of nitrosomonas and nitrobacter. Actual surface area within the Core is as much as 8 to 10 gallons of plastic ball media commonly used in larger trickle systems. Actual surface area is 107 ft2 (10m2).
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Since the chamber is suspended in a dry area, the surrounding atmosphere supplies all oxygen needs. For the bacteria without depleting the passing water of oxygen as is the case with normal undergravel systems. In fact, the splashing tends to oxygenate the water and strip excess carbon dioxide as it passes through the chamber.
Stage 5, the Hex-Nodes, provide semi-submerged biological filtration after the water drops from the Core. The trickle chamber exhaust rejoins the main flow through the Hex-Nodes and the water flows back into the water pump. The Flow Diverter allows the output to be directed toward any point in the aquarium ensuring proper current generation and mixing of the water. To ensure even higher oxygen content is delivered to the aquatic inhabitants, the adjustable filter intake on the Venturi device injects air into the output stream. As the bubbles burst at the surface, the surface tension is disrupted and effective oxygen/carbon dioxide exchange in enhanced.
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