Of all the different types of media available on the market today, PVC strand media has been proven to the the most efficient for both its ability to provide massive surface areas for bacteria contact with the water and also its ability to be cleaned when necessary. Closed media materials such as plastic blocks, shot gun wads and others are almost impossible to clean because the particulate clogs all the pores and then is very difficult, if not impossible, to remove.
In a properly designed biofilter the water can be slowly moved through the stands containing the bacteria without restriction allowing 100% of the surface area bacteria colony to have access to the ammonia and nitrites.
PVC strand biofilter media from Burdette Industries works perfectly in both horizontal bio-filters and up-welling types. Providing a high surface area per cubic foot (Approximately 250 sq. ft.) strand media allows lots of room for easy water passage past the bacteria. When it is time for the media to be serviced it is easily removed from the filter and gently washed down to remove solid particulate accumulation and then replaced, still charged with the bacteria for immediate resumption of the filters task of removing ammonia and nitrite.
There are three things that all aquaculture systems “MUST” have in order to grow fish in an efficient manner. They are good feed, clean water and a very good oxygen distribution system. There are no solid statistic's on the cause of fish deaths in aquaculture, but if there were there is a good chance the number one cause would be the lack of oxygen at critical times. In a closed recirculation system it is not only important to have levels that will support the fish, it is even more important to make sure these levels are maintained at all times, especially when the fish are feeding. Burdette Industries has worked on oxygen delivery systems for over 30 years. During this time we have accumulated the knowledge needed to provide state of the art oxygen systems.
One of our finest design achievements. The BIOC-09 02 station is a complete package that will assure proper oxygen at all times for optimum fish growth performance. The 02 station keeps the oxygen levels stable during all fish behavior stages from rest to high activity during feeding. The station is equipped with an 02 probe attached to a controller to add oxygen when levels reach an operator set level. Should the oxygen levels reach a per-set low point and alarm will sound to alert an outside power sensor will take over adding oxygen should the outside power be lost plus a manual emergency valve the operator can open to also add more oxygen should it be necessary. Station can be connected via wire to a remote PC so the operator can not only see current tank oxygen conditions but also review stored data to see oxygen levels at past times and spot potential problems and correct them before they happen. Full operation instructions are included including helpful tips on how to use oxygen level conditions to determine such things as increase BOD, ammonia and other tank conditions.
LOW PRESSURE OXYGEN INJECTORS
Airstones or other bubble making devices work fine for aquariums and other low biomass density fish cultures, but when you are trying to grow as many fish as possible in a tank you had better have something a lot more efficient to get the air dissolved into the water. Seeing bubbles rise to the surface might make you feel good about things but when bubbles come up, that means the air did not get to a place where the fish can use it. The solution to this problem is through oxygen injection. It was learned hundreds of years ago that when oxygen is placed into water under pressure, the oxygen molecule is forced into the water molecule, hence the term, “Injection” .
Most low pressure oxygen injectors found in the market place today (as well as older models from Burdette Industries) are large and bulky devices that are difficult to fit into most tank systems. Through many experiments and design changes, Burdette Industries has now developed an injector that is only 8 inches wide. This allows for the unit to be set right on the end of almost all tanks.
This unit is designed to carry 40 gallons per minute and develop 15 psi of pressure. The most effective way to use this unit is to have the water returning from the biofilter pumped directly to the injector and then directly into the fish culture tanks. By doing so the water and excess, un-dissolved, oxygen leaving the discharge nozzle will have yet an additional opportunity to be dissolved into the tank water.
When used with the our above Oxygen Controller you can be assured that your fish are getting all of the oxygen they need at all times in an efficient manner.