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Oase Biomaster Users: Has anyone tried Concave upgrades?

I also notice from the instructions that there’s a right and a wrong way to fit the impeller cover, it looks like if you do it the wrong way a web could obstruct the flow, didn’t notice this when l had mine apart 🙄.
The long L shaped plastic part that gets assembled on top of the impeller cover won't fit if you don't assemble the cover in the right position.
 
The long L shaped plastic part that gets assembled on top of the impeller cover won't fit if you don't assemble the cover in the right position.
That is what I thought as well. (I tried, but failed!!)
 
If you download DB Meter from the App Store, or you have a DB meter, how loud is it registering?

The below is one of my Oase 250’s with the phone right next to the unit when taking the reading. Interested to get a comparison.

View attachment 216037

Not sure how accurate these are, but held mines right next to the head unit and it averaged 57db, considering the scale is logarithmic, that's a huge disparity.
 
Not sure how accurate these are, but held mines right next to the head unit and it averaged 57db, considering the scale is logarithmic, that's a huge disparity.
That is quite a jump, and mine was also next to the head. We really need another 850 user to do the same, as the 850 will have a bigger impeller and more wattage pushed through it.

When MJ Acquaspacing did the DB test, he had it around the 47-49db mark - with a peak above 60 when expelling air. So you still look to be around 10db above his test results on average.

It does show, however, that the 850 is likely to be slightly louder as default than the 250 and 350 - but perhaps not 10db higher.
 
That is quite a jump, and mine was also next to the head. We really need another 850 user to do the same, as the 850 will have a bigger impeller and more wattage pushed through it.

When MJ Acquaspacing did the DB test, he had it around the 47-49db mark - with a peak above 60 when expelling air. So you still look to be around 10db above his test results on average.

It does show, however, that the 850 is likely to be slightly louder as default than the 250 and 350 - but perhaps not 10db higher.

I also have an 850, just tried and registered at 58db next to the head unit!
 
As a point of interest, the central heating at our old house had a three or four speed circulating pump. It seemed to make little to no difference in noise level whichever setting you used.
 
@Superpuma1 - did you manage to get to the bottom of your flow issue?
 
So I have been lurking on this thread for a while and got the plate upgrade myself. I can say it cured the most common biomaster air bubble issue. Filter can now remove all of the air on its own after water change, so that's awesome.. no more shaking it left and right. As for the general operation, it humms just as it was before, so no improvement sound wise.



Also I noticed my heater has some condensation on the inside.. anyone knows if that's normal? It's only 1.5 year old.

 
Also I noticed my heater has some condensation on the inside.. anyone knows if that's normal? It's only 1.5 year old.

I assumed this would be an issue, but after some Googling, it seems that it's normal and can happen as part of the manufacturing process, so I think you're fine.
 
I assumed this would be an issue, but after some Googling, it seems that it's normal and can happen as part of the manufacturing process, so I think you're fine.
Agreed, although it's hard to get a straight answer! I settled on 'condensation is OK' but 'water not ok'.
 
Agreed, although it's hard to get a straight answer! I settled on 'condensation is OK' but 'water not ok'.

Yeah it's not crystal clear, I would probably contact Oase directly just to be sure. I contacted them about something not long ago and they were pretty quick in getting back to me.
 
As a slight side topic, but still on the Oase theme, I ripped a bag slightly that was holding my HELX-13 plastic.

As a result, I decided to free it and let it roam widely within the bottom tray. Being in the bottom tray, it was quite easy to trap it before adding the other trays to pin it in. And back in it went. I contacted Oase to ask whether there would be any detrimental impact of doing this, and they replied with an 'absolutely not' and followed it with a " not having a bag will make no difference to the operation/performance/filtration of the filter media. You can either place it back into a bag or keep it loose".

It's not exactly a prize-winning finding! 🙂 However, with it now free from the bag's awkward constraints, it does open an opportunity to fit more of the HELX-13 into that tray. Without pushing it too much, I suspect I can now increase the tray volume of HELX-13 by 50-60%. That would equate to having more (approx) surface area in that tray than an equivalent-sized 20PPI sponge tray.
 
Hi all,
As a result, I decided to free it and let it roam widely within the bottom tray.
However, with it now free from the bag's awkward constraints, it does open an opportunity to fit more of the HELX-13 into that tray. Without pushing it too much, I suspect I can now increase the tray volume of HELX-13 by 50-60%.
In this case "less is more" and floating cell media is at its most effective for nitrification when it fills a relatively small volume (50% - 70%) of the available space <"https://www.ssiaeration.com/how-to-select-mbbr-media">.

It is just back to oxygen again, you just want the media to be continually bathed in (dissolved) oxygen rich water, nothing else really matters.

There is quite a lot of scientific research on this, because floating cell media in a MBBR ("moving bed-biofilm reactor") is one of preferred systems for wastewater treatment.

This is from:
Santhana Raj Deena, Gopalakrishnan Kumar, A.S. Vickram, Reeta Rani Singhania, Cheng–Di Dong, Karunakaran Rohini, K. Anbarasu, S. Thanigaivel, Vinoth Kumar Ponnusamy, (2022) "Efficiency of various biofilm carriers and microbial interactions with substrate in moving bed-biofilm reactor for environmental wastewater treatment," Bioresource Technology, 359,
...... The use of continuously mixing carriers means that MBBR processes can have a low biocarrier filling ratio as long as the reactor is homogeneous throughout. As a result of mixing and aerating, the growth and detachment of biofilms are kept relatively balanced, and the growth at steady-state conditions and constant biofilm thickness are maintained.........
This is a really good review article for those who are interested in nitrification, and covers all the moving <"bits, like media shape"> and internal surface area for floating cell media.

cheers Darrel
 
In this case "less is more" and floating cell media is at its most effective for nitrification when it fills a relatively small volume (50% - 70%) of the available space <"https://www.ssiaeration.com/how-to-select-mbbr-media">.
Agreed, I should have qualified that the extra 50% would not fill up the tray. There would still be tonnes of space. (However, I am now going to calculate that to ensure I am right!!)
 
I opened the bag and freed the little plastic bits as soon as I assembled the filter, so I guess it is good to know that it is OK, although I always assumed that I was supposed to do it haha.

I think, however, given the low flow of the filter, that they don't really move all that much inside that tray... I'm not sure how much they really behave as floating media.
 
I made a mistake of using Ziss ZM-11 in my filters. It’s rather small and as it floats gets all over the place come filter cleaning time. Now all replaced with Sera Siporax and some Substrat Pro I already had.
I’m a big fan of the Siporax. It’s lighter than ceramic rings, appears to have a larger surface area but more open allowing good flow. If I had the patience I could/should carefully stack it like someone else on this forum?! 😀
 
I opened the bag and freed the little plastic bits as soon as I assembled the filter, so I guess it is good to know that it is OK, although I always assumed that I was supposed to do it haha.
I thought that, but reading the instructions, it's pretty explicit about keeping them in the bag! Someone who is an Oase dealer questioned this and they told him it was fine to un-bag it. I then double-checked with Oase, and they also confirmed. But not sure of the original reason why...

I think, however, given the low flow of the filter, that they don't really move all that much inside that tray... I'm not sure how much they really behave as floating media.
That is an interesting question—a very interesting question. I agree this configuration is probably still classed as static media.
However, how much flow is required to fluidise it? My Oase 250 pushes 500 Litres an hour through it, which is a paltry 8 litres a minute. But what is the right level before it becomes fluidised?
 
I’m a big fan of the Siporax. It’s lighter than ceramic rings, appears to have a larger surface area but more open allowing good flow. If I had the patience I could/should carefully stack it like someone else on this forum?! 😀
From what I can calculate and very approximately, 800ml of HEL-X13 (as static media) will provide around ammonia reduction for 134g of fish. Siporax will provide around 51g for the same volume.
 
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