Cleaning bio beads questions.

[Renee48192]

I am getting ready to fill the the pressure filter back up and get the pond started. I have buckets of bio beads (little round plastic beads with chambers in them)that I took out of the filter and stored them in buckets in the garage for the winter. They are full of green algae and gunk.  I threw them into a 55 gallon drum and have been blasting them with the hose this morning.

My question is....I live in Michigan so these beads were frozen in buckets all winter.  I am assuming that there is no good live bacteria inside of them?  So if that is true, can I add a few tablespoons of bleach to the water in the drum to kill the algae spores and then rinse really well? Also, I left a gallon of live bacteria in the garage all winter...forgot to bring it in.  Is it still good or does it turn non-usable from being frozen?  Thanks!! Renee

[miguynmkoi]

I understand that most beneficial bacteria cannot survive in temperatures below 45*F.

Never use chlorinated water to clean any biological parts of your filter.  If it is necessary to clean your biological filter (with pond water), beneficial bacteria should be added immediately to replace to bacteria lost during the process.

Since you do live in a cold weather area you may have to wait for those who know better about ponding in cold weather to answer you properly.

[Renee48192]

That is what I was afraid of...that I ruined a full gallon of expensive bacteria.  Oh well...guess I order more.  I also thought that maybe a little bleach on the beads rinsed well might not hurt anything in the pond, fish, plants, etc before putting them back into the filter.  Maybe even adding a little de-chlorinator to the rinse water?  With the pond being 3200 gallons, I didn't think it would matter, but not sure. Thanks for the input! 

[miguynmkoi]

The bacteria either weakens or dies with any amount of chlorine.  If you use de-chlorinator it must be in the water before it goes into the bio-filter or the beads - if the bacteria is existing.  In your case if all the bacteria is gone then I'm sure with or without the chlorine you should be fine.  Bleach?  I'm not too sure on that one.

[Johns]

Renee,

Since your bio beads were dried out, any Nitrosomonas or Nitrobacter bacteria would be dead already, however, If I were going to clean them, I would use hot water followed by soaking in hydrogen peroxide, raher than chlorine bleach.  Any hydrogen peroxide left on them going back into the filter will aid, rather than hinder new bacteria, which require oxygen to survive, and mixing with pond water, hydrogen peroxide will release oxygen.  Don't worry about adding new bacteria, your fish will provide that from their gut.

[Renee48192]

Thanks John. 

I really did the best I could on cleaning the algae (little strands of string algae) off of them. (I did not use any chlorine) I am in the process this morning of draining the pond which I really never wanted to do.  BUT...I have over 450 little fry in my pond from 2 summers ago when I stupidly put 3 goldfish and 2 shubumkins in with my 10 koi.  (felt bad that someone else was going to freeze them because they didnt want them any longer).  I spent the entire summer trying to catch those little buggers.  They are fast!  And my neighbors got quite the laugh everytime I would slip and fall on my a**. A minnow trap caught over 100 but now this spring the one year olds from last year are starting to get "frisky".  I will end up with thousands of babies. The string algae is really a problem this year so empting the pond will get rid of the babies and I can get in a do a good cleaning of the algae.  Hopefully with more shade on the pond this year, less fish, less feeding, I won't have such a string algae issue. I have tons of lilies and lotus arriving to help. Ponding is hard work....but I love my pond and fish.  It was much easier when I was 25!

Thanks all for your input...Renee