Probably a dumb question, but what is a vortex filter and where do you get it from?
Is it a type of bio/mechanical filter?

Hi Stumble

A vortex is a barrel that has a cone shaped base. Vortexes are used for mechanical filtration although you can but biological media inside...but its the actual shape of the barrel that makes it a vortex and make it work in a certain way.

Basicly the water enters the empty barrel/vortex 40cm roughly from the bottom...remember the base is shaped like a cone. So what happens is that the water is sped up....the solids spin around and around, the heavier solids are thrown to the sides of the filter where it slows down and sink to the bottom of the vortex. The cleaner water continues towards the top of the barrel where a overlow takes it to the next chamber. Every few days or how often you want you need to flush the vortex to remove the trapped solids.

So a vortex uses centrifugal force to seperate solids from water.


See Vortex Chambers

Its very effective on big solids like leaves, poo, twigs and things like that but finer solids will not be trapped by it.

they are a nice option to use. you can throw together a few in series and create a system that way.

One example is my neighbours pond.

The water goes to a settlement chamber from weir and from bottom drain.
Then through 3 Big vortex's, the first two are filled with brushes and the last one is filled with jap matting. Pump then sends the water to the water fall which overflows into two streams and flows back to the pond.

Recently i changed one of the top pools (there are two, one either side of the waterfall) into an anoxic filter. the pipe to the waterfall was split and one half goes through the diffuser at the bottom of the filter and the other cascades over into the two pools.

Thanks, I understand now.
who sells them?

Stumble
You can get Vortex filters from Wilpet Koi Products website;
http://koiproducts.co.za/