Fish pond advice

Trigger · 13 Jun 2006 at 21:44

Bony Maloney said:
I like pump----->UV filter---->Marshmule2000 filter system---->pond

That's what you want

My grandad made a customised filter a while back which consisyed of two big black plastic boxes, one full of matting, the other one full of brushes suspended on garden canes. The pond water was then syphened into the filter, first into the brushes then into the matting, then pumped into the UV light and finally into the pond. One of the best filter systems I've seen, it kept the water really clear and they were so easy to maintain.

Good Luck with your project though, keep us posted :cool:

VeNT · 13 Jun 2006 at 21:45

Trigger said:
That's what you want My grandad made a customised filter a while back which consisyed of two big black plastic boxes, one full of matting, the other one full of brushes suspended on garden canes. The pond water was then syphened into the filter, first into the brushes then into the matting, then pumped into the UV light and finally into the pond. One of the best filter systems I've seen, it kept the water really clear and they were so easy to maintain.

Good Luck with your project though, keep us posted

ours has those hedgehog filter things (look like big bottle cleaners) then though to a gravley type one, the UV filters first.

Trigger · 13 Jun 2006 at 21:47

VeNT said:
ours has those hedgehog filter things (look like big bottle cleaners) then though to a gravley type one, the UV filters first.

Yeah, that's what these were, I just couldn't describe them properly

Works very well though

VeNT · 13 Jun 2006 at 21:51

Trigger said:
Yeah, that's what these were, I just couldn't describe them properly Works very well though

have to be cleaned out once in a while tho, ours where EVIL when we did it.

Nismo · 13 Jun 2006 at 21:59

Our pond is having a problem with blanket weed at the moment due to all the sunshine. Doesnt really matter if you have a UV filter or not, in this weather stuff will still grow.

All I can do to keep it under control is regular cleaning of the filter, keep treating it every 4 weeks or so with additives, and fish out any weed a few times a week. We also bought some bottom dwellers which stay around the bottom of the pond and feed on the weed and other crap.

Water itself is crystal clear though.

VeNT · 13 Jun 2006 at 22:04

Nismo said:
Our pond is having a problem with blanket weed at the moment due to all the sunshine. Doesnt really matter if you have a UV filter or not, in this weather stuff will still grow.

All I can do to keep it under control is regular cleaning of the filter, keep treating it every 4 weeks or so with additives, and fish out any weed a few times a week. We also bought some 'weather roach' which stay around the bottom of the pond and feed on the weed and other crap.

Water itself is crystal clear though.

tbh theres this floating plant you can get that coveres it

Nismo · 13 Jun 2006 at 22:10

VeNT said:
tbh theres this floating plant you can get that coveres it

If thats supposed to help me its a bit of a vague suggestion

Trying to avoid plants anyway.

VeNT · 13 Jun 2006 at 22:11

Nismo said:
If thats supposed to help me its a bit of a vague suggestion

I'd take a photo but its dark

Nismo · 13 Jun 2006 at 22:12

VeNT said:
I'd take a photo but its dark

Get a goddamn portable sun then!

No problem, our pond will be fine anyway. Just need to keep on top of it.

VeNT · 13 Jun 2006 at 22:14

Nismo said:
Get a goddamn portable sun then!

No problem, our pond will be fine anyway. Just need to keep on top of it.

its like realy small, 1cm across and multiplys like MAD, got roots down into the water. kinda brown/green etc

Nismo · 13 Jun 2006 at 22:17

VeNT said:
its like realy small, 1cm across and multiplys like MAD, got roots down into the water. kinda brown/green etc

I've probably seen it before, or possibly even tried some in the past.

Were doing a pretty good job without the need for plants anyway, its only the recent strong sunshine that has brought the blanket weed about.

Bony Maloney · 13 Jun 2006 at 22:29

A rounded tiolet brush is great for blanket weed, as in twisting candy floss

PeterT · 13 Jun 2006 at 22:43

Just buy a new tube for the UV and you should be sorted. With my father in law's Koi pond I can always tell when it is time for a replacement tube as you get the bright green pea soup. 10 days after changing everything is clear again.
I used to make my own filters out of black plastic dustbins and black polypipe for the tubing and used the green coloured nylon greenhouse shading as the filter media. A big surface area for the microbes to live on and as it was arranged in 2.0 metre lengths it was quite easy to wash out.

PeterT

redeye · 13 Jun 2006 at 22:46

We use Nishikoi Goodbye Blanket Weed with Activated Barley Straw. Comes in 25g sachets. Its not cheap but certainly does the job better than anything else we've tried. We don't have any algae or blanket weed.. but then again our Koi eat quite a lot of it when it grows anyway!

What type of filter do you have? You shouldn't have to clean it that often.. it's needs the bacteria to help clean the water. Also if you're adding tap water to top it up this time of year make sure you treat it.

bottletop · 13 Jun 2006 at 23:33

our pond is in full sun but has no blanket weed this year. We put in plenty of oxygenators and some duckweed to use up all the nutrients before the blanket weed gets growing and it's cured the problem. Plus the duckweed is a lot easier to scoop off when it gets rampant than blanketweed.

Nikumba · 14 Jun 2006 at 13:40

Hows is your filter made up? Is it just one section or in several sections

We have a 1500 gallon pond with the pump going through a UV filter then into a 3 section filter.

Ours is made of the first section is a set of brushed this then spills over the devide into the second section onto several foam layers starting with a very coarse one and getting to a fine on.

After that it flows over no idea what its called but bits of plastic for the bacteria to grow on then into the pond.

Also why do you clean it out every day?

Nikumba

stoofa · 14 Jun 2006 at 16:43

Does anybody know of any fish that actually feed on I guess what is "waste product" in the bottom of ponds?

We have an outside pond, we inherited it with the house.
We've spent a fair amount of time and money on it and we've got a good quality pump and filter system.
There is now no blanket weed left and the water that flows out of the pump and down the waterfall I built is almost toally clear.
The water in the pond is also clear, however there is a layer of "green silt" accross the bottom of the pond.
This unfortunately gives the impression the pond isn't that clear.
Also as the fish swim low they "flip up" the green silt from the bottom.

We've added some new foliage to the pond.
We are also using a product called "Sludge Buster" which apparently breaks down this green layer at the bottom of the pond over time and eventually all should be clear.
However if there is a fish out that actually actively feeds off of this stuff accross the bottom of the pond it would be worth us introducing a couple as they will have a field day in our pond

Nismo · 14 Jun 2006 at 17:24

stoofa said:
Does anybody know of any fish that actually feed on I guess what is "waste product" in the bottom of ponds?

Weather loachs are one variety of bottom dweller that will feed on the crap at the bottom

redeye · 14 Jun 2006 at 18:55

My 11 Koi Carp are like hoovers, they move along the bottom hoovering up everything from little stones to the "waste products" and they only spit out the stones. Ah well.. what ever keeps them happy. They've only started doing this over the past few years, really since they've been about a foot long. Wierd eh!

We've got a 1000 gallon pond with a bottom drain so a lot of the rubbish gets sucked out the bottom. This feeds the 3 part filter, the pump is attached to that and sends the water through a UV filter which then via a stream ends up back in the pond. Some nifty piperwork in there