***The Pond Discussion Thread****
- Thread starter easyrider
- Start date
Associate
My water is absolutely crystal clear, no blanket weed yet either.
Fish quite active, startin gto look for food so I throw them a few bits every couple of days.
Can't wait for the wether to warm up
Fish quite active, startin gto look for food so I throw them a few bits every couple of days.
Can't wait for the wether to warm up
My water is absolutely crystal clear, no blanket weed yet either.
Fish quite active, startin gto look for food so I throw them a few bits every couple of days.
Can't wait for the wether to warm up
Mine's pretty clear - I can see the fish down to about 1.5m+ and the air column but not the bottom. I've cleaned out some of the blanketweed spaghetti-style. Not much to get out like but it will grow. The fish seem happy scraping the walls (I assume algae and snail crunchy Scooby snacks). The RDF is currently on a 90 minute timer and I turned up the airlifts so there's quite a bit of water movement - next weekend I'll give it the bottom a prod with a washing thing.
I've been measuring the fences around (need new arris bars etc). The fish following around after I fed them this morning then deciding no food and wandering off.
I should do a stat check on the water.
Also when the pond was built, neither the builder or I thought about the plaster corner metal - turns out this has rusted and some of the plaster has popped due to freezing. So at some point those will need replacing with galvanised corner mesh and re-plastered.
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Associate
I have some moss starting to grow around the water inlet into the pond, cant reach it unless I use a staging board over the pond.
Blasted it with the hosepipe for now, will be fine until we get back from holiday in a couple of weeks (dont want it dislodging and blocking the filter whilst I am away).
Fish really active today, water temp approaching 11 degrees so warming up nicely.
Done a 20% water change and tidied up some of the plants.
I love spring
Blasted it with the hosepipe for now, will be fine until we get back from holiday in a couple of weeks (dont want it dislodging and blocking the filter whilst I am away).
Fish really active today, water temp approaching 11 degrees so warming up nicely.
Done a 20% water change and tidied up some of the plants.
I love spring
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Associate
I too have been contemplating a few small additional koi.
I still have the pond covered with netting, still a bit nervous to remove it in case the pesky heron returns.
Thinking of getting some small aluminium brackets to make a anti-heron fence around the copings - with fishing line as the fence.....decisions, decisions.
I still have the pond covered with netting, still a bit nervous to remove it in case the pesky heron returns.
Thinking of getting some small aluminium brackets to make a anti-heron fence around the copings - with fishing line as the fence.....decisions, decisions.
Decided to re do my filter system.
Currently run a drum filter with amalgam UV, into moving bed bio chamber, back via pump and standard UV.
Unfortunately due to pipework contraints, I was never able to set the drum to the correct height at the time meaning it isnt working to capacity and while it filters, I have to purge the drain often to remove settlement.
Last year after discussions with a german supplier, I took delivery of these bad boys
These are the next generation of koi pond filteration. Massive flow through rates with all the same cleaning power of a drum, without any of the "issues" that plagues most drums. No proprietary parts, everything can be replaced with common off the shelf components. And importantly, during manufacturing I had the inlets set to work with my existing pipework.
However, being longer and wider than the existing drum, some modifications are needed.
Step 1, start removing as much of the old filter house as possible while everything is running
Currently run a drum filter with amalgam UV, into moving bed bio chamber, back via pump and standard UV.
Unfortunately due to pipework contraints, I was never able to set the drum to the correct height at the time meaning it isnt working to capacity and while it filters, I have to purge the drain often to remove settlement.
Last year after discussions with a german supplier, I took delivery of these bad boys
These are the next generation of koi pond filteration. Massive flow through rates with all the same cleaning power of a drum, without any of the "issues" that plagues most drums. No proprietary parts, everything can be replaced with common off the shelf components. And importantly, during manufacturing I had the inlets set to work with my existing pipework.
However, being longer and wider than the existing drum, some modifications are needed.
Step 1, start removing as much of the old filter house as possible while everything is running
Associate
Wow, great stuff kindai
Slow progress today, ripped up the floorboards back to the mid shed concrete supports and cross beams.
Put in new cross supports (not visible) and re-put down 1 floorboard which will be the new floor end, all supported and means the visible beams in this photo can now all be cut out.
Put in new cross supports (not visible) and re-put down 1 floorboard which will be the new floor end, all supported and means the visible beams in this photo can now all be cut out.
I'm on the hunt for a UVC system - at the moment my bio system keeps the pond at least sane but the sun we have causes the fish to be more active and fast blooms, so a UVC to run temporary would be very useful to combat the summer blooms. Pond size is ~14,000 litres with the filter system comfortably running at 20,000lph at the moment. So I'm considering a Oase Bitron to provide a periodic nuking of the water.
I have a couple of options to connet:
* 110mm - I could work out a way to fit a large aperture UVC onto the back of one of the 110mm returns at the back of the bio filtration. The complication is that I have some down pipes that have very limited space (think enough to get a T junction in at the moment, so this would have to have a 90 out to the side, through the UVC and then loop back to the down pipe - a lot of 90 degree bends hence it would cause an imbalance so more water would flow through the second down pipe.
* 2" (63mm) - I have a 63mm pipe laid specifically for running a waterfall at a later date. This would allow me to use my existing varipump 20K to return to the pond. I could feed through the UVC on it's way back - the only gotcha is that the drum is maxed out as it is at the moment, so I would have to draw the water from either the dirty side of the drum, or the skimmer then through the UVC and return. Temporarily I can mount the entire kit next to the pond for maximum flow rate.
The realistically the minimum this really needs is 10-20,000lph. So the UVC needs to cope with that. Hence I'm considering the 180W bitron.
Anyone had any experience with the Oase Bitron (or even the premium) series?
I have a couple of options to connet:
* 110mm - I could work out a way to fit a large aperture UVC onto the back of one of the 110mm returns at the back of the bio filtration. The complication is that I have some down pipes that have very limited space (think enough to get a T junction in at the moment, so this would have to have a 90 out to the side, through the UVC and then loop back to the down pipe - a lot of 90 degree bends hence it would cause an imbalance so more water would flow through the second down pipe.
* 2" (63mm) - I have a 63mm pipe laid specifically for running a waterfall at a later date. This would allow me to use my existing varipump 20K to return to the pond. I could feed through the UVC on it's way back - the only gotcha is that the drum is maxed out as it is at the moment, so I would have to draw the water from either the dirty side of the drum, or the skimmer then through the UVC and return. Temporarily I can mount the entire kit next to the pond for maximum flow rate.
The realistically the minimum this really needs is 10-20,000lph. So the UVC needs to cope with that. Hence I'm considering the 180W bitron.
Anyone had any experience with the Oase Bitron (or even the premium) series?
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Have you considered an amalgam to sit in your return bay? Bitrons are really expensive UV units for what they are. I am currently deciding if to run 2 amalgams in the belt filter or use the BIO UV unit ive just refurbed. The key point is the bulbs in these options run as a smaller wavelength and are *considerably* more effective than standard UVC.
I could make my own using PVC pipe and an amalgam 80W, use a T junction at the base and the top, pump feed at the base. That would work too and be less cost all around plus a standard T5 bulb.
The only issue with UVC in the drum is that if the drum has plastic seals or plastic sides, the strong UV light causes the plastic to degrade and become brittle over time (the seals are often a real problem as they break apart).
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thats what id do, maybe look at the cost of some 306 stainless as well to use as the pipe as putting it inside a reflective chamber will also increase its performance.
I'd put the little fish in the airlift chamber (0.90x0.90x1.8m)- there are spaces in there where they can hide and eat amongst the Lilly pads where the flow is not high.. and today I saw sushi (our older koi) coming up to feed, followed by the little orange one.. so I assume one or more have managed to get too close to the base of the air lift and get spat out by the air lift into the main pond.
So basically it's in the lap of the gods - if they're in the main pond they're in with the big boys (a female koi, a chargoi and a green/grass carp). Just hope they don't become scoobie snacks or get to close to the bottom drain..
So basically it's in the lap of the gods - if they're in the main pond they're in with the big boys (a female koi, a chargoi and a green/grass carp). Just hope they don't become scoobie snacks or get to close to the bottom drain..
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Ok, ordered an 80W amalgam with some hardware so I can make use of some of the 110mm offcuts I still have for the pressure pipe from the filter pipework previously.
Someone suggested putting a length ways slot into a 110mm pipe then compressing and fitting inside the 110mm pipe to act like a sacrificial pipe inside.
Also tested the water stats:
Ammonia = 0
Nitrite = 0
Nitrate = 0
pH = 7.4
I was wondering because it's been sunny and there's been a distinct slow down in veggie growth and no algae bloom since adding some stuff a couple of weeks ago (just a bit murky).
Someone suggested putting a length ways slot into a 110mm pipe then compressing and fitting inside the 110mm pipe to act like a sacrificial pipe inside.
Also tested the water stats:
Ammonia = 0
Nitrite = 0
Nitrate = 0
pH = 7.4
I was wondering because it's been sunny and there's been a distinct slow down in veggie growth and no algae bloom since adding some stuff a couple of weeks ago (just a bit murky).
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Absolutely perfect, whats your KH at?
I prefer a higher KH level personally which means my PH is closer to 8.
I didn't do a GH / KH this time around. The pond was originally filled with tap water and we have very hard water, although it could have dropped - so I'll check tomorrow.
KH is important as the carbonates in your pond are used up over time and a low KH means environmental factors can lead to massive PH swings, such as someone doing some building work nearby and kicking up cement dust, or even a heavy downpour.
While a PH of 7-7.5 is "perfect" for maintaining perfect Shiro, to be frank I would rather have happy and healthy fish than show-grade perfection. Dont get me wrong, I like having some high quality fish in the pond but if they pick up shimmis or the shiro or sumi isnt perfect anymore then im not going to lose sleep over it.
Made some good progress today. Cut out 8 of the now redundant support beams and started digging down.
Managed to get below the previous concrete slab as planned ready to remove all the existing blockwork, extend a new slab and enlarge the filter bay.
Lots of hard work and concrete removal as there was a considerable amount of backfill and only about half the soil removed so far.
Often forget how much soil comes out the ground when its dug out, already done 3 loads to the tip in the landy.
Managed to get below the previous concrete slab as planned ready to remove all the existing blockwork, extend a new slab and enlarge the filter bay.
Lots of hard work and concrete removal as there was a considerable amount of backfill and only about half the soil removed so far.
Often forget how much soil comes out the ground when its dug out, already done 3 loads to the tip in the landy.