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Journal Dan's Pond

Dan Crawford

Founder
UKAPS Team
Joined
21 Jun 2007
Messages
3,265
Location
Daventry, Northants
Hi guys, well heres a quick picture of my pond as it is at the moment.
Pond.jpg

I've got some serious issues with detritus, the filter gets blocked once a week, it's rated for 1000 gallons and i'm a little over that but not too much. I have some MASSIVE koi (2ft+) in there but i'm still not convinced that it's all fish mess.
I was thinking of getting a water butt,
making a 50mm hole where the normal drainage tap is,
filling it with sponges etc just to polish the water,
and having 22,000LPH flowing over and through the sponges.
What do you think?....
 
aaronnorth said:
nice fish & pond :p

i am no expert on ponds but i am sure i read somewhere that you want at least a filter rated 2x the size of your pond.
That would make sense mate, especially with some big old fish, cheers.
 
Hi Dan,

That is a lovely looking setting you have there and a great snap showing it off too.

Detritus is a problem we have in our pond as we come out of the winter months. This is probably due to not cleaning the filters during the winter :oops: It is a case with us that we need to keep on top of cleaning the filters, we have two which are rate twice the volume of the pond, for the first few months, just like you would an aquarium, the more detritus in the tank, the more often you water change and/or clean the filters.

As for the water barrel idea, sounds good if you can get it to work, same principle as a lot of big pond filters 8)
 
Jase said:
That is a lovely looking setting you have there and a great snap showing it off too.
Thanks :D

Cheers for the advice, my filter gets clogged really quick, like 5 days. My pump is on the bottom which doesn't help with the clogging but if i can keep up with the cleaning then in theory i'll be removing the worst of it???? Of should i lift the pump up leaving the silt and just concentrate in the waterborne particles?

Thanks for the help.
 
Dan Crawford said:
Cheers for the advice, my filter gets clogged really quick, like 5 days. My pump is on the bottom which doesn't help with the clogging but if i can keep up with the cleaning then in theory i'll be removing the worst of it???? Of should i lift the pump up leaving the silt and just concentrate in the waterborne particles?

Thanks for the help.

When we do it, we lift the pumps out (also on the bottom) and powerwash them completely, then drain some of the dirty water, then leave your filter to do the rest. Ideally, if you have time, clean it completely on a Saturday, with the method just stated, then clean your filter sponges again on the Sunday and it should last longer than a week.

Since I've got back into aquarium keeping a couple of months ago i've started thinking of the pond as a giant aquarium, and based on that it needs cleaning and water changing as an aquarium would - if you want to be able to see your fish :lol:
 
rawr said:
Nice one ;) but wow, 2ft? Sheesh.
Cheers mate, here are some slightly better shots of them....
IMG_7464.jpg

this is my Chagoi, she rocks! I've had here eating frozen bloodworm from between my fingers 8)
IMG_7465.jpg

this is the smallest Koi, i have a Ghost and a Common in there too.
IMG_7468.jpg

IMG_7477.jpg

This is Big Burther, super fatty LOL
Jase said:
When we do it, we lift the pumps out (also on the bottom) and powerwash them completely, then drain some of the dirty water, then leave your filter to do the rest. Ideally, if you have time, clean it completely on a Saturday, with the method just stated, then clean your filter sponges again on the Sunday and it should last longer than a week.
Thanks for the tip, that i shall do!
 
Wow, their massive! I would love a pond but it must be quite hard work.

I've always wondered, how are large fish like this transported?
 
rawr said:
Wow, their massive! I would love a pond but it must be quite hard work.

I've always wondered, how are large fish like this transported?
The pond isn't that hard work, i'm finding out at the mo, just like many other things - you need the right equipment for the job! oh, and as usual, it's not cheap LOL
I transported these in 3ft x 2ft vats with no issues.
George Farmer said:
Looking great pal!

I'm excited about seeing it in the flesh soon...
Thanks mate, not long now, whoop whoop!
 
Joecoral said:
Anyone fancy a sweepstake on who the first to fall into the pond at the BBQ will be? :lol:
Probably me! I slipped over at the last UKAPS gathering whilst in the woods photographing streams, moss etc. Got my jeans saturated with wet mud and had to fit into Dan's 28" waist spare jeans!

Then later on spilt half a bottle of red on Graeme's cream carpet and knocked over his Moss'gumi.

Needless to say, I'm clumsy! I even have liability insurance!! :lol:
 
Looking good Dan. I like a koi pond with plants!

As to the filter, forget the foam! You'll be cleaning it so often you'll be swearing and cursing every week. Go for a static K1 filter in a water barrel. It will still need regular cleaning but that involves turning an air pump on and then pulling a valve!

What you need to do is have a pipe going into the filter from the pump (I'm assuming your pump is a solids-handling one?).
Then your return from the filter needs to be a 4" pipe up near the top of the filter with slots or 8mm holes drilled in it to allow the water through. This pipe goes through the wall of the filter and returns the water to the pond or next chamber of the filter.
You then fit a 1.5" fitting right at the bottom of the barrel with a slide or ball valve on it that will be your waste valve. (This is best attached to a long piece of pipe with holes in to water the garden - it's great fertiliser.) You need a short section of drilled or slotted 1.5" pipe to stop the K1 escaping onto your garden!
The last thing to do is fit the pipe that will deliver the air for cleaning. The best thing to use is Speedfit plumbing pipe with 2mm holes drilled in it. About 10 holes should do in a ring about half the diameter of the barrel's base. You can then get a cheap diaphragm air pump off Ebay and this should come with a rubber fitting that will go straight onto the Speedfit pipe.
Finally add about 50l of K1 (again available cheapest off Ebay when I last bought some).

All you do to clean this filter is this;
Turn off the pump (make sure the pump isn't set up to drain all the water out when you do this! - drill an anti-syphon hole where it comes above the water line).
Allow the water to run out of the filter for a minute or two.
Turn the air on.
Allow the K1 to boil and spin around cleaning the K1 for about 5-10 minutes.
Pull the drain valve to send the dirty water to waste.
Turn the pump on to re-fill the filter and repeat the clean with the air pump.
Drain again.
Turn off the air and turn the pump back on to start filtering again.

I know all that seems a bit complicated but it really isn't. There are some pictures of the same kind of thing on this page here that might help you get the idea, http://www.happykoi.co.za/filters/duo_filter_systems.htm.

Also don't raise the pump off the floor of the pond. You want all that detritus out of the pond, not sitting on the bottom going anaerobic and festering and raising the levels of Aeromonas and other nasty bacteria.
 
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