Filter needed?

[Alex_GA]

Hi everyone,

I am new to the whole pond world and forum, so thanks in advance for you help and patience!
My wife and I moved into our house about a year ago and there is an old pond that had clearly not been maintained for years. I had to empty it entirely, remove all the mud and tree branches from the bottom and am about to clean the liner thoroughly. For the size of the pond, I bought the Beckett M130 pump
http://www.amazon.com/Beckett-M130-Fountain-Pump-Shutoff/dp/B004SZV4WQ

Can any one of you guys tell me if I also need a filter and, if so, what type/model?

Thanks in advance! Alex

 

[morewater]

Welcome, welcome........

Now, dimensions......length, width, average depth.......shape?

That will allow for volume calculation, which in turn will determine pump size, which will determine filter size. The pump you bought is 130gph, so it must be fairly modest in size? Do you want fish? What type? Do you want a water garden, or a fish pond?

For now, dimensions will get you started.

Fire off a photo sometime, as well.

 

[RobAmy]

Welcome Alex

 

[dieselplower]

Welcome, welcome........

Now, dimensions......length, width, average depth.......shape?

That will allow for volume calculation, which in turn will determine pump size, which will determine filter size. The pump you bought is 130gph, so it must be fairly modest in size? Do you want fish? What type? Do you want a water garden, or a fish pond?

For now, dimensions will get you started.

Fire off a photo sometime, as well.

Excellent questions. Please answer all so we can give you good advice. Our answers could vary greatly depending on your answers.

 

[taherrmann4]

I would caution you about "cleaning the liner thoroughly" as there is probably a lot of beneficial bacteria growing on it.

Welcome to the forum.

 

[e-ponds]

Welcome and learn as much as possible... Goodluck!!!

 

[Big Lou]

Welcome. Read a lot, plan a lot and do not rush. Good luck.

 

[shakaho]

The critical questions are:
Size of the pond?
Any fish?

If you haven't already bought that pump, don't. It's way overpriced for the size. While a little pump like that can provide circulation for a little lily pond, unless you just have a school of minnows, it's not adequate for a pond with fish.

 

[sissy]

Welcome and also you need to find out what kind of liner you have and what shape it is in .You can build your own filter real easy .To make a fast one just get a tote and lava rock and a tank adapter and that will hold you until you can figure the whole thing out .Then when you get the muck out with a pool net then you can figure out what you really have and know what shape the liner is really in .Then you can build a bigger filter .

 

[Jason]

Welcome! All the above as well, Im guessing it is a Preformed Pond? $35 seems like a lot for a 130gph pump... I can give you advice on Fountain Pumps. I have a couple of Jebao and SunSun Pumps that are 530gph and 420gph with .75" outlets and are very quiet, I buy them off Ebay for $18.94 with free shipping, here is one of the ones I have had for a couple years now. http://www.ebay.com/itm/251072148403?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT

 

[sissy]

don't buy pressurized filters they do not work and cost a lot of money and can leak .Look for an energy saving pump .Electric rates are never going to go down .

 

[dieselplower]

I would caution you about "cleaning the liner thoroughly" as there is probably a lot of beneficial bacteria growing on it.

Welcome to the forum.

Good advice if the pond is still full but the pond has been empty for a while now it seems. Someone correct me if I am wrong but that beneficial bacteria needs to stay wet to survive?

 

[sissy]

pond is empty and that could have dried up the liner or preformed .It may be not be useable any more .When filled and pressure put against it then it may start to crack .You may be better off starting over if it is in the budget and no nothing good left in that pond

 

[Alex_GA]

Hey guys, thanks for your input! So here we go. Dimensions are
length: 5.9ft, width: 3ft, depth: 2ft. According to my calculations, that's 265 gallons, so I guess the M130 pump from Beckett is not the right one. So then my question is, what would be a good pump for that size and do you recommend a separate filter?
To one of the previous responses, the pond has been empty for a while now, so all the good bacteria would be gone by now.

As I'm trying to figure out the next steps, I'm thinking cleaning pond of all mud residues, fill it back in and stabilize it before adding any plants. Ultimately, the goal would be to add fish to it. Thanks!

 

[dieselplower]

What I would do with that is clean it out as best you can, including the water. It is my opinion you should get a pump that is closer to 400 or 500 gallons per hour. Less than that is really a pretty weak flow. If you want fish, you will need a filter for sure. I would look in the Do it Yourself section here for some great instructions on how to make your own filter that is not only more effective than store bought filters, they are also less expensive. Ideally, in my opinion, you could buy a nice looking, relatively large container, that you can fill with filter material. It would sit on the edge of the kind and the water would waterfall out of the top of it, back into the pond. The falling water will create turbulence as it splashes into the water and help aerate the pond. It is also a good idea to have the pump and the filter on opposite sides of the pond. This creates good water circulation throughout the pond. You can put plants into the pond as soon as it is full of water. If you are on city water, you will need to condition the water with a dechlorinator before adding fish, because the chlorine contained in city water can kill the fish. I personally would get the pump going, and the plants situated, and then about a week later, add 2 goldfish. Koi will get too big for this pond. Adding these two fish will start introducting ammonia to the water, in the form of urine and exhaling. Bacteria will develop, which transform this toxic ammonia into nitrite, which is also toxic to the fish. Then bacteria will form which will convert the nitrite into nitrate, which is harmless to the fish, except in much higher levels. You can buy test kits to see how much of these toxins you have in your pond. After a couple months you could add a couple more fish. I would personally say that you should try to allow for 50 gallons of water per fish. So maybe 5 fish, 6 tops. This will allow for less maintenance and allow the fish room to grow in "healthy" water. If you put too many fish in there, you will have algae problems and ammonia problems too probably.