First home, first pond.. water is dirty!

[lynntran]

Quilt batting sounds like something I may do because I've been using a lot of water since I've moved into the house! I'm not sure where to place one considering I have a 4 foot deep pond and a waterfall from the skippy filter.
The pump that pulls water in sits on the lower end of the pond.

 

[tbendl]

I put quilt batting in a milk crate and set it up under my waterfall for a short period of time. It's kinda ugly but worked on clearing my pond. Not sure if you can rig something like that to work.

 

[Mmathis]

@pecan Thank you for that detailed info regarding Skippies! I have one, but for some reason never got back to this thread to post..... But you did a much better job than I could have!

Also, when I "flush" mine, I'll dump a few buckets of pond water over the media as the water level in the tank gets lower -- seems to help dislodge and knock down more debris that way.

And as to the bottom drain, I made a [I think....] 2" drain in the very bottom of mine with a shower drain thing or a closet flange.....whatever. The tank is elevated on cinder blocks to allow access to this plumbing since it comes out the bottom and not the side. I have a valve attached so I can open & close it easily -- that's how I drain the tank and do my water changes. The larger "hole" will move more gunk more easily. But @lynntran since you plan to eventually switch systems, this might not be something you'd want to mess with right now. Not hard to do [there are instructions on here and all over the place], but does involve taking the filter down and moving stuff around during the process.

And while my Skippy does do a great job with bio-filtration, I haven't been happy with the mechanical aspect.

 

[Tula]

It's also possible you have suspended green algae, which a UV would help with. If I was going to filter with quilt batting, I'd recirculate the water back into the pond

 

[lynntran]

I put quilt batting in a milk crate and set it up under my waterfall for a short period of time. It's kinda ugly but worked on clearing my pond. Not sure if you can rig something like that to work.

Isn't 4 feet a bit deep for me?

 

[johan]

+1 for UV. As your fish seem healthy the filter is presumably still ok, albeit needing a large maintenance clean given the deposited gunk. A good UV unit on the pipe should I'd have thought solve the algae water.

 

[tbendl]

Isn't 4 feet a bit deep for me?

I don't understand the question? The quilt batting goes between the waterfall and the pond and filters organics out.

 

[Lisak1]

Sorry - I should have clarified. When I use my rigged up quilt bat filter I set it on the edge of the pond (on level ground) and let the water flow through the holes back into the pond. Does that make sense? So it's an external set up.

Edit: It does work if you can set it up so your waterfall runs through it, but in your case I think it would be better to pump the water from the bottom, since that's where your sediment issue seems to be coming from. You could stir it up and get it into the water column, but I would hesitate to do that for fear you might really create a water quality issue for your fish.

 

[addy1]

Not sure how, but where the red is, is where you would hang the quilt batting in a basket bucket for the water to run though.

 

[Lisak1]

Yup, you do have a waterfall that would work if you wanted to filter it that way. But in order to get the debris from the bottom to the fall, you'd have to stir it up. I'm not sure I'd want to do that. Dropping your sump into the bottom would pull up the gunk without putting it through your filter and hopefully would create less of an issue water quality wise.

 

[lynntran]

*update*

I woke up this morning to find the stock tank LEAKING and 2 feet of water gone and flooded alongside our house. We emptied the stock tank and found the previous owner had epoxy a hole and it's come undone.

We turned the pump off but there is a aerator running in the pond for bubbles. The fish are residing in the 4 foot area of the pond. Will they be ok for 2 days with an aerator running in the water until I order a new filter? I was going to wait for next year but I guess this is a sign.

 

[Tula]

I'm not sure how that might affect your water quality.....but I'd be a little worried, especially in the summer months. If you could rig your pump up to at least splash back into the pond, it would help with aeration and movement....and you'd have to test your water and do water changes.

An additional point to consider , is that it will take time for your new filter to cycle, so you may want to make a temporary fix to the stock tank while the new filter cycles, or find a way to add some of the filter media to your new filter...or float some of the media from current filter in bags.

I'm sure other will chime in as well. Really sorry this happened.

 

[Lisak1]

You really are being tried by fire, aren't you? Hard to say if the fish will be OK - so many variables. But all you can do is your best right now. Fingers crossed!

 

[Mmathis]

Is there any way to do a temp. fix on that hole?

 

[lynntran]

You really are being tried by fire, aren't you? Hard to say if the fish will be OK - so many variables. But all you can do is your best right now. Fingers crossed!

Yea seriously! It's been all day and I haven't seen any of them start gasping for air yet. Usual behavior except I see many more fish since the water is lower! I spotted a butterfly koi! I've topped the water off a little more too but the stock tank is pretty much done for. I thought it was a hole I could patch but the entire bottom was cracked across now that the epoxy the previous owner applied had gave out.