How much is this REALLY going to cost ?

[ponder630]

In addition to good filtration, your filtration should have a way to backflush to wash away fish poop and other things that did not get broken down. The DIY filter I made, I put a ball valve to back flush and I now do that once every 1-2 weeks and that also facilitates as a water change.

Up until this spring, my water has always had a fish smell and a lot of foam since I moved in, now with better filtration and a easier way to do maintenance the fishy smell is gone and no more foam (foam = dissolved organic carbon (fish poop, protein, etc))

I've seen posts that people with good filtration and weekly 10% water changes have overstock ponds. I've heard people say rule of thumb first koi is 1000 gallons and each additional koi 200 gallons of water to 10 gallons per inch of fish (what a few pond stores here say) so I guess there really isn't a true answer since ponds are all different. From what I've learned here is test your water and test frequently. I guess if there are any issues with a overstock pond you will see it in your tests.

By the way, when I moved in last year the 3 koi's were about 3-4 inches. Two of the kois about 8 inches and on is 6 inches long after one season! They grow fast!

 

[capewind]

Ponder .. water quality is a definate factor, but over crowding can cause stress. So for those who like to push the envelope (I do LOL), we need to find that happy balance.

 

[sissy]

very true and just seems you have to try things until you find what works for you .I found what works for me and stick with it .It is hard at first and takes time .I have no uv ,no skimmer and no bottom drain .But not much falls in my pond except the fish need to poop less .I did lower my pump a little more to pick some of it up but need more plants in my filters to suck it all up .The grasses colleen told me about work great .I do want some of the sweet flag ,I think thats what it is called for my pond .

 

[bean6924]

well...I'm just going to go as deep as I possibly can. I sort of like the idea of deeper pond (It's amazing how many gallons you can add by going from 4 to 5 feet deep).


I'm calling the zoning guy tomorrow to find out what the restrictions are -- they consider a swimming pool anything over 14 inches INTENDED for human bathing. No mention of water gardens or ponds at all. So....I"m hoping what I build is not considered a swimming pool, or all sorts of restrictions will come into play...

 

[HTH]

ponder630

You would get more effect by changing the water half as often and at 20% or 1/3 as often at 33% sort of thing. That is if you are setup to handle it.

 

[ponder630]

HTH, Can you elaborate more on why that is? Is it so that the good bacteria will have enough time to re-establish itself or is it more to give the filters a chance to build up more junk before you flush it out?

I am set up to handle it now, I can always use the water coming from the pump to wash the filter media longer making more water being drawn out of the pond.

I always thought you wanted to do small water changes often so you don't disrupt the water chemistry too much by doing a larger water change.

I'm more for less maintenance so I'm open to ideas!

 

[Dave 54]

Priming your filtration with Microbe-lift PL filterpad innoculant gel cuts the time down to very near a few days but you have still to go through a spike in both Ammonia and Nitrite before its mature so the first week or so you'll need to test alot until you know that things have spiked the other way of doing things is to add a sacrificial fish to do the job for you which takes longer still.

rgrds

Dave

 

[Mucky_Waters]

HTH, Can you elaborate more on why that is? Is it so that the good bacteria will have enough time to re-establish itself or is it more to give the filters a chance to build up more junk before you flush it out?

I am set up to handle it now, I can always use the water coming from the pump to wash the filter media longer making more water being drawn out of the pond.

I always thought you wanted to do small water changes often so you don't disrupt the water chemistry too much by doing a larger water change.

I'm more for less maintenance so I'm open to ideas!

Drip water change is the easiest, lowest maintenance, safest, and most consistent way to do thorough water changes.
Just run an irrigation drip line into the pond in the spring, and remove it in the fall before winter freeze. The hardest part, if it can be considered hard, is to figure out the drip rate for the size of your pond, and buying the irrigation supply (approx cost $7)

Check out the video.

 

[HTH]

Randy is correct about drip is the amount of water needed. We talked about that in the goldfish forum and it was much more then making partial changes. If you can use the overflow from the pond on your landscape then that is not a problem. Drip Change Calculator

An extreme example is that if you you drip in the same gallons each day as the pond holds, it will take a full week to get the same reduction or dilution after doing so for a full week.

I am not suggesting anyone do that.

The problem with small partial changes is that you are never removing enough of whatever to make much of a difference. If you have high levels of anything in most cases 90% of what you had is still high. And if it is something like nitrate a small change may not even keep up with what the fish produce.

The key to large water changes is know your water. What I talk about here will work for most people. But if you have strange water that comes out of the tap at 9 and drops to 7 or some other odd thing then it might not be for you. Start with smaller changes and work you way up if you feel uncomfortable about it. If you have a strange ph thing going on test the pond every few hours as you fill it and stop the water for a while if the ph is changing too much.

If one sets up a pond so that it will operate with 1/2 or more of the water gone you can slowly refill it from a garden hose set so it takes the better part of the day to fill it. If you have chlorimines you need to add water conditioner prior to starting the fill. Plain old chlorine will disapate if you run the water into a falls, aerator or pump output, If in doubt use conditioner..

The slow refill any changes happen slow enough so as not to be a problem. The hard part is remembering to turn off the water.














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[Mucky_Waters]

Thanks for the drip calculator link Howard. That calculator might be set a little low for ponds though, as I don't think it takes evaporation into account. You'd have to add a little more for make up for evaporation in a pond if you want to achieve a specific % water change on that calculator. Of course that depends on the weather.
Yes it's true that a constant drip water change will use more water then a drain and fill type water change to effect the certain percentage water change, so if you are on a meter and your water is very expensive you might not want to go that route. Cheaper wasn't one of the benefits I listed. (easiest, lowest maintenance, safest, and most consistent way to do thorough water changes.)
As for the overflow, I think it's a pretty good idea for every pond to be designed with some sort of water overflow, set at a predetermined level, to drain away to some rock pit or something, otherwise you're going to have problems if (when) you get long periods of heavy rainfall. Where will all the extra water go?

 

[HTH]

Agreed on the evaporation. And that would be a hard one to add it because it differs with water temp, air temp and wind.

Another factor is the size of the pond. As the pond get larger it get less doable. But by my thinking as a pond get larger it should also need fewer and fewer changes because we can use enough plants to recycle the nitrates etc.

 

[Dave's pond Indiana]

I have about 90 fish in my pond. Some Shubumpkins spelling? The rest are KOI I wish I had never put Shubies in because now I can not catch them and they keep spawning.

 

[dieselplower]

The hard part is remembering to turn off the water.














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Isnt that the truth!?

My 2 cents, build it right the first time. It will be cheaper in the long run and maintenance will be much less.

Also, changing the water doesnt remove the benificial bacteria etc. That stuff is on your pond liner and in your filters.

 

[HTH]

For between $10 and $30 you can get water timers that hook to the tap. It may or may not pay for itself but it will save the fish a bit of chlorine exposure. I should get one too.

 

[cr8tivguy]

My 1500 gallon pond loses close to 1/4 inch about every other day. I think this is due to evaporation. If there was a leak, the water level would drop faster than 48 hours I imagine.
I'm running two pumps 3500 gph and a 1500 gph so the water turnover is significant. All water flows over my waterfall-which I think is causing more evaporation.

In addition, my pond gets afternoon sun for about 4 hours.

I need to get into a routine water change. I'm thinking of dropping the water level by about 1 foot a week and refilling. I have city water with Chlorine and Chloramine so I need to use conditioner. Is it safe to dump the conditioner in, then start refilling from the hose? My pond PH is pretty much exactly what the PH is out of the tap. I intend to test both before a water change.