Hi all, I'm from a western suburb of Chicago and bought a house last summer that has a 12'x6' kidney shaped pond with an average depth of 1.5' with a deep pocket of about 3'. There isn't much filtration, there was just a prefilter on a small 100GPH pump originally and that broke a few weeks after we moved in. I didn't want to buy anything expensive so I just bought a small filter from home depot that comes with a few filter pads and bio balls and you put the pump in the box with the media on top. The water is clear but has a tea color to it. I can always see my fish.
The pond had 2 koi's (5" and 7") and 2 goldfish (shubunkin and comet) originally. While at a pond show I won a koi (Blue body koi) and was beautiful so she is in there as well. Originally she was about 4” and after one season, she is already about 6-7” as big if not bigger than the big guy in the pond.
Other than that small box filter with the media pads and a few bio balls, I had a bunch of water lettuce and hyacinths last year. I also have a hardy lily and had a floating planter that I had a bunch of bog plants in to help with the nitrification process.
This year I am going to finally build a skippy-type bio filter and have some questions.
I am going to be using a 75 gallon stock tank that I just ordered from Menard's last night and using Koiguy’s design with the 45 degree elbows, clean out drain, etc, makes a lot more sense. The stock tank should arrive in 10 days so I am looking at buying all my materials in these next few days.
I plan on upgrading my pump, how many GPH should I be looking at to use with this filter and my pond size?
I do not have a water fall weir so I am planning on using PVC for my water return. The original Skippy design calls for a 4” closet flange, but I read somewhere that someone wishes they used 2 2” PVC pipes so they can better control the flow through the filter. What are some thoughts on that?
I haven’t thought on whether I will build up some dirt and make a waterfall from the filter, but I am afraid of leaks. I will have a liner covering the front of the filter, but unsure if I want to use a few elbows to have the PVC pipe return closer to pond level. I like the idea of using PVC and flattening it out to make the water flatten out, sounds easy and less chance that I have a leak. On the other hand, I am afraid that once I have that running, I’d wish I would have made a waterfall and did more with the water return than just pipes. Does anyone know if Koiguy still makes those waterfall weirs? Those look sweet!
Sorry for the long rambling post, but I figured you all need to know as much info about my pond for recommendations.
Looking to learn a lot from you all!
Carey
The pond had 2 koi's (5" and 7") and 2 goldfish (shubunkin and comet) originally. While at a pond show I won a koi (Blue body koi) and was beautiful so she is in there as well. Originally she was about 4” and after one season, she is already about 6-7” as big if not bigger than the big guy in the pond.
Other than that small box filter with the media pads and a few bio balls, I had a bunch of water lettuce and hyacinths last year. I also have a hardy lily and had a floating planter that I had a bunch of bog plants in to help with the nitrification process.
This year I am going to finally build a skippy-type bio filter and have some questions.
I am going to be using a 75 gallon stock tank that I just ordered from Menard's last night and using Koiguy’s design with the 45 degree elbows, clean out drain, etc, makes a lot more sense. The stock tank should arrive in 10 days so I am looking at buying all my materials in these next few days.
I plan on upgrading my pump, how many GPH should I be looking at to use with this filter and my pond size?
I do not have a water fall weir so I am planning on using PVC for my water return. The original Skippy design calls for a 4” closet flange, but I read somewhere that someone wishes they used 2 2” PVC pipes so they can better control the flow through the filter. What are some thoughts on that?
I haven’t thought on whether I will build up some dirt and make a waterfall from the filter, but I am afraid of leaks. I will have a liner covering the front of the filter, but unsure if I want to use a few elbows to have the PVC pipe return closer to pond level. I like the idea of using PVC and flattening it out to make the water flatten out, sounds easy and less chance that I have a leak. On the other hand, I am afraid that once I have that running, I’d wish I would have made a waterfall and did more with the water return than just pipes. Does anyone know if Koiguy still makes those waterfall weirs? Those look sweet!
Sorry for the long rambling post, but I figured you all need to know as much info about my pond for recommendations.
Looking to learn a lot from you all!
Carey
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