Sediment problem

[Janet.]

I have a Oase Biosmart 36000 filter system with a uv 36w and a aquamax 12000 premium pump.Three and a half thousand gallon of water with 20 small goldfish and two small koi. I don’t know what l am doing wrong as although the water perimeter is ok and l clean the nine sponges weekly as it needs it, l notice a fine sediment on the shelf and sides.Do you think l should add another filter bix onto the the Biosmart if that’s at all possible with a finer sponge to hopefully catch the sediment or upgrade it.

 

[brokensword]

Can you see your fish? Is the water more or less clear? The fish are going to stir things up as they move about more with the warmer water, esp if you have any quantity of fish at all. There's going to be sediment of some kind. I tend to get the free floating kind and have had to employ a bog prefilter now, just to please me. The fish don't care, but I do! So if the water parameters are fine, this sediment is probably okay. Does yout filter get any of this sediment? Also, have you added any rock lately? Like pea gravel? Over time you're going to get a fine film, typically the good kind.

 

[Janet.]

Thanks for your reply. The filter needs cleaning weekly especially now the fish are active and eating high protein food. I’ve kept the pond open but to one side l have ten floating planters and plenty of oxygenators plus floating frogbit and a yellow floating heart. I wondered if l should try a second filter but will have to ask about that as lm not sure how l can apply it to my set up, lm sure l can if that’s the only way of stopping this fine settlement.

 

[Janet.]

Sorry , l forgot to say to your first question that yes l can see the fish but it’s not so good looking to the bottom. I haven’t added gravel or rock whatever that means, perhaps lm being too finicky about it. I have a pond vac but just now l have a tight net across as the heron flies past daily. In the Autumn when l lift the net l give the pond a good vac, fresh water added and a tripod net put in place for the winter to spring when l do it al again

 

[brokensword]

Sorry , l forgot to say to your first question that yes l can see the fish but it’s not so good looking to the bottom. I haven’t added gravel or rock whatever that means, perhaps lm being too finicky about it. I have a pond vac but just now l have a tight net across as the heron flies past daily. In the Autumn when l lift the net l give the pond a good vac, fresh water added and a tripod net put in place for the winter to spring when l do it al again

if you can't see to the bottom, odds are you're talking about organics free floating and not necessarily sediment (as I define it, more like sandy in nature) so filtration probably is the culprit. If you're interested, search on the forum for bog filtration (there's lots and lots of advice/threads) as it'll solve your problem.

Keep that net on if you value your fish!

 

[Janet.]

I will do that. Thank you. The net stays all through the year but l just change it for a tripod one in Autumn to catch the leaves etc.,so far the heron has landed but given up.l was sat on my bench one afternoon watching the fish when something caught my eye, he was about to land when he spotted me, l think we were both shocked, me for the cheek of it. Laugh.

 

[mrsclem]

I would not worry about a thin layer of sediment on the bottom. You want a layer of algae covering the surfaces.