What kind of pump?

[MitchM]

Does it make any sense then to have a smaller pump that provides circulation within the pond itself, plus one pump that processes water through the filter system?
In that case, a person may be able to employ 2 smaller pumps rather than 1 large pump, thereby avoiding areas of extreme water movement.

 

[Meyer Jordan]

Does it make any sense then to have a smaller pump that provides circulation within the pond itself, plus one pump that processes water through the filter system?
In that case, a person may be able to employ 2 smaller pumps rather than 1 large pump, thereby avoiding areas of extreme water movement.

Not really. The goal of a proper turnover rate is to remove the pollutant laden water from immediate contact with the fish and replace it with water that has had the pollutants removed. To do this effectively all of the water must be directed through the biofilter so bioconversion will take place. The idea of using 2 equal size smaller pumps with only one pumping through the biofilter would mean that only a certain portion of the pollutants are being removed at any given time. This idea may work on a pond with normal biomass, but in an overstocked scenario, which is typical, this would be very inefficient.

 

[MitchM]

Thanks.

 

[MariaTeresa]

Meyer Jordan, I'm really glad you explained the rationale behind the 2x turnover. The main purpose of my pond is for the plants and the waterfall feature. The fish are there to eat the mosquitoes and fertilize the plants. I'm planning on a total of 8-10 goldfish...although I realize that with spawning I could very well end up with a lot more than I intend. (Is there a humane way of getting rid of excess fish?) I don't think 8-10 goldfish would overstock a 1000g pond...although I've read two different ways to calculate how much fish a pond can handle. I think I'll go with a 1000gph pump since I'm not planning on koi or too many goldfish. It is much cheaper than a 2000gph pump.

I had been using a prefilter set up with quilt batting and I'm wondering if that might have contributed to the early demise of my bilge pump. Do prefilters put stress on the motors?

 

[sissy]

You could give babies away or you could try to remove the eggs as soon as you see them to control population .you could start out with 4 fish .Plants would love the fertilizer

 

[Meyer Jordan]

I had been using a prefilter set up with quilt batting and I'm wondering if that might have contributed to the early demise of my bilge pump. Do prefilters put stress on the motors?

Dirty, clogged prefilters significantly shorten the life of pumps by causing them to overwork and consequently overheat. Prefilters should only filter out particles whose size may damage the pump. The filtering of smaller particles and fines should be on the outflow side of the pump.

 

[sissy]

I think that is why I like the cages on my pumps .

 

[slakker]

I keep indoor reef aquariums also, and have different brand names to choose from so I use a outdoor Eheim pump in my pond. I find the design, quality and durability is very good and have been using it a few years now and also power consumption is quite low.

 

[milhousebarks]

If you are interested in mosquito control I would recommend you add some Rosy Red Minnnows, which I find to be much better scavengers of mosquito larva than my goldfish. They do reproduce (but seem to eat there young of eggs or something, since I have never had an explostion) and never get more than maybe 2 inches long. Given their small size even a dozen probably don't make as much fish load as a single adult goldfish. They also tend to school which is nice to see the group moving around the pond. I have a smaller pond, but only 3 goldfish (which never spawned so maybe I got lucky on the gender lottery and have all one sex) and about 25 Rosy Reds. I really like have the mix of different types of fish.

Just a thought.

 

[MariaTeresa]

millhousebarks- do the minnows overwinter well? Where do you find them? The pond place only has goldfish and koi. Would a pet store have them?

 

[milhousebarks]

Yes, many pet stores have them. They sell them as feeders for bigger fish, lizards, etc. Mine are from my local PetSmart. They usually only cost about ten cents each. And they over winter just fine. In fact they are active at cooler temps than my goldfish. They are actually a color morph of the fathead minnow, which is a native, so that is nice as well.

The only thing to be aware of is that they often have some brown regular ones mixed in with the reddish ones, but if you have both in your pond the brown is dominant so in a few generations you'll have mostly brown if you get a mix so you may want to ask for all red if they have both. The brown work fine as mosquito control but don't stand out as nicely as the red.

I also toss a few in my container gardens with no filtration and they live just fine while keeping the skeeters at bay. Then in late fall I put them back in the pond for the winter.

 

[MitchM]

I put 20 of the rosy red minnows in my pond last summer and by winter their population had grown to over 1000.
They all survived the winter by the looks of it.. I'm not sure what is going to happen this year. I may need to find a predator for them.

 

[sissy]

Will the fish eat them .My aggie will eat anything .frogs ,snail ,and she attacked a bird but I was there and saved it .

 

[MitchM]

I only have goldfish but I haven't seen the goldfish going after them yet.
As the goldfish move around the pond, the minnows move away.
The minnows are much quicker than the goldfish.

 

[MariaTeresa]

Yikes I would not want to end up with a thousand!!

If they are sold as feeders do they tend to be ill when purchased? Would they need some sort of treatment before putting them in the pond with the goldies?

My goldies are pretty good at mosquito control, but they are too big to get the mosquitoe larvae above the pots for the plants. The minnows look like they'd be small enough to get those.