What pond filter

[madonplants]

Hi,
Having built a 16ft by 8ft by 2.5ft pond this year, I want to know what sort of filter to put in. I have read and read and seem more confused than ever. Do I get a box or pressurised one? The pond contains 3 blue orfe, 1 golden orfe and 3 comets all of which are doing very well at the moment. The plants are doing their job, but next year I am going to install a filter and waterfall to make things better. What pump do I use? Solids handling or not? I like the Titan pumps as they have a wildlife friendly feature that would be ideal if/when the fish breed. Pond is in full sun, what strength UV do I need?

Hope you can help.

Keith

[andy]

Hi Keith

Firstly, what are you intended stocking levels going to be. If you're just keeping those fish, i probably wouldn't bother with a filter but if you plan to add more....especially carp varieties, then you might want to think about one.

The choice is entirely yours. I have a large boc filter with 6 partitioned off sections for my 3,000 gallon koi pond but only a small, presurised filter on my 1,000 gallon growing on pond.

I get most of my stuff from ebay to tell you the truth.....My filter is the next one up from this
cgi.ebay.co.uk/HOZELOCK-BIOFORCE-2200UVC-KOI-FISH-PRESSURE-POND-FILTER_W0QQitemZ160051996929QQihZ006QQcategoryZ139938QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

and there's plenty of titan pumps

cgi.ebay.co.uk/HOZELOCK-TITAN-5500-FISH-KOI-POND-FILTER-PUMP-NEW_W0QQitemZ160051996604QQihZ006QQcategoryZ93636QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem for example

You could opt for

cgi.ebay.co.uk/HOZELOCK-ECOPOWER-9000-KOI-FISH-POND-FILTER-UVC-UV-NEW_W0QQitemZ160051999487QQihZ006QQcategoryZ139938QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

or

cgi.ebay.co.uk/Oasis-12000-16w-UV-Gravity-Pond-Filter_W0QQitemZ120052482753QQihZ002QQcategoryZ93636QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

it's purely your choice. Mine has the added bonus of being able to be sunk in the ground.

As for UV (don't forget that most of those filters have a built in UV). Aim for 10w of UV per 1,000 gallons of water.

Your pond is 16 x 8 x 2.6 = 320 x 6.25 = 2,000 gallons...so i'd aim for an absolute minimum of 20w of UV

Hope this has helped a bit

Andy

[madonplants]

Cheer Andy, what a reply!!
The pond is nearer to 1000gallons according to the meter I bought, as pond has shelves, but these have been the filters I have been looking at, but not sure regarding box or pressurised one. I won't be going for Koi, pond not deep enough, but hoping to get a few more comets and maybe a golden orfe or two. I only bought the blue ones for company for the golden one. The golden ones were too small after checking various stores. Long story that one. Last house we had, had a pond built by previous owner, that was so overgrown with plants and frogspawn that there was no room for fish, or so we thought. Last year in August, when the tadpoles had gone, now I know where, I decided to clear it out. What a surprise to find 'Lucky' there, even though we had sat by the pond and never saw him/her during the summer. I couldn't believe how well Lucky was, but there was no room to swim, he/she was about 8 inches long! The pond was a pre formed one of about 150 gallons! It still upsets me not seeing the fish before, but the previous owner did not say there may be fish there. We also found a small box filter and pump in it, when we first moved in, but when we tried to find a plug in the house, none were found. During the August clear out we found the wires had been cut to make way for the conservatory to be built. But that was fives years old! Why didn't they just re route the cables? How the fish survived I do not know, it was so overgrown with 3 lillies, irises and oxygenating plant and umpteen rocks to make hideaways for frogs I presume. 17 frogs came out too! So when we had to leave a year after we moved in, Lucky had to come with us, alongwith the three comets we had bought. They were kept in the plastic container that T.C. got transported in, with a box filter just incase. I have read all the fishkeeping mags I have bought over the years, but there is such a choice. I have built many ponds in my time, but never kept pond fish, so this is all new to me. I want to over filter as I do my tank inside, but maybe a pressurised one is the one to go for, if you have one in your koi growing on pond, that should be OK for me!

Thanks again Andy for such a good reply, need to have a think now.

Keith

[andy]

Yep...a pressurised filter should be fine. I got rid of the foam inside and filled it up with alphagrog....a volcanic rock with huge surface area. I found that the foam was getting very clogged up and needed cleaning every other day which was a complete PIA.

If you plan to keep marginal plants, that will do a lot of the work for you but over filtering is always a good idea....you never know when you're next visiting a garden centre and see some lovely English bred koi or ghost koi....you may be tempted

[madonplants]

I wondered about the foam clogging up. I will see how I go. Pond too small for Koi, so won't be tempted. I will look and admire though! I wanted a filter as I want a waterfall, so why not put a filter in at the same time. I am going to have all that pipework, what difference will a filter make! Money I suppose!! I just thought the pressurised ones, were a sort of gimmick, but if you use one and OK with it, then why not! I didn't think you could change the media as much as you can with a box. The box I kept is very small, so OK as a backup, but it only has a (I think) 4wt UV, far too small. Probably need a new bulb as well! Pump was 2200 strength so again too small and will have to be re wired! Not sure if it is worth it! Maybe a job for one of those quiet nights. I hate chucking things away, but we will see.

Thanks again Andy

Keith

[Deleted]

I have an Oase Aquamax pump and Oase Filtoclear. The filter is really easy to clean and only needs taking apart for a good clean once a year

Here's a link to Oase

www.oase-livingwater.com/ps/eu/uk/home/home.html

[madonplants]

Thanks Rita, I will look into them as well.

Keith

[Deleted]

A bit more info here Keith

www.aquatics-warehouse.co.uk/acatalog/OASE_FILTOCLEAR.html

But I didn't buy mine from there

[madonplants]

Thanks again Rita.

Quick question for Andy, unless you know Rita. The Bioforce says it 'spins' the solids out, what happens to them? I hope this is not a silly question?

I am still looking at all the pressurised ones as I think they will suit me better. Before I built the pond I had thought about a Green Machine, but looking through mags now, they are so yesterday! I liked the idea about the brushes, but I suppose they are more directed at Koi that what I have.

Thanks again.
Keith

[andy]

Spinning the solids out involves the water spinning like a vortex. Infact, there is a pre-filter section fitted to most large koi filters called a vortex. The water enters the round filter chamber at an angle and.....just like a plug hole, goes round very fast. This forces the solids to be forced outwards and somehow, trapped in an area that can be flushed away.

Green machines are super filters. Brushes are just a mechanical filter, trapping solids. They can be used on any pond in a filter (i have 3 sections of brushes....16 brushes in each section) but they do need cleaning almost weekly on a well stocked pond !!!

The choice really is up to you....i don't think any performs better than the other, as long as they perform the required breakdown of fish waste and trapping of solid particles, that's all that counts.

If you need any more help, please ask m8

Andy

[Deleted]

If I might just add - my filter is part buried so is more or less out of view. I'm not sure that all filters can go into the ground though.

[madonplants]

Hi again,

Andy and Rita, what happens to these in ground filters if they block, while you are away? Sorry for not asking earlier, but I have picked up hand foot and mouth disease from my 5 year old and have had it bad and my father in law died yesterday. My wife was in Poland on business last week from Monday and when she came home Thursday she found out her Dad was not very well. She flew to Scotland for the weekend, (went Friday came back Sunday) as he wasn't expected to live but he held on until yesterday. Funeral is next Tuesday, so filter buying has been postponed for a little while!

Thanks again for the ongoing help and hope this message sounds OK, i.e. not gibberish!

Keith

[andy]

Sorry to hear of your problems Keith.....our thoughts are with your family.

The filters don't actually block...the flow just slows down over a period of a few days. Some models have a little pop up gauge that tells you they're clogging up and need cleaning. If you're away from any period of time, you might have to re-think the maintenance programe of the filter.

Hope this helps a bit m8

Andy

[Deleted]

Keith - not all of my filter is in the ground - the bits I need to get to are above ground level - I'll take a photo for you tomorrow and post it here for you, as I'm having trouble explaining.

Mine doesn't get blocked BTW

[Deleted]

This is how it looks all year round but with a plant pot on top



I'm bypassing my upper 3 ponds through the winter, which accounts for the pipe resting on the ground near the wall and the disconnected pipe running up the wall

[madonplants]

Thanks both of you. I like the pictures Rita and I think the idea about putting the wood 'shelf' over the top for a plant pot is such a good idea. I think we will get the funeral out of the way and sit down and make a decision one way or the other. I won't install it until spring now anyway, so have time. Looks like I have some thinking to do now, though. I hate making decisions at the best of times!!

I only mentioned the blocking as a few above ground boxes have an overflow facility, that should they become clogged they bypass the filter and return the water to the pond. We never go away for more than 2 weeks so maybe that problem will never arise.

Thanks again.

Keith