Auto fill question

[Alpravinosh]

Hi forum it me again,
Here with yet another question, well I am going to build 5000 gallon koi pond very soon and I am gathering all the facts that I need. My question today is about the auto fill system. I know it's basically a system that replenishes the pond with fresh when the pond water level has fallen. Now this works well when evaporation is concerned but what if I do my backwash. I will loose about 10% of pond water( as I take this as a weekly water change ) now, is it acceptable for my auto fill to replenish that amount of water? Won't it be poisonous to my life stock having that much of chlorine coming into the pond? But then again it will be extremely costly for me to buy that much of dechlorinator every week, what should I do? Please help and thank you.

Regards,
Alpravinosh

 

[EricV]

Extremely costly? This http://smile.amazon.com/dp/B001EWFUSK will give you two years of such water changes for $25. You'll spend much more than that for the actual water. Even if you subscribe to the "treat the whole pond on a water change" theory, a gallon of that stuff will last you a few months.

 

[Mmathis]

You should be OK with your auto-fill. It's not a lot of water at one time. But you still need to do regular water changes -- via filter flushes is how I do mine -- and you will need to add de-chlor for those. I have an inline filter that attaches to the faucet. We have chloramines in our water, so I have to get one that treats for that as well as chlorine.

 

[mrsclem]

It's not expensive for a dechlorinator. Vanish dry powder, 2 pound canister is under $20 and treats 96,000 gallons.

 

[Mmathis]

It's not expensive for a dechlorinator. Vanish dry powder, 2 pound canister is under $20 and treats 96,000 gallons.

Where can you get one? Is it a unit; faucet add-on.....?

 

[mrsclem]

I get it from Webbs water gardens online. It is a powder rather than the usual liquid so longer shelf life. I use one small scoop for a 1000 gallon water change.

 

[Mmathis]

I get it from Webbs water gardens online. It is a powder rather than the usual liquid so longer shelf life. I use one small scoop for a 1000 gallon water change.

Ah, I was thinking it was a filter-type, such as you could use with auto-fill.

I like the idea of longer shelf life. Do you add it as a powder, or do you mix it with water prior to adding to the pond? Buying bottles, & bottles, & bottles.......is getting to be a PITA!

Also, does it remove chloramines as well as chlorine? I looked it up at some point, but have slept since then, so don't recall what I read. I also did a wide Google search [for de-chlors], and there were some that said in their info that they did chloramines, but when you read on into the product description, they only ever mentioned chlorine.....

 

[mrsclem]

I Just put a scoop in by the hose as I start refilling. It doesn't seem like that would work but it has for me for years! The label does not say it removes chloramines. I may have to check into that. I have always treated for the chlorine as our water smells like it is 50% clorox! I always over treat in case I forget to turn off the water. I go thru 1 can a year for 2 ponds totaling almost 10,000 gallons. Much cheaper than liquids. Just checked with several other sites and it also removes chloramines and heavy metals!

 

[EricV]

It occurs to me that something like this could be used to apply just the amount of dechlor for a pond: http://www.ortho.com/smg/goprod/ortho-hose-end-sprayer/prod11100041 The one I have goes down to 1 tsp/gallon, so you'd need to dilute your dechlor further. Then run the output into a tub or something that gave an average of 30 seconds of mixing time and you could flow dechlorinated water into a pond.

 

[Alpravinosh]

Thanks guys for all the input. I am so sorry Eric but I actually donot like to buy things online, due to some bad experiences. Anyway found a solution from my builder. Auto fill is only used when I am replacing small amounts of water loss due to evaporation. If I am doing a water change whereby I am replacing 1/3 of pond water, I have to buy a powder. But due to the type of filter I am using water changes are note adviced, only if there is a case of a fish falling ill. Thank you'll so much for your input.