Almost starting again after earthquake - help please

Lou

Joined
Jan 27, 2017
Messages
3
Reaction score
2
Country
New Zealand
Hi. My pond was started off as a garden feature with an urn in the middle. Then it became a fish pond - 560L plus 90L urn and now a very broken (but working) urn after our 7.8earthquake.
I have repotted tipped out plants and tried to clean water mess and amazingly 6 of the 7 goldfish survived. Now I'm starting to have a build up of poo and algae, need to do a vacuum of sorts (going to try the full hose of water on an aquarium vacuum) and use Prime and Stability.
It hasn't got a filtration system and wondering if I could incorporate one in the new urn - I.e. In the middle? (Husband will help if it's simple - after quake he added the yellow addition to help strengthen temporary aeration.
Not sure of pump size 12? max on 240v house system.
Fish fed once a day and rubbish scooped daily.
Haven't got a test kit but will get one - fish have grown happily from little fellas to 6cm and still thriving - (mother is a bit fanatical and quake fragile.)
Any help appreciated.
 

Attachments

  • IMG_5430.JPG
    IMG_5430.JPG
    230.8 KB · Views: 225
Joined
Aug 15, 2011
Messages
2,367
Reaction score
1,585
Location
Manchester, UK
Hardiness Zone
9a
Country
United Kingdom
Welcome to the forum! Sorry to hear that you were affected by the earthquake, did it cause much damage or was the urn the only casualty for you?
 

j.w

I Love my Goldies
Joined
Feb 1, 2010
Messages
32,946
Reaction score
20,252
Location
Arlington, Washington
Showcase(s):
1
Hardiness Zone
USDA 8a
Country
United States

So sorry about the earthquake. Hope it's done for now and you can fix your pond up again. I have cleaned my pond out slowly at times by just letting the garden hose water from my well run into the pond and have a pump pulling water out at the same rate as water going in. I don't have treated water so don't need to add anything. I see that you need to add things when you add new water so not sure how to do that w/water constantly going in and out. The vacuum thing should help if your pond isn't very big. I don't do litre's here so don't know what the gallons are there.
 

addy1

water gardener / gold fish and shubunkins
Moderator
Joined
Jun 23, 2010
Messages
44,337
Reaction score
29,089
Location
Frederick, Maryland
Showcase(s):
1
Hardiness Zone
6b
Country
United States
Welcome to our group! That was one strong earth quake.
 

peter hillman

Let me think for minute....
Joined
Sep 5, 2015
Messages
1,260
Reaction score
1,398
Location
Reno N.V.
Hardiness Zone
3-5
Country
United States
Howdy. You're water feature is beautiful, I like the sophistication. If you're going to keep fish in the pond there will always be some mess from them, we all want crystal clear water, but not always the best thing for the fish. I would get a box filter and try to replace the urn. As far as pump size, figure how many liters your pond is and try to get a pump that will turn it over at least twice per hour. Say your pond is 700L then you would want a 1500L pump. The pump pulls thru the filter box...
I once experienced an earthquake that damaged my pond walls also, that's when I decided to make it even bigger!

tetrapond_fk_series_filtration_fountain_kit_1000.jpg
 
Joined
Dec 21, 2015
Messages
1,415
Reaction score
759
Location
Hershey, PA
Showcase(s):
2
Hardiness Zone
6A
Country
United States
Howdy. You're water feature is beautiful, I like the sophistication. If you're going to keep fish in the pond there will always be some mess from them, we all want crystal clear water, but not always the best thing for the fish. I would get a box filter and try to replace the urn. As far as pump size, figure how many liters your pond is and try to get a pump that will turn it over at least twice per hour. Say your pond is 700L then you would want a 1500L pump. The pump pulls thru the filter box...
I once experienced an earthquake that damaged my pond walls also, that's when I decided to make it even bigger!

tetrapond_fk_series_filtration_fountain_kit_1000.jpg


The device in the picture didn't survive over a year in my pond.

It had some major issues.

1- damn box floats when you expect it to be at the bottom of the pond. I had to put stones in it.

2- there is no way to lift out the box to clean it, you're gonna have to pull it out using the pump.... that means the pump will eventually break off or unhook eventually making the product fall apart.

3- the top connections of the outlets do not clasp and fall off easy.

Don't waste your money.
 

Lou

Joined
Jan 27, 2017
Messages
3
Reaction score
2
Country
New Zealand
Thanks so much for your help and caring. (Only lost 'stuff' and some home damage, friends have lost their homes sadly.)
For now I'll try a in/ out water change using a splinkler to dissipate the chlorine.
Now I've sought help elsewhere husband now suggesting vacuuming with a compressor - not sure just how that works yet. Know I'll never get a clean pond but need to keep poo levels down.
Thanks again for your input and kind words.
Lou
ps Addy1 - think I left my run too late, should have built a very large ponding system on our farm before moving into town
 

Ruben Miranda

I am so confused
Joined
Oct 23, 2012
Messages
536
Reaction score
267
Location
So California Whittier
Hardiness Zone
12a
Country
United States
Hello
Your pond in the pick does not look that big or deep.
Get a 5 gallon wet and dry Vacuume do like 10 gallons one day and refill with water and declor wait a day or so and do it again.
Once you have the pond looking good you can do this every other week.
As long as you don't add more fish and don't over feed.

Also adding some plants would help.

Ruben
 

Lou

Joined
Jan 27, 2017
Messages
3
Reaction score
2
Country
New Zealand
Hey Ruben. Great idea. No pond isn't big deep etc.
Did have 8 very large water lily plants doesn't look like that in pic but all tipped out and had to repot remnants and now put closer together since cleaned out this afternoon.
Probably my biggest flaw has been over feeding, I've now become much harder!
Will certainly look at wet and dry vac. Cheers
 
Joined
Jul 12, 2016
Messages
327
Reaction score
297
Location
Croswell MI
Hardiness Zone
6A, we are also very windy
Country
United States
I think Peter Hillman has the right idea with a box filter and fountain head. Your pond doesn't need a huge complicated filter, with only 6 goldfish and 4 water lilies. I can't imagine what a 7.8 would be like, where I live, our earthquakes feel more like the kids jumping off the top bunk bed.
 

Ask a Question

Want to reply to this thread or ask your own question?

You'll need to choose a username for the site, which only take a couple of moments. After that, you can post your question and our members will help you out.

Ask a Question

Members online

Forum statistics

Threads
30,780
Messages
508,556
Members
13,042
Latest member
lucaryan

Latest Threads

Top