Biofalls questions

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I joined here last fall and haven't posted much since the pond was going into winter mode when we moved into our new house...which included the pond. The pond is waking up, frogs all over, fish are active...lost 3 :/ I have a biofalls setup and keep seeing that people say only to clean the things a couple times a year. I have been pulling the media bags and filter pads out nearly every couple days to hose them down...the pads not the biobags. Is this wrong? There are two pads one is more dense than the other and collects a lot of waste. My indicator that the pads are full is that water starts pushing everything up in the falls basin to the point I can see the bags sticking up out of the water. I know that the bags are there to contain good bacteria so I have NOT been spraying them down but they also collect a good amount of floating algae. The pads take a good amount of hosing down to clean up and the dense pad is nearly solid with waste after a couple days.

This last time I actually left the denser pad out and just have the more porous pad in there with the bags. Lilly pads have surfaced and appear to be doing well and growing. I introduced some water cress from the produce section and it is starting to take off. I have watercress on each side of the falls near moving water, as well as two other places in the pond, and then I have a couple plastic mesh baskets with cress in them sitting in the biofalls....all producing roots. The cress in the bio falls seems to growing slower but has a good root mass going. I have room for about 4 of the baskets I am using but currently only using 2...thinking of splitting and using 4.

I guess I assumed that I should keep cleaning the filter pads as needed because when full water flow is inhibited. Here I will admit a poor choice and mistake I made: I can't fully tell how green/murky the water is because earlier this spring I found a jug of aqua-shade the previous owner had...and I applied to much. The water color went way to dark blue but is going away with the tons of spring rain we have been getting. -I won't do that again...ever. I used a make shift quilt batting filter in the skimmer but it fills up over night so I took it out and only use it while I am home to clean it often...doesn't seem to be the most efficient way to get the fine stuff out.

The previous owner was an older couple and he told me he didn't even use the filter pads in the falls as it became to much for him to lift out and clean. I can relate but willing and able to do this and I know this is the mechanical part of the filtration that is necessary (or so I think?). I think I am a little impatient about getting the water cleared up...maybe rightfully so...maybe not since it is still early and the plants are not in full swing yet.

I also have this idea...maybe a dumb one but I keep thinking about how I could add on a veggie filter. The pump is submerged and the piping buried so I am not sure how I would get water to a veggie filter bin. Unless I "tapped" into the water from the biofalls, I don't really want to add another pump so this idea may just not be a good one right now but I thought I would get thoughts or if others may have done something similar.

Wow this is way longer than I expected. If you read and/or respond your time is appreciated.
 

sissy

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I made my filters to hold plants helps the filter to stay clean but spring is a hard season to get them started this year .I use lava rock filter and soak the lava rock before I use it .I soak every thing in peroxide and water .
 
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I would say if your filters need to be rinsed every few days because they are dirty enough to restrict flow than yes you need it and yes you should add more filtration. Out of curiosity, where is so much debris coming from?
 

sissy

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yep nothing about size of pond and amount of fish plus add how much you are feeding them
 
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Sorry for lack of details guys. The pond is around 2400 gallons. There were 19 or 20 good sized Sarasa Comets when we moved in, I have lost 3 this spring...found 2 on the same day. Temps were all over the place for a few days dropping low and rising high not sure if that is related or more likely water quality. The fish are 5-6" maybe? I am told they have been in the pond around 7 years. The debris may be my lack of good cleaning last fall, although it wasn't for lack of doing it. We moved in November and the previous owner did nothing to pond other than unplug the pump and plug in a bubbler. I was scooping leaves out every day but likely that some made it to the bottom. I think what I am seeing is more algae though, I can see it settled on rocks around the edge of the pond and biobags and it is green. What rinses from the filter pad has been a dark brownish green.

He originally told me had purchased a brand new spare pump and left it but I learned yesterday when I called that he took it and is trying to sell it. I was going to use that to setup an additional DIY filter but that is a no go and I don't have the extra money for another pump outside of an emergency. I will stay vigilant with the filter pad cleaning, I have also been adding a weekly "good" bacteria treatment. The last cleaning I did I shut the pump down before moving the bags/pads because that always results in a large amount of waste being flushed right back into the pond when I lift everything out. I actually used a bucket and scooped out all the dirty water, then refilled the basin with new water (well water and filtered). Should I continue doing that to get the most gunk out or is it worse to clean the whole biofalls so often?

Thank you again for the time.
 

sissy

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harbor freight has a pump I have been using 2100 gph and have had mine over 3 years .How big is the pump you have now as you may be able to split off it to add another filter .If there is gunk on the bottom net it up with a swimming pool net .It is hard when you get a pond that has been neglected .You can clean everything with the hose and the soak filters in peroxide and water and spray the algae with peroxide and water .Muck in the pond is good for fish and taddies to eat .
 

HTH

Howard
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You are working too hard and this will soon burn you out.

It is hard to help not knowing what you have. Time for some pictures !

How many GPM or GPH is your current pump ?
 
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I actually pulled the pump up and out of the water last week to inspect it...not that I knew what I was looking for but was curious. I didn't even not what the GPM/GPH was but it is easy enough to pull back out so maybe I will do it again this weekend. I think the brand said Vans or Vaas? Started with a V anyway. While it is some work right now I don't totally mind it, I work in IT all day (now that is something that burns me out!) so working in the yard is refreshing now that spring is here. I was thinking that at some point the pads would plug up less often. Should I put the more dense pad back in to collect the finer stuff and keep cleaning it? Also still wondering if I should keep flushing the basin or let the dirty water flow back in? I don't want to fight the good bacteria that may be drying to build.

I think I have some pond pics/vids I will upload them to my Flickr account and post a link.

Thank you!
 
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I am glad to finally hear someone say muck is GOOD.
sissy said:
harbor freight has a pump I have been using 2100 gph and have had mine over 3 years .How big is the pump you have now as you may be able to split off it to add another filter .If there is gunk on the bottom net it up with a swimming pool net .It is hard when you get a pond that has been neglected .You can clean everything with the hose and the soak filters in peroxide and water and spray the algae with peroxide and water .Muck in the pond is good for fish and taddies to eat .
 
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Sorry for the delay guys. I don't have any pics of the skimmer but I definitely can get some. Also the plumbing is all buried so nothing visible to show for that. Most of the pics will be from late last fall or early this spring. The garden around the pond is flourishing right now! The falls seems to be a bit better with not filling up the filter pad as much using just the green more course filter pad, the blue pad filled up in a few days as I mentioned but maybe most of the gunk is filtering out. The water seems to be getting noticeably clearer. I just finished the last treatment of "good" bacteria that I had this weekend, not sure if I should get more and continue or not. Sometimes its hard to see just how good the water actually is because of my poor choice of using aqua shade earlier. I wish that would wear off more quickly but it is fading as water exchanges.

The falls shows a single basket with watercress that was the day I bought the clutch and put it in different areas. I have since setup 4 of those baskets in the falls, As of this weekend I have two with cress and now 2 with hyacinths. I also have anchored water cress on each side of the falls and skimmer in the pond. Both spreading pretty well.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/95980543@N05/sets/72157633786240217/
 

HTH

Howard
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Bacteria is live. If there is a food source for it to act on it multiplies. If what you have already added was any good adding more should not make much of a difference.

I would look at adding something to filter that solids that was easier to clean then a pad. Maybe a settling chamber or similar.

Nice pics of the pond. :)
 
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Wanted to update this thread. My pond is looking GREAT!! There really was a few weeks where I was needing to clean the biofalls filter pads every couple days but I think it was because of a lot of leaves and junk getting in last fall which is when we moved into the house and things where chaotic. I was left a leaf net but it was never put on, will do that this fall for sure. Anyway, I have been using a make-shift quilt batting prefilter in front of the skimmer which turns solid green every day or so. It is so easy to grab it, spray it off and put it back, and this is what seems to be really clearing up the water. We can see the fish even when they are down deeper now. My water hyacinths (started with 2) that I have in baskets in the falls are spreading roots like crazy and I have already had to separate some off-shoots and tossed them into the pond itself. The two water lettuce didn't take to well to near freezing night we had a week ago but they are holding on and have some very strong/thick new root growth just not as fast as the hyacinths. A few lilly's have breached the surfaced and look awesome when they open and seeing them close up in the evenings.

I think the key was just I needed to be patient! I picked up a water testing kit (vials/drops) and everything was in a healthy range. PH was high but after some reading I need to retest some morning when I get up early enough before work or this weekend to get a more accurate reading.
 

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