Can anyone recommend me a good filter?

[Fish_man]

Hello, Making my first post hopeing someone can guide me in the right direction for a new filter as I dont know to much.

So I think I have a 650 Gallon Pond maybe less, Its very green/dirty and my filter box does not have a uvc which I read was good for green water problems, its only a 3000 filter box powered by a 1500 pump which I was told is not strong enough for my pond, I have many fish, so a very high fish stock.. 80+ but will be giving some away to a friend. I dont know much about pumps/filters, or even if a new filter will remove my green water, I tried everything, I have purchased more plants even snails, also have put barley straw in my pond a few days ago.

Here is some names of filters I was thinking off

Oasis-green-2-clean-12000-pond-filter-and-pondpush-3000-pond-pump

Oasis-clear-pond-18-multistage-pond-filter (not sure my 1500 pump work with this one, although the filter looks very good)

Hozelock-easyclear-6000 (Not to sure how good these kind of filters are as there a pump/filter combined)

Or I was thinking maybe the Oasis-clear-pond-18-pond-filter-and-pondpush-pond-pump-3000 which is a bit more expensive, My budget was around £150.

I didnt link the filters as I didnt want people to think Im promoting another site.

I hope someone can help me, or give me a good idea what I should be looking at , as im very clueless.

Thanks in advance :regular_waving_emot

Dan

 

[Pond Boy]

Welcome to the boards. I don't think any filter is gonna help you with that fish load in 650 gal of water or less. You need to lesson the load of fish or install a bigger pond.

 

[Fish_man]

Well im planning to lesson the pond of fish to 40 rather than 80 odd, so once I have done that what would be the correct filter?
Also I only have goldfish in my pond apart from one koi but we're getting 3 more, some of those filters said they were suitable for a 1000+ gallon koi pond.
This is the reason I am so confused, because I dont have a clue on what filter I want or need, I just want a clear pond so that I can see my fish rather than green algae.

 

[DrDave]

Many of us use either the Doc or Skippy Bio filter. If it is built right your pond will be pristine.

With the Doc Filter, which uses a 55 gallon drum, the vortex that is produced with the swirl of the water coming in, traps most of the solids and when the water finally makes it to the overflow, it is crystal clear.

My web page has photos of the construction.

 

[shakaho]

With 40 goldfish you are still carrying a heavy fish load. The most generous "rule of thumb" for stocking goldfish is 20 gallons/fish, and many recommend 50 or more gallons per fish. Still, a 55 gallon DIY biofilter should keep the pond clean. I don't know how much filtration you would need adding 4 koi to that load. One mature koi weighs about as much as 15-20 mature goldfish. Waste production reflects body weight.

 

[addy1]

i.e. koi poop and they do it a lot

 

[DoDad]

650 = about 2 koi or maybe several gold fish.

 

[vertigo72]

Ignore the pond size those manufacturers put the their filters. They *might* be able to cope with it if you have no fish at all, start with a pristine pond in which you get not leaves or anything. Frankly, even them I wouldnt believe it.

With the amount of fish you have, you are going to need a serious filter, and the toys you listed, are not. I agree with the above posters, a 55g DIY barrel (or 2) is likely the cheapest and best solution.

The pump, if it lives up to its rating and doesnt lose too much due to pump head (and assuming that 1500 gallon per hour?), should be strong enough though. There isnt much point in cycling your pond every 10 minutes. What you need is filtering capacity to cope with the fish waste.

Note this wont necessarily prevent floating algae (green water), but it should ensure good water quality. To get rid of the algae you might try a UV lamp, but that only helps against floating algae. You can kill those, but you will likely get string algae instead. UV lamps dont help there. Perhaps your fish will eat them, but you might need plants to actually take in all the nutrients your water will contain.

 

[Fish_man]

Thanks for all the answers, I'm not one for making things let alone a filter lol, If I had the materials and such I possible would give it a go, but I know If I did go out and buy the stuff, I would mess up somewhere, My pond over the last few days has got better, I think my barley straw mite be working, not sure if this stuff is good or not but the water looks less green, also been doing little water changes every other day, and few more plants to shade the pond, I am trying to give away as much fish as possible to friends etc, Hopefully I can get to around 20 fish, I will stick to goldfish and shubunkin's, I may buy another koi just so the 1 I got now ain't alone lol. Even though thats not a wise idea.

Also I did purchase a filter, which was Oasis-green-2-clean-18000-pond-filter-and-pondpush-6000-pond-pump. It might help it might not :lol: But It has to be better then what I had, and removing fish etc, has to help, than if I was to keep them.

Thanks for all the advice, If it don't improve over summer, I will maybe start fresh and try to make a filter :bowdown: + bigger pond, with more expense. Ponds been good for 5 years, hopefully I can give it life again lol.

Thanks again.

Dan

 

[addy1]

Great, wishing you good luck with your pond. The filter will help you.

 

[vertigo72]

Thanks for all the answers, I'm not one for making things let alone a filter lol, If I had the materials and such I possible would give it a go, but I know If I did go out and buy the stuff, I would mess up somewhere,

ITs not rocket science. The principles are very easy, essentially all a biofilter does, is provide high amount of surface area for bacteria, and flow water over that. To provide that surface area, you need some filtering material. You can buy that of course, but youd be surprised all the stuff you can use for that, most of which youd throw away otherwise. As long as it its plastic, has a big surface area for its volume, and doesnt have too tiny holes that will clog (regular sponges are out), it should work. I used left over PVC piping and those ribbon hoses in one of my filters, just cut to pieces. Others use floor scrubbers, bottle caps, used tieraps, whatever they can get their hands on for cheap or free. Its all good. Throw it in a barrel, have the water flow from below to the top, and you have a filter. And a good place to throw more rubbish in lol. Add an airpump with airstone and it will be a more effective one. Add a bottom drain and cleaning it is just a matter of opening the bottom drain once every week or month.

Anyway, since you already bought one, let us know how it does.