Can I run my filter part time?

[erand122]

Hi. Three quick n' easy questions for you experienced folks:

I have about a 450 gallon pond with a few koi and a pressurized filter with UV light. Do I need to run it 24 hours or can I run it all day and shut it overnight?

Same question regarding my waterfall. Can I shut that off at night?

Speaking of the waterfall, that is my only oxygenator. Is that enough or do most ponds have an air pump to oxygenate? (I dont have plants).

Thanks.

 

[buckry]

If you have koi, it's 24/7, never shut it off.

I currently only have a waterfall in both my goldfish pond (100g) and koi pond (3500g). I have an airstone that I throw in on the hottest days if the water temp gets over 80, but even this summer with the drought I haven't had to use it.

If you feel like you need it, fish are gasping for air, then throw it in, air pumps don't use any noticable electricty, not going to hurt anything at all.

 

[j.w]

erand122
Best to keep them all running except I believe you can turn the uv off on your filter and only run that when you need to clear up green water.

 

[Waterbug]

The UV can sometimes be turned off after a pond clears and the pond will stay clear.

Most pressurized filters don't really do much of anything so that can be turned off. You can test ammonia levels and if you start seeing some ammonia levels the filter was needed and has to be turned back on.

Whether the pump can be turned off depends on fish load, water temp and the amount of waste in the pond. There are certainly thousands of ponds with fish and no pump.

 

[CometKeith]

In summer months most ponds have lower levels of O2 at night which can be deadly for fish. You need to keep something going at night that will help produce oxygen. I use an air pump year round as well as a waterfall. If you see your fish in the waterfall a lot that is a sign there is not enough dissolved oxygen in the water.

 

[addy1]

Welcome to our group. Agree keeping something running, air pump, waterfall etc you need water movement for the fish.

 

[Snodac2006]

Welcome, I am also new to this forum and trying to learn how to properly manage my pond. You asked "pressurized filter with UV light. Do I need to run it 24 hours or can I run it all day and shut it overnight?" Is this a BIO-pressurized filter? If it is like mine, I just realized that I was being counter productive by turning it off at night. My interpretation of a Bio-filter is (good) bacteria needs oxygenated by passing pond water through the filter 24 hours a day. If I am wrong, please someone correct me.

 

[JohnHuff]

@Snodac2006. That question was from 2 years ago but the answer is 24 hours.

 

[Dave 54]

Never shut ours down they run 24/7 365 days a year with stoppages for maintennce that all

Dave

 

[sissy]

The winter you can turn it off ans leave an air pump and maybe a pond heater .You do not want it to freeze over or have the filter freeze up and drain the pond