Hello Everyone,
This is my first post. I'm looking forward to becong a part of the pond community here.
I live in Richmond, VA, and bought my home this time last year. The home had a pre-existing koi pond in the back yard. At first, I was skeptical about the maintenance and having that much of my yard consumed by the pond, but after a year, I LOVE IT.
I would like to draw upon the gracious experrtise of this community to make sure I'm all squared away.
The pond was put in around 2003 (based on date code on pump.). It is oval shaped, 14' x 8' and 20" deep for the most part. There are currently 8 koi on the pond, 4 larger ones and 4 smaller ones (were 14....darn heron...have net now). I have four large frogs that also call the pond home (boy are they loud right now!). There are two pots of water lillies and an empty terracotta pot for the fish to hide in. I also propped up a large flagstone on two bricks for the fish to hide under.
I test the water weekly (less in Winter). Ammoinia and Nitrates have always been zero. A few times after heavy rains, the pH gets crazy, easily fixed with pH-Up or pH-Down chemicals. I've never gotten the phosphates down where they should be. Occasionally, a little salt is called for.
What I'd most like to understand is how the properly care for the filtration system. The pond has a 2400 gph submersed magnetic-drive pump. The water is pumped around the side of the pond and up to a small square (3' x 3') secondary pond about 2' above the main pond. The water goes to the bottom of this upper pond in a set of U-shaped PVC pipes that are capped off at one end. The water is then forced out of the PVC through small holes that have been drilled in the top of the pipe and the water goes up through some media that looks like a dense air conditioning filter. After that, the water makes its way up through almost 2 feet of small pea gravel before emerging and then flowing out over the waterfall and back into the pond.
It's Spring cleaning time and I want to make sure I do everything correctly. I plan on removing all of the pea gravel and replacing the filter media and making sure that the holes in the PVC pipe are not clogged by lodged gravel. Should I wash the gravel off before replacing it? All the way down, it's covered in slimy green stuff. Wifey wants it cleam, but I think the green slime is what keeps the water crystal clear; and it's always been perfectly clear.
I bought some beneficial bacteria from the PondDiggers.com, but haven't added any yet.
Anyway - thanks for reading about my pond. I would love any advice that I can get from you experienced ponders regarding the maintenance of the filter bed, lowering phosphates, eliminating the string algae that grows on the rocks behind the waterfall and general tips and traps for this style of pond.
Thanks in advance,
Dan
This is my first post. I'm looking forward to becong a part of the pond community here.
I live in Richmond, VA, and bought my home this time last year. The home had a pre-existing koi pond in the back yard. At first, I was skeptical about the maintenance and having that much of my yard consumed by the pond, but after a year, I LOVE IT.
I would like to draw upon the gracious experrtise of this community to make sure I'm all squared away.
The pond was put in around 2003 (based on date code on pump.). It is oval shaped, 14' x 8' and 20" deep for the most part. There are currently 8 koi on the pond, 4 larger ones and 4 smaller ones (were 14....darn heron...have net now). I have four large frogs that also call the pond home (boy are they loud right now!). There are two pots of water lillies and an empty terracotta pot for the fish to hide in. I also propped up a large flagstone on two bricks for the fish to hide under.
I test the water weekly (less in Winter). Ammoinia and Nitrates have always been zero. A few times after heavy rains, the pH gets crazy, easily fixed with pH-Up or pH-Down chemicals. I've never gotten the phosphates down where they should be. Occasionally, a little salt is called for.
What I'd most like to understand is how the properly care for the filtration system. The pond has a 2400 gph submersed magnetic-drive pump. The water is pumped around the side of the pond and up to a small square (3' x 3') secondary pond about 2' above the main pond. The water goes to the bottom of this upper pond in a set of U-shaped PVC pipes that are capped off at one end. The water is then forced out of the PVC through small holes that have been drilled in the top of the pipe and the water goes up through some media that looks like a dense air conditioning filter. After that, the water makes its way up through almost 2 feet of small pea gravel before emerging and then flowing out over the waterfall and back into the pond.
It's Spring cleaning time and I want to make sure I do everything correctly. I plan on removing all of the pea gravel and replacing the filter media and making sure that the holes in the PVC pipe are not clogged by lodged gravel. Should I wash the gravel off before replacing it? All the way down, it's covered in slimy green stuff. Wifey wants it cleam, but I think the green slime is what keeps the water crystal clear; and it's always been perfectly clear.
I bought some beneficial bacteria from the PondDiggers.com, but haven't added any yet.
Anyway - thanks for reading about my pond. I would love any advice that I can get from you experienced ponders regarding the maintenance of the filter bed, lowering phosphates, eliminating the string algae that grows on the rocks behind the waterfall and general tips and traps for this style of pond.
Thanks in advance,
Dan
:lol: