Filter crash - need advice!

[Mayank]

@Charlottekoi what you experienced wasn’t a filter crash.....by over feeding you just overwhelmed your biological filter i.e. creating more waste(ammonia) than the bacteria in your pond can cope with.

Even rinsing off your filter media with chlorinated water shouldn’t cause a filter crash as every wet surface in your pond has a layer of biofilm on it part of which is beneficial bacteria. Now cleaning out your pond and power washing it and your filter media off will cause your biological filter to crash.

Not a fan of water changes in a pond for anything other than in emergencies, when something in the water needs to be diluted quickly...chemical/toxin, ammonia spike in a mature pond....but that is another topic.

We only did the water changes to get the ammonia down. Other ways we only added more for compensating for evaporation.

 

[clark kent]

Whenever I add (chlorinated) water, I add (liquid) Tetra Pond AquaSafe Water Conditioner directly into the stream of new water. I have a digital water metering device that screws onto the end of my hose. This way I know exactly how much conditioner to add per gallon of water.
I've never had a problem with killing off beneficial bacteria in any of my past filters over the years. I now run a bog exclusively. No other filter.

Sorry for getting off-topic, but a quick question:
Currently, when I need to add water to my pond, I have to fill a 100 gallon stock tank, dechlorinate the water in the tank, and then pump it into the pond. That digital water metering device sounds like a useful thing to have around. Can you tell me more about it?

 

[poconojoe]

Sorry for getting off-topic, but a quick question:
Currently, when I need to add water to my pond, I have to fill a 100 gallon stock tank, dechlorinate the water in the tank, and then pump it into the pond. That digital water metering device sounds like a useful thing to have around. Can you tell me more about it?

I purchased the one I have on Amazon in 2012 and it's no longer available. It was around $20 (US). Mine has been very good and still works great.
Here is a link to another similar one, however I cannot attest for the quality or reliability of this one. I'm sure it's just as good. There are many others too, so do your own research.

Amazon.com

 

[Mayank]

Sorry for getting off-topic, but a quick question:
Currently, when I need to add water to my pond, I have to fill a 100 gallon stock tank, dechlorinate the water in the tank, and then pump it into the pond. That digital water metering device sounds like a useful thing to have around. Can you tell me more about it?

We have a 90 gallon "portable bathtub" that we fill up, then add API tap water conditioner (usually dose for the chloramine which is 3x for chlorine and then I put a little extra on top of that too because I don't think it hurts the fish). Then I stir it and open the spigot on the bottom and let the fresh water trickle in slowly over the span of a few hours so as to not cause sharp fluctuations in pH and temperature.\
Just curious, is there a reason for you wanting to get a meter?

 

[IPA]

I think there is a percentage, don’t know what it is, that you can add w/o dechlorinating. Some people just add the dechlorinator for the volume of pond water. They also make a dechlorinator filter that attaches to your hose.

 

[poconojoe]

Just curious, is there a reason for you wanting to get a meter?

When I need to add water, I know exactly how much dechlorinizer to use.

Using the meter on my initial filling of my pond gave me the exact number of gallons the pond holds.

So, for a mere $20, it's worth the peace of mind and also knowing the capacity of the pond.