Has anyone used the quilt batting for quick cleanup?

[Miami Al]

I did some foolish things, was adding water from well and the filter got filled, etc. I also added a bunch of fish and overfed. Now the water isn't great. It's slowly getting better each day, but I was hoping to do a rapid cleanup.

In the past I did the quilt batting with a small crate (6"), but was thinking of dropping the full size one in. Hoping that it 1-2 days of that will remove a bunch of the algae. Am I being foolish and should just wait for bogs/plants to clean it out, or is it reasonable to try to rapidly filter the water?

 

[rubyduby]

It worked great for me when I lived in Virginia..I used a full size milk crate and filled it with batting..I had to rinse it out a lot though but it did the trick...It will definitely help if you don't want to wait it out.

 

[TheFishGuy]

If it is green water you are dealing with, then quilt batting will do you well! It obviously isnt a permanent solution but assuming you have a bog and proper filtration like you say it is reasonable.

 

[mrsclem]

Agree- a milk crate lined with several layers of the batting will do a good job of clearing the water. You still need to worry about water quality if you are overstocked plus over feeding. If you have a test kit, post results.

 

[SarahT]

Find yourself a quilter and he/ she might have batting remnants for free! I gave all mine away.

 

[Miami Al]

Find yourself a quilter and he/ she might have batting remnants for free! I gave all mine away.

Hobby Lobby had it 50% off. I picked up enough to do two rounds of clearing the pond. It’s definitely not a permanent solution, but I have two pumps, one that feeds a big system off the simmer and one that feeds a mechanical/biological filter off the bottom drain.

This is seen as a bit of a quick fix.

 

[Miami Al]

If it is green water you are dealing with, then quilt batting will do you well! It obviously isnt a permanent solution but assuming you have a bog and proper filtration like you say it is reasonable.

Yes. I think as a quick “get a lot of junk out at once” solution it should work.

 

[j.w]

I got mine free from old furniture cushions. Just rinsed them off really well and voila ready to go. I've used it many times and it does work, but sure does get the batting dirty fast and requires a lot of cleaning and back and forth stuff. Haven't done it lately. My aching back

 

[addy1]

I did it once years ago, 10, no thanks too much work and rinsing the stuff. Now the bog takes care of it all. A bit cloudy with first turn on in the spring, but within days it is clear.

 

[Miami Al]

I did it once years ago, 10, no thanks too much work and rinsing the stuff. Now the bog takes care of it all. A bit cloudy with first turn on in the spring, but within days it is clear.

Thank you. I tried it as my main filter last time, like everything else, it was too much work.

I got a small pump for $12. I'm going to wrap it in quilting and run it overnight and see if that helps. I'm not going to rinse, I have enough quilting to do it twice. If after two runs there is no improvement, I'm out $22 and done messing with it. If it works, then the little pump goes into storage in case I need to do this again.

But bog filtrating is so much less aggravating than conventional filtration. I do have a Urn Bio/Mechanical filter that is super pretty, but I've contemplated converting into functionally a bog by removing the ceramic disks and the filter pad, replacing it with pea pebbles, and adding some small plants to it.

For now I figure it's extra filtration and not hurting anything, but time will tell.

 

[GBBUDD]

but I was hoping to do a rapid cleanup.

fish can tolerate a lot so long as the changes are made somewhat gradually. if you do a water change and dump in 50 degree water to a 70 degree pond that's not healthy. so making changes should be done gradually or the parameters should be very close to one another

 

[Lisak1]

I will add that, in our pond, the bog is fantastic biological filtration but over time we found we needed more mechanical filtration. Perhaps a function of our bog not working quite like it should - I don't know if we have enough settlement time to reduce fine floating debris. We also do not have a skimmer - our pond has a negative edge design.

Anyway, we purchased a box filter with six filter pads last year - so much better and easier than the quilt batting for long term use. We tried to janky up a quilt batting filter, but it was literally clogging up in hours. Too much work for this lazy ponder. The box filter could run for a week or more. It was more expensive, but it will also last forever, so it was a good one time investment for us.

 

[addy1]

I think mine does fine due a few things, I draw the water from a foot or so from the bottom of the pond and mine is large. I have a leaf basket between the pump and the draw, I never need to clean it.

Is it the most clear it could be, probably not, can I count the trap door snails on the bottom in the five foot deep area, yep.

 

[rubyduby]

I got mine free from old furniture cushions. Just rinsed them off really well and voila ready to go. I've used it many times and it does work, but sure does get the batting dirty fast and requires a lot of cleaning and back and forth stuff. Haven't done it lately. My aching back

I think mine does fine due a few things, I draw the water from a foot or so from the bottom of the pond and mine is large. I have a leaf basket between the pump and the draw, I never need to clean it.

Is it the most clear it could be, probably not, can I count the trap door snails on the bottom in the five foot deep area, yep.

I ordered the trapdoor snails yesterday!

 

[sissy]

I use quilt batting a reusable furnace filters I get at lowes in my filters