Help water went BAD

[janine9620]

Hi, I have an overloaded pond at the moment, has been established since Decemeber. 800-900 gallons, 17 fish, assorted sizes, and an unexpected spawn yesterday. Anyhow I have an Ultima2 filter and was also running a beckett in pond filter w/ 750 gph pump, more for circulation then anything. My intake on the bigger system was only a shower head, so I made a skimmer type intake, that pulls from the top water but also pulls midway through screened holes with lava rock for a prefilter. Since I placed this where my Beckett was I removed the becket filter and was using just the pump for circultaion benefits. My water parameters crashed. Do you think the Beckett filter was the bio and the Ultima2 isn't working as bio? Shouldn't the new skimmer act as a bio and take up where the beckett left off? Of course it is new, should I seed it? I figured the Unltima could hold it's own, it's suppose to be both mech and bio. Any suggestions until I can dig a larger pond????
Ultima is 2000 gal w/ 3000 sequence pump.

 

[lindsayanng]

When you remove a filter and add a new one, you remove ALL of the good bacteria that is in that older filter.. that is your problem. You should take the media out of the removed filter (if it is still moist) and put it int he new one.

WHENEVER you get a new filter you should do this, it will be like nothing changes.. but just because its a BIO filter doesnt mean it already has any bacteria in it, its just ideal FOR bacteria when it gets there.. which it hasnt yet.. you just recyced your pond

 

[janine9620]

Thanks that was what I was afraid of. I took the moist bio media out of the old box and put it in the new one, and added some more lava rock. Did a partial water change and rechecked, Nitrites are lower, I'll keep monitoring it like I did when it was first established.