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- May 13, 2009
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Thanks to Koiguy1969, DrCase and DrDave (and others) i'm well on my way to having a balanced pond! I've got 5 days until i have a small group of people over, so i'd like to clear up the pond as much as possible.
Here's what i've done so far or is in the works:
I've got 2 300gallon ponds. Each one is around 2' deep, has a 30 to 40 gallon feed pond that IS the waterfall (just plastic barrels with a spillway). I plan to turn them into skippies, but can't access the outside of them.
I've filled the bottoms of each with 2 bags (1 cubic foot) of lava rocks. (i coated them with beneficial bacteria)
I extended the output tubes of the current bio-filters (combo uv/bio filters) to the bottom of the ponds. These are both on Pondmaster Model 5 pumps (500 GPH at 0'. . .from the bottom of the pond, these are emptying at about 4')
I've also got pondmaster model 7 pumps (700GPH) in each pond. Right now the front pond is going through a UV filter and also emptying out at the bottom of the feed pond. The back pond, however, has a cascading fall that's about 6' high (making the total height off the pump around 8') and it empties into the basin that i'm using with the lava rocks. Is dumping this water into the top of the basin going to screw up what i've done with the other pump?
I plan on adding lava rocks to the tiny spill basins that cascade down the wall for some extra filtration.
The future, as i said, will yield skippies out of those spill basins. I'll add scrubbies, real pvc plumbing to the bottom and some hard plastic mesh to the top. I'll have to use the spillway for the outlet, so adding vegetation to the top will only make them go over the falls.
I've got plenty more beneficial bacteria and sludge remover. I plan on using both of those as directed on the bottle this afternoon.
I also plan on hitting up the local aqua place for some better pre filters. I've got one pre filter that pretty much never clogs and 3 that clog pretty much every day. I figure that will change once the pond is cleaner and more in balance, but i still would rather get better prefilters. should i put beneficial pbacteria on the prefilters?
Thanks!
-James
Here's what i've done so far or is in the works:
I've got 2 300gallon ponds. Each one is around 2' deep, has a 30 to 40 gallon feed pond that IS the waterfall (just plastic barrels with a spillway). I plan to turn them into skippies, but can't access the outside of them.
I've filled the bottoms of each with 2 bags (1 cubic foot) of lava rocks. (i coated them with beneficial bacteria)
I extended the output tubes of the current bio-filters (combo uv/bio filters) to the bottom of the ponds. These are both on Pondmaster Model 5 pumps (500 GPH at 0'. . .from the bottom of the pond, these are emptying at about 4')
I've also got pondmaster model 7 pumps (700GPH) in each pond. Right now the front pond is going through a UV filter and also emptying out at the bottom of the feed pond. The back pond, however, has a cascading fall that's about 6' high (making the total height off the pump around 8') and it empties into the basin that i'm using with the lava rocks. Is dumping this water into the top of the basin going to screw up what i've done with the other pump?
I plan on adding lava rocks to the tiny spill basins that cascade down the wall for some extra filtration.
The future, as i said, will yield skippies out of those spill basins. I'll add scrubbies, real pvc plumbing to the bottom and some hard plastic mesh to the top. I'll have to use the spillway for the outlet, so adding vegetation to the top will only make them go over the falls.
I've got plenty more beneficial bacteria and sludge remover. I plan on using both of those as directed on the bottle this afternoon.
I also plan on hitting up the local aqua place for some better pre filters. I've got one pre filter that pretty much never clogs and 3 that clog pretty much every day. I figure that will change once the pond is cleaner and more in balance, but i still would rather get better prefilters. should i put beneficial pbacteria on the prefilters?
Thanks!
-James