New filter. Water still murky

[IanS]

I have a very small pond. Maybe 1000 ltrs or so. Initially just wanted it for wildlife. Frogs etc.

I have a small pump with small water fall. I measured the pump's throughput at 360 Ltrs Per Hour.

Pond was full - and I mean teaming - with Mosquito Larvae. Midgies around the pond etc.

So I introduced 5 very small Orfe. Around 2 inches long. They fixed the mosquito larvae in 2 days. Not a single one that I can see now. No idea how such tiny orfe could eat so much !

I installed a filter PondXpert EasyFilter 4500 and water flows through nicely. I thought of getting a bigger pump but I fear that would just cause too much flow in such a small pond.

Anyway. The reason I posted here was to ask about the filter. The water flows well but the water flowing back into the pond is still a little cloudy. Catching it in a glass it's a little green and I can see small particles.

Is it supposed to be crystal clear? Or does it take a while for the filter to start working?

Sorry about the long post but IO though better to describe the whole setup as best I could.

Thanks
IanS

Just wanted to add that I know orfe grow big and will probably mean the pond won't ever have much "Wildlife". But after a short while I think I'll enjoy keeping fish and I'll probably need a bigger pond anyway and will build that wildlife pond a bit further from the house next year.

 

[Lisak1]

Welcome @IanS !

I'm not much on equipment and pumps, but someone here will have an answer for you. In the meantime, I'll ask you if you can post some photos - we love to see ponds!

 

[EricV]

Five orfe in a small pond like that is not going to be sustainable. They get almost as big as koi. Do you have a longer term plan?

 

[IanS]

Five orfe in a small pond like that is not going to be sustainable. They get almost as big as koi. Do you have a longer term plan?

Yes. As I said, I know they get big and expect I'll need a bigger pond soon.

The reason I got the orfe, instead of goldfish, is cats. I see neighbor's cats most evenings at the pond and I kinda hope that orfe have more of a chance against cats. The orfe are very skitish and they're very - very fast.

 

[IanS]

Welcome @IanS !

I'm not much on equipment and pumps, but someone here will have an answer for you. In the meantime, I'll ask you if you can post some photos - we love to see ponds!

I built the pond last year with Concrete. Around some edges (eg: right side of the picture) I pressed some stones/pebbles etc into the concrete. Painted the concrete with G4. Pond is around 9 feet x 5 with deepest around 2feet

 

[IanS]

Filter is hidden behind/inside the willow at the back of the pond

 

[IanS]

A closer look at the concrete/pebble construction.

 

[Jhn]

You need more circulation in there, 1.5-2x your pond volume turned over per hour, at least. Currently, it looks like you have half that. This leaves detritus and mulm settling out in the pond. You want it up in the water column, so it can be removed by your filter.

 

[snoozer]

I don't have a filter on my pond but i would think you would need to clean the filter media that is inside the canister.

 

[IanS]

I don't have a filter on my pond but i would think you would need to clean the filter media that is inside the canister.

It's a brand new filter. Just installed it less than 24 hours ago.

That's my question - the water coming out of the filter back into the pond still has some color and has some particles. Is that normal? Or should it be crystal clear coming out of the filter?

 

[Jhn]

It's a brand new filter. Just installed it less than 24 hours ago.

That's my question - the water coming out of the filter back into the pond still has some color and has some particles. Is that normal? Or should it be crystal clear coming out of the filter?

Yes that is normal. The filters aren’t going to strip the water of particulates in one pass. Some things like free floating algae are too small to be caught by most filters.

 

[EricV]

Five orfe in a small pond like that is not going to be sustainable. They get almost as big as koi. Do you have a longer term plan?

Yes. As I said, I know they get big and expect I'll need a bigger pond soon.

The reason I got the orfe, instead of goldfish, is cats. I see neighbor's cats most evenings at the pond and I kinda hope that orfe have more of a chance against cats. The orfe are very skitish and they're very - very fast.

Sorry, I missed that part. Rosy Reds are good in this situation too. I’m kind of tempted by orfes myself.

 

[IanS]

Yes that is normal. The filters aren’t going to strip the water of particulates in one pass. Some things like free floating algae are too small to be caught by most filters.

The filter has a 7w UV element but the install instructions said not to use that for the first 6-8 weeks.

My understanding is that the UV is to kill harmful bacteria.

Will the filter ever catch small free floating algae? If not, what can I do about it.

There's a bit of 'Mulm' (as you call it) at the bottom of the pond but the orfe are so active down there that it's constantly stirred up into the water body and, I guess, being pulled into the filter (The pump is at the very bottom of the pond)

I took on-board what you said about the size of the pump. It is small but I'm concerned about making even more of a splash. The small pump I have seems to fit the size of the pond. (small pond, small waterfall) On the other hand, I suppose I could re-arrange the waterfall over more rocks etc so a bigger pump would send more water in gently.

Thanks

 

[ShawnInfirmity]

Welcome @IanS I agree with @Jhn 's recommendation of getting a larger pump. Assuming your pond is 1000 Liters I would shoot for a 1500-2000 Liter per hour pump so your water volume is turned over 1.5-2x an hour. The filter media should catch the free floating algae but the UV will help with that because it kills the algae and causes it to clump together therefore making it easier to be filtered out.

 

[IanS]

Sorry, I missed that part. Rosy Reds are good in this situation too. I’m kind of tempted by orfes myself.

When I had the plague of Mosquitoes and decided to knock the idea of a 'wildlife' pond on the head and get some fish - I went to the local store to look at goldfish etc. The goldfish were coming right up to the edge of the tank with their mouths open expecting food when anyone went anywhere near them. They wouldn't stand a chance against cats.

But in the next tank, hardly visible right at the bottom of the tank as far away from people as they could get were greyish fish. I'd never heard of 'Blue Orfe' but that's what the label said they were and I decided they'd be just the job to fix my mosquito problem.

The shop guy said they'd maybe grow to 18inches in 5 years so I knew I'd need a bigger pond one day. But reading about orfe it seems they can get much much bigger and can live 20 years !!