newbie question about filter media and winter prep.

[koiguy1969]

very nice my friend.....very nice indeed!

 

[stroppy]

i would leave it in there, just try and clean it up a bit, it would seem its your only filtration but only use ond water to clean it with, oh and lovely pond

 

[dutchstar]

here is a pic of the bag freshly pulled from the waterfall pool (the mesh bag is covered with algae)


https://www.gardenpondforum.com/gallery/image/1530-rock-in-a-bag/



and this is what it looks like up close (using my phone camera)

https://www.gardenpondforum.com/gallery/image/1529-moon-rock/



if i'm going to be using the microbe-lift autumn/winter prep (good bacteria which live at lower temps) is it worth keeping this thing in there? maybe i'll hose off the bag to get some of the algae out of the equation - should i just rinse the rock off with pond water and put it back for the winter?

 

[taherrmann4]

Don't use your house water, use pond water to clean it off or you will kill off some of your beneficial bacteria. Is that one big rock in that bag or smaller rocks? If there are smaller rocks in the bag can you take a pic of them? :question:

 

[dutchstar]

ok thanks for the tip on using pond versus hose water.

it is one big rock, weighs probably 15 or 20 pounds.

is this something i should be replacing annually? i see some people using smaller "bio balls" and the like, any opinion there?

 

[taherrmann4]

I have never heard of one big rock in a filter system, so I am not sure what purpose it is serving other than to have some beneficial bacteria that will grow on it. You said this rock is in a smaller pond at the top and not in the filter right?

 

[HARO]

Got me stumped! I could understand a bag full of small rocks, but one big one??? I would replace it with another medium (lava rock, Bio Balls, pea gravel ) starting in the spring. John

 

[sissy]

did you try cleaning it off to see what color it is ,I know some ponders who use big lumps coal in there bigger ponds here .Thats what it looks like I saw a few in ponds here ,they say it is a natural water cleaner .Like the kind you put in fish tanks .I see it sold here in big lumps and says it is for farm ponds but have never tried it myself .I was told it is something they have used for years and years here for farm ponds .I like my lava rock from the garden center ,works for me but not for everyone .

 

[dutchstar]

that is correct, the water is pumped from the mechanical filter through piping alongside the pond to the UV filter, then up to the waterfall where it fills a small pool (containing the Mars rock). it then trickles down to a slightly larger collecting pool, then down over some rocks into the main pond.

 

[HARO]

Activated carbon (charcoal) helps remove colour and some medications from the water, But coal??? And even charcoal loses it's adsorbtive quality very quickly, and must be re-generated. The surface of coal is usually smooth and shiny, so the area for bacteria wouldn't be all that much, either. John

 

[sissy]

thats what I meant sorry ,I could not remember and the kind I saw has a rough surface and they do that there where they sell it at the rock quarry .I asked them because I had no clue what it was .I was thinking of it for my landscape LOL The guy just looked at me and said OK but here they use it for ponds .

 

[dutchstar]

Got me stumped! I could understand a bag full of small rocks, but one big one??? I would replace it with another medium (lava rock, Bio Balls, pea gravel ) starting in the spring. John

so...please forgive my ignorance - is this thing OK to leave in there over the winter? i'll be shutting the pump off once the water hits 50 degrees, so it won't even have water flow over it at that point, and none of the "beneficial bugs" will be accessible to the fish. maybe that doesn't matter?

 

[HARO]

Is it OK? Yes, since it hasn't harmed anything yet. Is it beneficial? Minimally, in my opinion. I would replace it with Bio-Balls in the spring. John

 

[dutchstar]

great, thanks for the input, i think i will pursue the bio balls option, even if only to avoid having to pick that rock up again!

 

[HARO]

Your back will thank you! John