Problem with Fishmate 15000 filter not clearing water.

[yetifan]

Hi all.
First post here so be gentle.
I have a bit of a problem with a new Fishmate 15000 filter not clearing the water in my pond. It's a pressurized filter with built in UV lamp which is supposed to be for ponds of 3750 litres (fully stocked with koi) to 15000 litres with no fish stock.
Although the pond is only about 5500 litres and mainly stocked with goldfish and two koi, the manufacturers are saying that the filter isn't big enough to clear the water.
If I can't argue it out with them, what would my options be?
I can't really afford to just ditch my filter and spend £300 on the next size up, so was thinking of other ways to solve this.
Would my best option be to install a separate UV unit before the filter, or should I look at running a second filter being fed from my current one?
Many thanks in advance for any replies.

 

[Tula]

Welcome ! Can you add any other filtration, for example, in the water fall, a skimmer, a bog? We'd love to see pictures of your pond.

Again, welcome

 

[Lisak1]

Welcome!

Can you tell us when you say "clear the water", what does your water look like? Is it green? Brown? Murky? Can you see the bottom?

We love pictures!

 

[yetifan]

Hi again.
Many thanks for the replies. Will take some photos when I get a minute, but the pond doesn't look that spectacular at the moment.
The water seems to be a bit green and is very cloudy. We definitely can't see the bottom. I'm not sure if I can add a skimmer but will have a look? I thought they were generally used to remove leaves and other floating debris from the surface? We're very pushed for space round the pond so not really sure if a bog filter would fit (even if I knew what one was?).

 

[RobAmy]

Not sure of your setup but can you add plants for natural filtration? Skimmers also have a filter pad to help to get the fines out not just leaves depending on the skimmer.

Welcome to the group

 

[mgmine]

I had a problem with the water in my pond. Going into the second year the water was still green so I installed a UV light. The difference was like night and day I would highly recommend getting one if your finances allow it. The general wisdom is to give the pond time and it will clear itself. So if you can wait a year or so then maybe it will. Here is a link to a video I did. I'm going to do another one once I open the pond up for the year. Right now it is so green that sunlight can't get through the first 2 inches. I can't imagine that it would clear itself up in the amount of time I'm willing to give it. The summers are so short that a month or two is not what I'm willing to wait.

https://www.gardenpondforum.com/threads/tmc-pro-clear-30-uv-light-highly-recommended.16409/

 

[Meyer Jordan]

Hi all.
First post here so be gentle.
I have a bit of a problem with a new Fishmate 15000 filter not clearing the water in my pond. It's a pressurized filter with built in UV lamp which is supposed to be for ponds of 3750 litres (fully stocked with koi) to 15000 litres with no fish stock.
Although the pond is only about 5500 litres and mainly stocked with goldfish and two koi, the manufacturers are saying that the filter isn't big enough to clear the water.
If I can't argue it out with them, what would my options be?
I can't really afford to just ditch my filter and spend £300 on the next size up, so was thinking of other ways to solve this.
Would my best option be to install a separate UV unit before the filter, or should I look at running a second filter being fed from my current one?
Many thanks in advance for any replies.

A couple of questions:
How many fish TOTAL do you have?
What is the flow rate of your pump?

Not being familiar with Fishmate products, I did some quick reading, especially the customer reviews. I must say these reviews were less than glowing.
I have one general observation concerning any pressurized filter. They are not designed to remove particulate matter from pond water as they will quickly clog. Some form of pre-filter is usually indicated.

 

[27goldfish]

I used a pressurized filter for a few years. Got rid of it last year. I built my own filter. Within a week, my new filter cleared my pond, 1500 gallons, in a matter of 3 days. I could see all the way to the bottom which is 3ft deep. Not sure of your aquatic plant life, depth, or temp. My pond, BTW, sees full sunlight around 12-15 hours a day. If interested, I will try to get some pics of the filter I built to replace my pressure filter. My pond is overpopulated with Koi, Sarrosso, and goldfish. It stays clean and I am running around 1200 GPH through my filter.

 

[yetifan]

Thanks for all your replies. Strangely enough, in the last week I've started to see a change in the water, which seems to be starting to clear. I'll keep my eye on it, but can anyone advise what plants would be best for my pond? It currently just has lily pads and some 'duckweed'? Are there plants that oxygenate the water? Many thanks.