pump - pond - waterfall and UV filter

[Grant]

Hey guys,
We have just moved into a new house and it has this nice pond and waterfall made from huge rocks that were dug up when the house was built, but !!!!!! due to the previous couples divorce, the pond was neglected for 2 seasons.
As i am new to ponds, but want to restore this to its former glory, I thought i would join a forum and see if I could get some help and ideas -------
The pond is full of plants, maybe too many and also I have noticed a lot of leeches on things I have pulled out. Because the previuos owner didnt turn the pump off when we had that long frost last year, the pond pump, which is a TITAN seems to have burn out. The pump pipes up to a to a black plastic box above the waterfall and hidden behind trees, this has OASIS UV across the top, a conector for a hosepipe and 2 pipes coming from the front and dissapearing underground, I presume to feed the waterfall. This box isnt turned on at the moment as Im not sure wether I should run it when dry ???
My questions are -- can i get an equivelant pump that has a fountain included, but will feed enough water up to the filter box - what should i do with the filter box to test it out and see if it still works and if so, the maintainance required ---do I buy something to kill all the leeches -- and is it a good idea to pull all the plants out and empty the pond, clean it as its plastic and reinstate the plants and refill with fresh water ??????
Just forgot to mention that there are no fish in this pond, the plants are very healthy but thick and dense and its aprox 3 foot deep and aprox 5feet x 9 feet in dimensions

Would really appreciate any help and advice as its my new project

Thanks in advance

Grant

 

[addy1]

The box that says uv is for a uv light to help kill algae cells, it should only be on if you have water running.

With leeches, kill them off before you do anything with fish, there is someone on here that is fighting leeches.

Pull the plants, put them into tubs with some water to keep them doing fine until you get the pond cleaned.

In reading on the net, the best way to remove them, since you do not have fish, pull the plants, get all the muck out of the bottom of the pond, (they live in the muck) if it was me I would also spray down the liner with bleach, your plants I would pull them out of any pots they are in, put them in fresh soil. I would also soak the plants in a light bleach solution to kill any that might be living on them.

Before you put in fish, either flush the pond real well to get rid of the bleach or wait long enough for the chlorine level to drop to zero, or put in dechlor.

This is a way to kill leeches if you have fish

from an old forum post:

Potassium permanganate is the old anti-fluke standby and is sold in pharmacies, some garden shops,, and lfs. It takes four days to treat your pond. A lot of koi supply houses carry it. the way you use it reguires that you accurately measure how much water you have and it is better to under dose than overdose or it can burn the gills of you fish. At treatment doses it will kill all your inverts but you will no longer have fish lice, flukes, or leeches. I did a quick check and you can get a 1 pound jar for $14.50 at www.fancykoiqutlet.com which will last a long time.
To use you turn off your filter and add one level TEASPOON of granules per 1000 gallons of water to your pond, dissolve it in a bucket with some water first, then stir it around, your pond will turn blue or purple then over the next couple hours turn amber or brown, once it does add 1 pint of 3% hydrogen peroxide to the pond. Stir it around and wait 3-4 hours then turn the pumps back on.
Repeat this everyday for four to five days, each day it will take longer for the blue to go away. Make sure you neutralize the potassium permanganate each day. after the last treatment do a 30-50% water change.

and

 

[j.w]

Grant

 

[HARO]

For what it's worth, potassium permanganate is used in the manufacturing of crack cocaine and is now a severely restricted item here in Canada, and probably other countries as well. Check into the legality of purchasing this substance or you may face some stern questions from the authorities!
John

 

[addy1]

For what it's worth, potassium permanganate is used in the manufacturing of crack cocaine and is now a severely restricted item here in Canada, and probably other countries as well. Check into the legality of purchasing this substance or you may face some stern questions from the authorities!
John

ut oh! I promise just trying to get rid of leeches! A net search shows a bunch of places that sale it and for pond usage.

 

[sissy]

hmmm gov.watching you addy

 

[koiguy1969]

dont let your fish get hooked!

 

[Waterbug]

I'll say what I always say, but I don't think anyone ever does this...I'd spend some time learning about ponds. Outline forums are one place, but there are other articles and such. Unfortunately pretty much everything you hear from all source will contain a grain of truth and a lot of myth, misunderstood stuff, general crap and none of, absolutely none of it will have anything to do with your pond or what you want your pond to become.

Keeping a pond is assumed to be a pretty easy thing, and it is, or could be. Take one simple question you've asked...what about plants.

Koi pond owner: "OMG, you have to remove every plant. Plants in a pond will kill your fish".

Water Garden owner: "Clean out the muck, the muck will kill your fish, but keep all the plants because without plants your water will be green and all your fish will die".

Wildlife Pond owner: "Keep the plants and the muck. The muck will keep the fish alive by providing food (leeches) for the fish".

Everyone in between: A million different perspectives. I have filter X, so you must get filter X. Endless.

Each completely right for their pond and completely wrong for another pond. It's only by reading many sources that you start to get a general sense of what kind of pond you want and then it gets easier. When I build or fix a pond for someone I start by sitting down and finding out what their goals are, what the budget is, and how involved they want to be. Is this just a landscape element or a new hobby? Those kinds of answers narrows the choices from a few million to a few hundred. A few more questions would narrow the choices to a few dozen.

Of course if you just want to dive right in and start doing I'm thinking potassium permanganate is a great way to have a very interesting story to tell the people at work on Monday, or Tuesday depending on injuries. Conversation will range from "Wow, why are you purple" to "Wow, what's with the seeing eye dog".

 

[adavisus]

The leeches probably thrive on whatever frogs or aquatic snails took up residence. It's likely, if there are native ponds or streams nearby, leeches will always be a frogs hop away...

Transferring the plants prior to rinsing the pond out will probably transfer a bunch of leech egg capsules on their stems, to hatch out when the pond is nicely disinfected and clean and replanted...

Nuking the pond for leeches several times might be effective to evict the icky so and so's before putting fish in...

Regards, andy
http://www.flickr.com/photos/21940871@N06/
http://swglist.wordpress.com/

 

[Waterbug]

I know almost nothing about your pond but here are some general comments you can check out further...

pump off when we had that long frost last year, the pond pump, which is a TITAN seems to have burn out. The pump pipes up to a to a black plastic box above the waterfall and hidden behind trees, this has OASIS UV across the top, a conector for a hosepipe and 2 pipes coming from the front and dissapearing underground, I presume to feed the waterfall.

You'll have to determine what model UV you have. My first guess would be "Oasis Clear Pond", Google it to see. They come in different sizes and you'll have to find yours.

If it is a "Oasis Clear Pond" it has a UV light in the top which, when working, kills single cell floating algae, normally just called "green water". Most of the box is full of various pads that in theory "clean" the pond.

You're correct on the 2 pipes, one input is from the pump, the other output to the waterfall I would assume also.

conector for a hosepipe

If that's at the bottom it's probably to drain the filter to "clean" the pads. Basically worthless. These combo filters are sold to first time pond owners with a lot of great sounding stuff.

This box isnt turned on at the moment as Im not sure wether I should run it when dry ???

Never run a UV filter dry. The bulb gets really hot and cause damage.

can i get an equivelant pump that has a fountain included, but will feed enough water up to the filter box

Probably. It is possible to divert water to different features. Can be a little tricky. Depends on the elevation of each output, restriction on the fountainhead, etc. Basically you pipe the features and see which is getting too much water. Put a valve on that line to restrict. Or just put a valve on both and tweak. The pump needs enough output for both features otherwise you may not be happy.

The pond doesn't require a fountain. If you want it for looks that's fine. But if someone told you it's needed for O2 they don't know what they're talking about. O2 is only needed in limited cases like lots of fish. In those cases an air pump is much more effective and cheaper to run. Plus you have the waterfall and I doubt it gets very hot where you are. Cooler water carries more O2.

what should i do with the filter box to test it out and see if it still works and if so, the maintainance required

The UV can be useful if you ever have green water. Otherwise it doesn't really do anything other than consume electric. The bulb inside does have to be replaced about once a year. It throws less and less UV over time but still appears to "light up". No easy way to test UV strength. If you don't have green water I wouldn't bother with it.

You should clean the filter pad, or just remove and set them aside. I don't think they serve any use, but you can research and decide for yourself. No big harm using them if kept clean. Use pond water, no soap. They don't have to be spotless, just not clogged.

To test the UV you just check the water color. Green water means the UV isn't working for some reason. Not green water means the UV is working or not needed. If you do get green water you can get a new bulb and turn it on. The power cord is only needed to run the light...nothing to do with the pads or water movement. A UV filter should clear the pond in just a few days. If not it could be the incorrect flow of water through it (too fast or too slow), under sized UV, weak bulb, etc. After about a week or two of being on 24/7 you can turn it off. Keep an eye on the water. If it starts going green again you have to turn the UV back on. Most of the time bacteria in the pond is able to kill new algae and the pond can stay clear for months, years, with no UV. Sometimes the UV is needed a lot. By clear I mean not green. Pond water is often discolored in some way, and each dealt with differently.

To test the pads you buy a test kit for ammonia and test the pond water. If there is ammonia present it means you need more homes for bacteria which convert the ammonia into other stuff. Clean pads would provide that home. Takes a couple of weeks for the bacteria to grow. If you still have ammonia you need additional filters. Ammonia is produced by fish so you shouldn't have any. Testing ammonia level always tells you the story. Most water gardens, with a few fish that are fed a couple of times a week, need no filter. The surfaces in the pond is enough of a home for bacteria. Although most water gardens don't need a filter most owners like to have as it makes them feel better...yet they still don't test ammonia so I don't know why they would feel better. They also like to tell other pond owners that a filter is needed or all your fish will die, earth will fall into the sun, etc.

When you get the test kit I suggest also getting a KH test. KH is stuff that converts acid. Acid comes from rain and decaying matter. You should research "ph buffering". If you add baking soda to keep KH up it will keep the pond pH around 8.4. That way you never have to test pH. Testing pH really doesn't tell you anything that you can use.

Ammonia and KH are really the only test kit you need.

Another thing to study is ammonia and specifically the role temperature plays. The test kits only can tell the total ammonia (toxic) and ammonium (not toxic). Ammonium converts to ammonia at higher temperatures and pH. Some people freak out when they measure ammonia but many times have some breathing room. You always want 0 total ammonia...the question is to freak out or not. By toxic I mean toxic to fish in general.

do I buy something to kill all the leeches

Before nuking the pond you might want to find out what kind of leech you have, or even if it is a leech. There are the infamous leeches that bite, but most don't. Most eat bugs, snails, frogs, decaying matter. Goldfish, Koi, Orfe, etc, will eat them and they'd be gone.

is it a good idea to pull all the plants out and empty the pond, clean it as its plastic and reinstate the plants and refill with fresh water

Because there are no fish You should do whatever is easy. Posting a picture might help give you a better quess at what you're in for. My guess, easier to remove the plants and water. Just rinse the liner a little, no need to "clean" it. And there could be some good stuff on the liner.

Pictures of the plants will lead to ids, which will lead to suggestions on dealing with them.

99% of complexity, cost and stress comes from adding a lot of fish and feeding a lot of food. If you go slow and be skeptical about things "you must do" life will be good.

I've noticed a few new pond owners here start different threads for each question. I think that works well. It can get a bit confusing otherwise.

 

[whiskey]

GRANT I WISH I HAD ALL THAT INFORMATION IN MY HEAD BEFORE I GOT INTO PONDING SOME 18 YEARS AGO.
WATERBUG THATS ONE VERY WELL PUT ACCOUNT OF PONDING/FISH KEEPING ........I HOPE YOUR EFFORTS TO EXPLAIN DONT FALL ON DEAF EARS
GREAT ARTICAL.