Sound off: How many gallons is your pond?

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I think my goal is to one day have about a 12,000 gallon natural looking pond. Four foot deep at the deepest, but mostly 1.5 to 2 feet deep. With a big waterfall. That would be awesome.
 
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BennyLava not trying to get you too far ahead of yourself but would you try to have it self sustaining? If not what would your dream filtration system be?
 
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That would be great if it was self sustaining. A least in my opinion. There are probly much more knowledgeable people here to ask that question. However I assume that at the very least one would need an ultraviolet clarifier to kill the suspended algae and keep the water clear. My guess is, a pond of that size could probly self sustain with about 3 adult koi in it. No other fish, of any size.

And we all like to have many more than that heh. So I would probly use a line of connected 55 gallon drums, about 8 of them. All with a backflush valve and bio filtration in the top. And before that one of those pond sieve things to catch the large stuff. There is no such thing as too much filtration, if you have too much filtration all you will have is clean clear water so its a win/win.
 

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You don't need UV to keep a pond clear and free of single cell algae. A good bio filter and some floating plants is all I have and mine are always clear.
 
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I have a great bio system that is way over what I need by miles, I've got some floaters, I've got perfect water parameters, I've got a low fish load, ideal filtration, do my 20-25% weekly water changes religiously--and I NEED a UV.

My pond is semi-raised, in full sun in the afternoon in a neck of the country that is extremely hot during summers. Every pond is different and is affected by different circumstances. It's not one size fits all, and some of us will need a UV and some of us won't. It is better for someone to use a UV rather than chemicals in the pond to maintain water that is not green.

I marvel at those who can keep a pond without a UV. That is great! BUT, one is not a failure because a UV is in place as part of their filtration.
 
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KoiKeeper,

I use a 55 watt Laguna and am very pleased with it, my pond is "crystal clear", however, I do have a question for you. The originator of the Skippy filter makes this statement on his website: "Actually using a UV with a biological filter is an oxymoron"

I personally don't believe that the UV kills everything useful to the biological process if that is what he is refering to. What do you think? any others chime in.

http://www.skippysstuff.com/biofiltr.htm
 
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DrDave may have a very valid point about UVs. it makes sense that there would be an incompatibility between UVs and Biological filtration. For instance at the beginning of the season I had pea soup water and seeded my filter with MicrobeLift. then turned on my UV a few days after that. The water cleared in a few days and I just left the UV on never giving the biological filter a chance to reach its potential. if I had shut the UV off perhaps there may have been a slight relapse but given a little time the biological filter may have kept the pond water clear. The sterilization of water by the UV may keep the biological starved out and not functioning to its potential.

If any forum members would shut their UV off for a while and keep us posted of the results I would appreciate it.
 
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DrDave may have a very valid point about UVs. it makes sense that there would be an incompatibility between UVs and Biological filtration. For instance at the beginning of the season I had pea soup water and seeded my filter with MicrobeLift. then turned on my UV a few days after that. The water cleared in a few days and I just left the UV on never giving the biological filter a chance to reach its potential. if I had shut the UV off perhaps there may have been a slight relapse but given a little time the biological filter may have kept the pond water clear. The sterilization of water by the UV may keep the biological starved out and not functioning to its potential.

If any forum members would shut their UV off for a while and keep us posted of the results I would appreciate it.
 
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Pondmaster said:
KoiKeeper,

I use a 55 watt Laguna and am very pleased with it, my pond is "crystal clear", however, I do have a question for you. The originator of the Skippy filter makes this statement on his website: "Actually using a UV with a biological filter is an oxymoron"

I personally don't believe that the UV kills everything useful to the biological process if that is what he is refering to. What do you think? any others chime in.

http://www.skippysstuff.com/biofiltr.htm

Hi pondmaster. There's lots I don't agree with about Skippy. His statements are to NEVER clean your filter out. There are no waste pipes, etc in a true skippy. Skippy says that the waste magically turns to sand.

I don't disagree with the way skippy plumbs his filters, and many of us here use the same general designs for our DIY's. However, we do have a waste pipe and flush it often.

Once the bacteria and biological process is established, a UV harms nothing more than the dastardly algae we are looking to get rid of.
 
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You can't harm anything with a UV clarifier except algae but you can with a UV sterilizer.
Which IMHA is better. It kills the bad bacteria that goes past it.
 

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