Total Newbie - please be gentle

[NJKoiNewbie]

We just closed on this house last Friday and wanted to get our koi pond situation under control. The previous owners did little if any maintenance and we've never owned a pond before. We felt bad for the fish because the water was so murky that we wanted to try and clean the pot, pump and the filter. Our pump is no longer working and upon opening the pot - we found what I can only describe as little gears inside as well as some really dirty water. Can you help to get the pump working again? I'm concerned about the fish and don't want to have to buy a new pump. Thanks for your help - I've attached as many photos as possible.


https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0By13ZHg86MwhVHdrQWxrd1ZjY0U&usp=sharing

Thanks for your help.

 

[Lisaebetten]

Ah welcome, this is a great place and the nicest helpers around. We are all in this together!! Sorry you feel you might be abused but I doubt that will happen here!!! Your doing the best you can. I'm not sure what the pot is but I'm sure others will know. Putting an aerator in will help give the fish more oxygen and water movement.

Pictures of you pond would help also.

 

[Amy]

I am new to ponds, but been doing aquariums forever. What you are calling a pot, looks to me like a canister filter? What you describe as "gears" may be bioballs designed for beneficial bacteria to grow on.
Does your pump come apart and have an impeller(metal rod with a gear on it, will be magnetic) inside? Generally, you can pull this out and clean all parts(pipe cleaner work well) and put back together and it may work.

 

[NJKoiNewbie]

Folks! Thanks for being so nice! I got the pump back working - seemed like something called Air-Lock - I had to dunk the pump up and down a few times with it plugged in to get it back on - I also disconnected the hose leading away from the pump in case it was jammed. Right now everything is pumping as designed when we bought the house. Tomorrow's task - try to get a filter (I've seen quilt batting suggested) on the outside of the pump and post more pictures so you folks can see what I see.

@Lisaebetten - I posted pictures to my google drive and shared the link - please let me know if you can't see them.


Good night all - talk tomorrow! Thanks for the quick response(S). I was going to have nightmares about those little fish not making it through the night.

 

[Lisaebetten]

Oh batting is great, I bought the cheapest I could find....the loose stuffing type for a pillow. I put it in a mesh type bag that you can get at the dollar store and put it under the water fall and in my skimmer net for 2 days and all was good. I also have a large filter pad in my skimmer and 2 large filter pads in my falls box. I don't have any sandy, silt stuff laying around now!!!
You will have to rinse it out a few times and let it collect again. Oh yea I bought a washable furnace filter at Wal Mart for like $7 for my skimmer as well, just hose it off when dirty.

 

[Lisaebetten]

Oh batting is great, I bought the cheapest I could find....the loose stuffing type for a pillow. I put it in a mesh type bag that you can get at the dollar store and put it under the water fall and in my skimmer net for 2 days and all was good. I also have a large filter pad in my skimmer and 2 large filter pads in my falls box. I don't have any sandy, silt stuff laying around now!!!
You will have to rinse it out a few times and let it collect again. Oh yea I bought a washable furnace filter at Wal Mart for like $7 for my skimmer as well, just hose it off when dirty.

Sorry the only pic I saw where of your pump.

 

[j.w]

NJKoiNewbie
That's great you got that filter pump running. I also use the quilt batting and put it in a plastic milk crate and let a hose attached to a pump run the water over it to collect the muck.

 

[morewater]

We just closed on this house last Friday and wanted to get our koi pond situation under control. The previous owners did little if any maintenance and we've never owned a pond before. We felt bad for the fish because the water was so murky that we wanted to try and clean the pot, pump and the filter. Our pump is no longer working and upon opening the pot - we found what I can only describe as little gears inside as well as some really dirty water. Can you help to get the pump working again? I'm concerned about the fish and don't want to have to buy a new pump. Thanks for your help - I've attached as many photos as possible.


https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0By13ZHg86MwhVHdrQWxrd1ZjY0U&usp=sharing

Thanks for your help.

That's a Tetra, which can be a pain to open. There are a couple of yellow, plastic set screws and two other metal screws. The problem with this pump is that you have to take off the housing in order to clean the "filter" by spraying water from the inside out.

Loosen the two yellow screws counter-clockwise, there's a thumb tab there. Depress and the "lid" should come off. Wash the filter with a hose from the inside out. Check the impeller for clogging debris. If I'm not mistaken, this is in the neighborhood of 800gph. Not the greatest pump out there, but if it works...........adding batting to the outside will restrict the flow to the intake, as it'll get dirty fairly quickly, quite possibly trip the thermal protection and decrease the pump life. Clean the housing once a week. These pump types are not designed to accommodate a pre-filter, the housing is meant for that purpose.

 

[Dave 54]

Hi and Welcome from Plymouth here in the UK
Glad to hear you've fixed your filter and its working again , your going to need to start thinking about prepping your pond for the winter months ahead which means your going to need to clean all the detritus dead leaves etc from the bottom of the pond thus giving your koi the best optimum conditions to ensure their continued survival throughout the winter months .
Do you know just how deep your pond is and how many gallons you have in it please as this is important, koi need 4.5ft - 5ft especially if you have long hard winters .
You should be feeding your koi for the late summer /fall period with wheat germ and Garlic however when your pond reaches a temperature of 10c you should stop feeding throught the winter until the temperature goes above 10c in the spring.
Regular partial water chabges are a must , do you have a pond test kit , if your answer is no or you have test strips then you should buy an API pond drop test kit.
This is so you can ensure your koi have the best water conditions they possibly can.....

Dave

 

[topofthehill1]

Dave, we are around 20C here in New Jersey for now. I still have some water lilies blooming. Don't try to bring the winter on us too early.

Hi and Welcome from Plymouth here in the UK
Glad to hear you've fixed your filter and its working again , your going to need to start thinking about prepping your pond for the winter months ahead which means your going to need to clean all the detritus dead leaves etc from the bottom of the pond thus giving your koi the best optimum conditions to ensure their continued survival throughout the winter months .
Do you know just how deep your pond is and how many gallons you have in it please as this is important, koi need 4.5ft - 5ft especially if you have long hard winters .
You should be feeding your koi for the late summer /fall period with wheat germ and Garlic however when your pond reaches a temperature of 10c you should stop feeding throught the winter until the temperature goes above 10c in the spring.
Regular partial water chabges are a must , do you have a pond test kit , if your answer is no or you have test strips then you should buy an API pond drop test kit.
This is so you can ensure your koi have the best water conditions they possibly can.....

Dave

 

[Dave 54]

Dave, we are around 20C here in New Jersey for now. I still have some water lilies blooming. Don't try to bring the winter on us too early.

Same here but its better to prepare now rather than later as my Canadian friend found out arriving back from Holiday to 0c and snow , we can no longer say hey you know weve got ages to go yet because mother nature is no longer the reliable lady she once used to be ,
Last month we saw temperatures as low as 13c here in the UK which isnt natural for that time of the year at the moment we have a temperature of 19c because of our indian summer but we are being warned it wont last for long .
Lets take a leaf out of the farmers book make hay whilst the sun shines prep your pond now


Dave