UV filters HELP!!!!!

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I want to purchase a UV filter with a backwash on it..My pond is 2000 gl, I see that some are very expensive and some aren't (ebay) ..They look pretty much the same and being a newbie, I could really use some help here. Backwashing sounds great as I am sick of dumping, and cleaning these filters all the time.. Any suggestions??? Thank you so much.
Joyce
 
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I'm so sorry.. Not sure what you mean?? This one I'm looking at is the Tetra Pond BP 4000.
Why wouldn't I want a backwash?? Is my pond too big?
 

fishin4cars

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I think they are talking about a filter that has a UV light in the filter. My buddy got this one for his 3000 gallon pond to go with the filter he already had. It did a fantastic job, easy to clean, very functional design, has the port for the backflush however he did have to purchase a 2" valve and pipe to use the backflush. It did not come with the tubing or pipe to set it up either but the pump worked very good, the UV light is more than you need and probably does not need to be run but for a few weeks to clear the water and it's able to be plumbed to the filter or off to the side either way. For the money I thought it was a surprisingly good functioning filter although in the details it is way over rated for the size pond. 2000 gallons is about the limit of what I would ever depend on that filter by itself and even then I would not go heavy stocked.
http://cgi.ebay.com/7800-Gallon-Pon...142?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3cb7ab2bbe
 
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Well thank you so much.. so you think this will do the trick? I actually have a Laguna 2900 pump that i inherited 3 years ago when I moved in this house.;. It doesn't looks so good and it has this big honken pre-filter attached to it.. It's awful to clean and pull out. He had no filter attached to this so I bought this cannister 7000 Jebao (sp) and the uv lite shattered and it is such a pain to clean.. I can hardly do this myself but I try. I love my koi so much so I insist on making this work..I live in a small town where you can't get anything so I order this stuff from ebay.. I now know you get what you pay for so I want to be sure I have something good. So if you think this is going to be good, I will order it.. I so appreciate the help.. Last time I asked a question, I got yelled at.. LOL.. Thank you...
 

fishin4cars

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how many koi and what size? I do feel like it is a decent filter and IMO better than the tetra filter by far. still kind of small for a good koi filter but a far better improvement than what your presently describing. One thing I do recommend, when installing the pump if you can do not place it directly on the bottom of the pond, He set his up on top of a old plastic milk crate turned upside down, this helps not to suck big debris off the bottom and it allows the filter to do more of what it actually designed to do and that is clean the water and form a good stable bacteria bed. I still recommend vacumning the bottom of the pond or try and figure out a way to seperate solid waste before it goes into the filter, this makes the filter twice as effective if it doesn't have to try and breakdown bigger waste.
 
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I do have a pond vacuum I could use to clean up the debris.. I have about 25 Koi. 5 20" ones
(my big girl, she was 22'', was pregnant and died last night, I think her eggs got stuck) and the rest are a mixture of koi and larger comets.. I'm trying to get rid of the comets, so that will soon be happening.. I just want Koi...(still in mourning here :regular_waving_emot .. Anyhow I can run two systems. This new one and the old one... My uv light was broken when I checked to see why the light wasn't on today, so I just ordered a new one.. I'm just now happy with the set up.. You know when you don't have a good system.. I just want a clean safe pond for these guys....
 

fishin4cars

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Whoa, ALL STOP! NO, That filter is not designed to do that kind of filtering, sorry NONE of the ones in that line are! I'm serious, You have a serious fish load! you say you have five 20" that's 100" of fish right there, alone. and still another 20 to add to that. I'm serious and not joking one bit, It would take six or more of any of those filters to keep that kind of load of fish in that size pond with what you have now, OH, and they are still growing:yikesu:. My friend had 5 10" koi and about a dozen 4-6" Comets and shubunkins. You may want to look in the DYI section and see about building a filter yourself, For $300 (the cost of that filter/pump/uv) You can build a filter that can handle more of your fish load, and do a better job, yes build it yourself, and it may not be pretty and hard to hide but you do want what is best for your fish right? In a 2000 gallon pond 4-5 grown Koi is pretty much a full load, your fish are far from being full grown and your upgrading your filter to a filter that is going to be to small. Need to come up with a plan ""B""
 

fishin4cars

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https://www.gardenpondforum.com/diy-do-yourself-f9.html
Start here, do a little research and see if you see something that you think you can handle, we will see if we can point you in the right direction at least. You have gotten away with what you doing this long hopefully we can get something better for your guys!
Going to call it a night. I'll be back and look in on you!
 
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Yikes.. Okay I retracted the bid on ebay.. I guess I had better start clearing these comets out fast...I will start reading the link.. I have a holiday today so I'm not working, I can spend some time...I will seriously try to get someone to take all these orange comets today. I just joined a pond club so i can call the president and he may be able to help me find someone to take them...I'm going to read your link now. You are wonderful ...
 

fishin4cars

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What a wonderful wake up response! LOL That short posting really meant alot to your seriousness to this topic. Joined a pond club, GOOD FOR YOU! very smart move there! You'll not only be surprised at how much information can be gained there but you'll also find that there are plenty of folks that don't mind lending a helping hand in order to help you maintain a healthy pond for your fish. Second plus, I think you realised very quickly that there is a problem and a great way to go about trying to minimise it. Yes getting some of those fish out and reducing the #'s will help greatly! I hate to tell someone to get rid of fish that they have had for a long time but in the interest of of good quality water management this is a really good choice. Hopefully you'll find them a great home where someone else can enjoy them and while someone is helping you advance you help another advance. Your pond size is the next thing we need to discuss, 2000 gallons is good for about 200" of fish give or take. Of course it would work a lot better with 200" of small 4-5" fish than 200" of 24" fish but this is a standard guideline for aquariums and most ponds. Example, A 30" Koi in a 500 gallon pond, That's tight quarters for a adult koi, But it can live and survive in that, 4-5 adults in 2000 gallons. now there are those that will push that to the max. with really good filtration and good water quality I would say the possibilities are there for successfully keeping maybe 6-7 adults if you maintain pristine conditions. So you still have alot of fish in a small pond, even though 2000 gallons is considered fairly large for a garden pond to some this is small in reality due to the size Koi can grow, and the amount of waste them suckers can put out. I have about 22-24 assorted Koi, and comets in a 2500 gallon pond, largest is 18" but 75% of my fish are under 6-8" I'm looking at culling at least 4 probably 6 fish in the very near future. Total inches in my pond are 180-190 inches, But I do water changes of 10% weekly and religiously, My filters are not small, Just to give you an idea, I run close to 30 gallons of bio balls, two 4' round, x 1" think matala pads, and once filter through that then my water goes through a 300 gallon pond stocked 100% with plants, I also use a bog filter and prefilters before the water is filtered. the pre-filters which are made of matala also are cleaned once a day everyday including dead of winter, and like right now when the fish are active and feeding well, three times a day is normally what is needed. I back flush the filter once a week and I monitor water quality 1 time a day most days but about twice a week I do check twice once in the morning once in the evening to make sure afternoon temps aren't getting spikes out of my comfort range. I also have other places to keep fish if a problem occurs, Plus I am in the planning stages of a far bigger pond and filter for my Koi just as you.
So long story short, Reduce the fish load as much as you can, read up on DYI and talk to local ponders see what they are doing and what is working, and if your going to try and keep a heavy load of fish in your pond, Forget small filter, think big and effective. remember, Big and effective can be a little costly, But taking into consideration that a small filter that would do you almost no good is $300 spending another $1,$2 or $300 and making one that has 10X the filtering capacity and will last you and your fish for many years may be well worth the effort and money well spent. If you look in the DYI section at the filter I just built for my 300 gallon pond, TRASH MASTER total cost even after modifications about $100 not including pump. Very capable of maintaining three adult Koi I feel certain if the pond was bigger. Has a way to backflush, no UV light at all and it's in 100% sunlight with crystal clear water. If you make a Vortex tank first to separate solids and then two 55 gallon Bio-filters tied in together You would have a extremely effective filter, that would be easy to maintain, comfortably keep 6-7 koi in your 2000 gallon pond and cost you about the same maybe a little more than that filter you just bid on and retracted. Big and bulky yes, not easy to hide kind of yes, you have to build yes, effective and easy to build and maintain excellent, water quality far better and Koi will look better, feel better and stay healthier.

1 hour post, I think that's enough for this one! LOL
 
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LOL.. You really know your stuff... I'm learning.. Good NEWS!!! I had someone come over and catch 7 fish so far.. OMG..It's almost impossible to catch these guys.. all the stuff on the bottom has stirred up and they don't like anyone but me..:) So that's a start anyhow.
Now I will vacuum this when everything settles.. Amazing the contacts you can make.. This man is going to build me a waterfall.. :) I do NOT think I could even attempt to build anything like you have. I honestly have to buy something..This is something a man has to put together or a very versed lady. Point me in the right direction I will have to buy it... Now it's only 1.pm so Im going to start reading up on this.. I'm pooped from chasing these guys..But 7 down...
 

addy1

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If you follow his build thread it is really not that hard, The biggest issue is cutting holes in the barrel and sealing the pipes. The rest is cutting pvc up and hooking it together. Then filling the barrel with stuff. But if you can't can understand that also.

We can help you with the steps if you want to try, fishin made a nice one. I am making one to be a vacuum.

Make sure the guy building your waterfall knows what he is doing, or you could end up with a leaking mess.
 
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Well I did get rid of 7 of them... Like I said it's a start.. It's almost impossible to catch these guys and I don't like stressing them out.. Seems I would have to partially drain the pond.. In the meantime, I sorted through the DIY section.. There is NO WAY I could build anything like that.. SOOOO having said that, I am running two systems:
Laguna 2900 with a canister uv filter for 7000 gl.. The second is just a canister filter with an ALPINE HURRICANE WATERFALL PUMP 2100 gph .. I would like to replace the Alpine system with a better one.. I still get mirky water but we have had a lot of rain and my pond gets runoff..I want crystal clear water but to no avail.. This is a pic of my pond..It wraps right around to the far left corner of the pic.. I'm sure it's about 2000 gallons.. My question is, what should I keep, and what should I add for equipment?
 

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