zeolite in my filters

[Dave 54]

Dave, i think it takes a lot more salt to discharge the ammonia from zeolite than is typically used in a pond. I salt my pond and use zeolite. Been doing so for years successfully.

"As Koi Guy says " which is basically the same as weve said "It takes alott more salt to discharge ammonia from zeolite", so make sure its in your QT pond

Dave

 

[MitchM]

Found this regarding salt concentration and zeolite:

Zeolite can be "re-charged" by removing it from the pond and placing it into a container containing 3.5% to 4.0% salt water (3.5 to 4.0 pounds salt per10 gallons water). After 24 hours, rinse well and return it to the pond where it will again release sodium chloride and absorb toxic ammonia.

From:

http://www.skapa.org/kha_corner.htm

 

[MitchM]

That's a lot of salt.

 

[koiguy1969]

But, to be clear... all in all the zeolite is not a necessary eliment to your filter. if you have a normal stocking in your pond. I use it because I cant have plants etc.. in my basement pond. I sell koi, so I want them to get some growth over the time they're there so I feed high protein food and feed 5 times a day. I would under normal circumstances remove it , rejuvenate it and set it aside once the filter and pond have cycled. keep it for emergency use. I use it cuz I sell koi. and keep a large number of fish. a 800 gallon pond which often has up to 200 koi in it. and I feed high protein food 4-5 times a day. so my circumstances aren't likely anywhere close to yours...

 

[koiguy1969]

mitch... 5% is the recommended salinity the way Ive read and heard. but 3.5% is still a far cry from normal pond salinity. so little worries of the salt level in a pond causing any issues with the zeolite.
you know they even make a zeolite for salt water tanks.

 

[Willo]

Here is a link into the company we buy ours from Willo , it last about two years or so depenndant on how much you use in your filters .

http://kusuri.co.uk/kusuri-products/kusuri-lithaqua/


Could you post a photo of your zeolite containers, so I can get an idea as to the size of them please Willo ?

Dave

I will take a pic tommorrow and show you with dimensions.
On a separate note are you still adding clay to your pond during winter??? As there are salts in the clay does this effect the zeolite ??

 

[koiguy1969]

no koi clay wont effect zeolite.

 

[Meyer Jordan]

Found this regarding salt concentration and zeolite:

Zeolite can be "re-charged" by removing it from the pond and placing it into a container containing 3.5% to 4.0% salt water (3.5 to 4.0 pounds salt per10 gallons water). After 24 hours, rinse well and return it to the pond where it will again release sodium chloride and absorb toxic ammonia.

From:

http://www.skapa.org/kha_corner.htm

So, in effect, if you utilize zeolite in your pond you are adding SALT, whose level will increase over time requiring monitoring. Lots of extra work for something of questionable overall benefit to a pond.

 

[Mucky_Waters]

I use zeolite in my basement pond. 800 gals. 200 fish sometimes. When you have that kind of load Zeolite is a major aid. My filters get plenty of food for a healthy bacterial colony. Koi ponds and garden ponds with plants etc.. Are two different entities. And should be treated as such.

Are you monitoring your ammonia levels? Do they actually spike without the Zeolite? If so, could you not just increase the size and efficiency of of your biological filters?

 

[Dave 54]

So, in effect, if you utilize zeolite in your pond you are adding SALT, whose level will increase over time requiring monitoring. Lots of extra work for something of questionable overall benefit to a pond.

I think even though through the zeolite releases sodium chloride the effects on the pond are minimal and are removed by water changes which we do on a regulr basis during the sumer months (lesser during the winter months )..
As Koiguy points out Meyer koi ponds and garden ponds with plant being are in acctual fact two very differing entities and as such should be treated as such

Dave

 

[Dave 54]

I could see using zeolite in some emergency type situations, but I don't think it would be a good thing to keep if you want a properly balanced pond.
Here's my reasoning.
I assume all of you who use zeolite have biological filters, and biological filters are basically bacteria colonies that you keep alive to convert ammonia to nitrites and nitrites to less harmful nitrates. In a balanced pond your bacteria colonies will grow and multiply to meet the food supply they receive on an ongoing basis. If you slowly give them more food the colony will slowly grow larger to meet the demand. Likewise, if you take away their food the colony will shrink and die back.
In essence by putting zeolite in your pond you are taking away their food (ammonia), and consequently your bacteria colony will shrink and will not be properly balanced in relation to the natural amount of ammonia being produced in your pond.

Randy we seem to get no problems whatsoever with our pond nor its perameters and employ one large bag of it in one of our four filters all water perameters test as normal our filters are mature.
There is as koiguy rightfully pointed out a fundamental difference between koi and garden ponds , koi ponds by their very nature are deviod of plants especially in the UK as such our water is kept to a higher standard than those of the garden pond enthusiast .


Dave

 

[MitchM]

So, in effect, if you utilize zeolite in your pond you are adding SALT, whose level will increase over time requiring monitoring. Lots of extra work for something of questionable overall benefit to a pond.

That's how I understand it as well.

 

[MitchM]

I do have zeolite on hand for my aquariums, but plan to use them in case of emergency only.

 

[Mucky_Waters]

Randy we seem to get no problems whatsoever with our pond nor its perameters and employ one large bag of it in one of our four filters all water perameters test as normal our filters are mature.
There is as koiguy rightfully pointed out a difference between koi are garden ponds .

Dave

Thanks Dave, but that doesn't answer any of the questions I asked.
Years ago I had a highly stocked 100 gal aquarium and used zeolite in the external filter. What I didn't like about it was that the zeolite had to be serviced (recharged) regularly (monthly if I remember correctly) or I would get spiking ammonia levels if I ignored it too long. I changed the filter over to a straight biological filter (a rather large one) and my ammonia levels stopped spiking and the biological filter rarely had to be maintained, in fact I don't believe I ever had to do anything with it once it was set up.
I can see using zeolite if you suddenly have a large increase in ammonia levels for some reason (dead fish, sudden large increase in fish load, etc...), but it doesn't make sense to rely on it on an ongoing basis when there is a better way. It's like the difference between powering some important electronic equipment with solar cells or rechargeable batteries, one takes care of itself, the other you have to take care of. Except that in the case of using zeolite the rechargeable batteries could actually reduce the efficiency of the back up solar cells. (eg; starving the bacteria colony of their full potential growth)

 

[MitchM]

After about 1 week you're going to get a bacterial film covering the zeolite and that will greatly reduce the ammonia adsorption anyways.