Fish, frogbit, and spillways

[Elaine T]

And another question...

My water garden is 3 barrels, with homemade spillways from HDPE pipe.
They're about 2" deep and 2.5" across and steeply sloped. There will
be a lot of flow through the spillways because I need good filtration
for the shebunkins I really, really want to keep. I also have 5 gold
white clouds in quarantine that I want in a different barrel. However,
now I'm concerned that small floating plants and all the fish are all
going to end up in the bottom barrel.

Is my guess right? I've sucked up white clouds a with siphons just
cleaning tanks because they like to ride currents so it seems like the
white clouds will certainly travel. If so, what would be a good way to
keep some fish, frogbit, and fairy moss in each level? I was thinking
of gluing some fiberglass window screen over the spillways with silicone
but realized that the mesh would probably get clogged very quickly with
dead plant leaves, small floating plants, and so forth. If flow on one
of the spillways stops, the bottom barrel will be pumped empty (guess I
need a float switch!) and bad things will happen.

Is there some trick that I don't know or do I need to change my design?
There aren't fish and plants in the barrels yet, so errors are
recoverable at this point.

--
__ Elaine T __
><__'> http://eethomp.com/fish.html <'__><

[Reel McKoi]

"Elaine T" > wrote in message
om...
> And another question...
>
> My water garden is 3 barrels, with homemade spillways from HDPE pipe.
> They're about 2" deep and 2.5" across and steeply sloped. There will
> be a lot of flow through the spillways because I need good filtration
> for the shebunkins I really, really want to keep. I also have 5 gold
> white clouds in quarantine that I want in a different barrel. However,
> now I'm concerned that small floating plants and all the fish are all
> going to end up in the bottom barrel.
>
> Is my guess right? I've sucked up white clouds a with siphons just
> cleaning tanks because they like to ride currents so it seems like the
> white clouds will certainly travel. If so, what would be a good way to
> keep some fish, frogbit, and fairy moss in each level? I was thinking
> of gluing some fiberglass window screen over the spillways with silicone
> but realized that the mesh would probably get clogged very quickly with
> dead plant leaves, small floating plants, and so forth. If flow on one
> of the spillways stops, the bottom barrel will be pumped empty (guess I
> need a float switch!) and bad things will happen.
>
> Is there some trick that I don't know or do I need to change my design?
> There aren't fish and plants in the barrels yet, so errors are
> recoverable at this point.
=================================
You could try keeping the pump OFF the bottom of the bottom barrel so it
doesn't pump it dry and kill the fish. However, if not caught in time the
pump will probably overheat, burn out and be ruined. I use my 3 barrels for
water lilies now. I don't filter them anymore. I put two small goldfish in
each barrel in the spring for mosquito control.
--
McKoi.... the frugal ponder...
Middle TN zone 6
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[kathy]

You could probably coral the frogbit in one section
by stringing some fishing line from one side to the next.
And watch it. That stuff reproduces like nobody's
business.

kathy

[Karen]

"kathy" > wrote in message
oups.com...
> You could probably coral the frogbit in one section
> by stringing some fishing line from one side to the next.
> And watch it. That stuff reproduces like nobody's
> business.
=======================
I use hardware cloth to prevent the plants in the settling tank from
clogging the outflow pipes. It works great. I made a basket to keep
everything away from the outflows. It hangs from the edge of the tub over
the openings to the pond.
--
McKoi.... the frugal ponder...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[~ jan JJsPond.us]

>And another question...
>
>My water garden is 3 barrels, with homemade spillways from HDPE pipe.
>now I'm concerned that small floating plants and all the fish are all
>going to end up in the bottom barrel. Elaine T

If you've looked at my ponds, I have an upper flowing into a lower, and
yes, the first time I put koi in, they were in the lower by morning.

My solution, I took a black plastic plant tray and cut it to fit, it jets
out into the pond a little so there is a larger surface area than if it was
just straight across. If anything does get stuck against it there is still
good flow and small stuff can go thru. Even though the holes are fairly
large, it has kept baby koi, ~ 2", from going downstream.

I used the bottom and part of the side (looks like teeth jetting up). There
is a large rock that lays over this exit, so I can hook it on there, and no
one can see it. Perhaps you could silcon or hot glue it to your spill
spouts? ~ jan


See my ponds and filter design:
http://users.owt.com/jjspond/

~Keep 'em Wet!~
Tri-Cities WA Zone 7a
To e-mail see website

[Elaine T]

~ jan JJsPond.us wrote:
>>And another question...
>>
>>My water garden is 3 barrels, with homemade spillways from HDPE pipe.
>>now I'm concerned that small floating plants and all the fish are all
>>going to end up in the bottom barrel. Elaine T
>
>
> If you've looked at my ponds, I have an upper flowing into a lower, and
> yes, the first time I put koi in, they were in the lower by morning.
>
> My solution, I took a black plastic plant tray and cut it to fit, it jets
> out into the pond a little so there is a larger surface area than if it was
> just straight across. If anything does get stuck against it there is still
> good flow and small stuff can go thru. Even though the holes are fairly
> large, it has kept baby koi, ~ 2", from going downstream.
>
> I used the bottom and part of the side (looks like teeth jetting up). There
> is a large rock that lays over this exit, so I can hook it on there, and no
> one can see it. Perhaps you could silcon or hot glue it to your spill
> spouts? ~ jan
>

AHA! Baskets! I knew there had to be an easy answer that I just wasn't
seeing. And hardware cloth if I need it, though I doubt I will. The
plant baskets are pretty fine mesh, black, and cheap. I think I'll take
Karen's suggestion and cut one to hang over the side rather than
siliconing it on. The water flow should hold it against the side of the
tub if I can cut it to the right shape. That way if it clogs I can lift
it off and clean it.

Thanks so much, Karen and Jan. Back to trying to get my liner nice and
even on the next barrel. :-)

--
__ Elaine T __
><__'> http://eethomp.com/fish.html <'__><

[Reel McKoi]

"Elaine T" > wrote in message
om...
>
> AHA! Baskets! I knew there had to be an easy answer that I just wasn't
> seeing. And hardware cloth if I need it, though I doubt I will. The
> plant baskets are pretty fine mesh, black, and cheap. I think I'll take
> Karen's suggestion and cut one to hang over the side rather than
> siliconing it on.

* Make sure it's secured in some way so a large frog or bird doesn't
dislodge it.

The water flow should hold it against the side of the
> tub if I can cut it to the right shape. That way if it clogs I can lift
> it off and clean it.

* There ya go! :-)))

> Thanks so much, Karen and Jan. Back to trying to get my liner nice and
> even on the next barrel. :-)

--
McKoi.... the frugal ponder...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~