Re: Oxygen in biofilter

[RichToyBox]

Rhino,

For your type of filter, I think it would take quite a while for the
bacteria to die of oxygen starvation, but it will also start to starve to
death for lack of ammonia and nitrites it needs for food fairly quickly.
The number that die will be relatively small for the first few hours, but if
it has been off for a couple of days, then it will be anaerobic, and you
will get a lot of hydrogen sulfide that is best wasted.
--
RichToyBox
http://www.geocities.com/richtoybox/pondintro.html


"Rhino" > wrote in message
...
> I have a question to a problem. The breaker that my pump is on keeps
tripping.
> I know the reason and I have an electrician coming on Monday. As it
happens I
> have been able to discover when it trips fairly quickly and so far no harm
no
> foul. The pump is on another circuit for now. Once before when my pump
cratered
> and for the four days before I got a replacement I keep airstones going.
> My academic question is:
> How long will the bacteria in the filter system live without constant
aeration.
> I an using an up flow water column that flows through window screen media
then
> through a heavily planted top layer "veggie" filter then to the waterfall
> outflow. The incoming water water had a venturi to add O2 before it
reaches the
> filter media. When the pump goes off, the filter is still under water and
in
> the dark. At what point does the bacteria start dying and your filter is
set
> back along with the attendant problems? How long without constant
water/O2
> movement before the filter is toast?
> Rhino
>
>
>
> See my pond
> www.htcomp.net/rhino_4_good/index.htm
>
> "Without the second ammendment, the others are just suggestions."

[RichToyBox]

Barefoot,

With the lean-to covers, I use 2 15 amp electric immersion heaters on the
4000 gallon pond and one on the 2000 gallon pond. The lean-to covers keep
the heat in, and keep the cold winds away, so the heat in the soil and water
tend to have a slow heat loss. For the first few months, October, November,
and December, the solar gain is enough most days to keep the water
temperature above 70 degrees, but by late December or early January, the
solar gain is very small and cold weather has moved in and the pond starts
to try to cool. For January and February, the heaters run almost non-stop
and the temperature will drop to around 65 by March 1. I find that it adds
about $150 per month for 3 months to the heat bill. I started it after the
summer from h*** when every fish got injections multiple times. Found it
was cheaper to heat than replace koi that at that time were about $100 each.
My price range has gone up considerably per fish, so now one fish cost more
than the heat bill. I have a much shorter and milder winter than I would
suspect you have.

Thanks for kudos. The filter system has undergone an upgrade every year
since I put in the pond. The fish keep getting bigger. I buy a new one,
and have to get rid of one, but the fish size just keeps getting bigger.
--
RichToyBox
http://www.geocities.com/richtoybox/pondintro.html


"Basil Malithorne" > wrote in message
...
Rich,
I would just kill to have the water quality that shows in your pond
pictures. As I mentioned in another post, this is the second year of my pond
and I am dealing with the pea green water issue at the moment. I am only
beginning to figure out what to do to correct this and one step looks
possibly to be adding some anacharis to the pond. The pond was great last
season, but I am really struggling with the water clarity this year.
Also, how expensive is it to run the heaters and thermostats that you
use through the winter? I am in Michigan and was really intrigued by your
setup.

------------------------------
Barefoot Malithorne