How to clean up "brown water"

Hi,

Just joined the group -- looks like a great resource.

I have built a pond (my very first) that is about 9ft by 7 ft and 30"
deep at places. I have it inhabited by 7 goldfish and 2 koi (all are
under 5" right now). I have a waterfall powered by a 1200 gal/hour pump.
My skimmer is a "Savio compact skimmerfilter". The skimmer (at least
claims) is a skimmer, a biofilter, and UV (optional, of course). After
installing it -- I had to wonder about the biofiltering capabilites as the
matting quickly got clogged up with "stuff", so I added some lava rock int
he compartment that the pump resides.

Now, that I have described my pond -- the problem. I have mostly brown
water. It doesn't look like alge (at least I don't think so). However
adding a clarifier like "crystal lagoon" didn't clear it up. So what is
the best way to clear this up? And is there a way to keep the pond clean?

Also anyone have comments on the savio?

Thanks a lot for the information

Nasa

Wecome to the group :~)))

The Savio is a good skimmer, but the 2 pads are not enough for good bio
filtration - you need a separate filter for the skimmer to feed to, also I
wouldn't put lava rock in the pump compartment as it will eventually clog up
and starve your pump burning it out. Even though it is called a
"skimmerfilter", it is not really a bio filter. The 2 pads are there to
mechanically filter the water before the pump, keeping your pump running
free of debris. Any container (I use a 45 gal barrel for a pond close to
your size) with filter media in it will work well, then have that feed your
waterfall
Gale :~)
"Nathan A. Smith" wrote in message
news
Hi,

Just joined the group -- looks like a great resource.

I have built a pond (my very first) that is about 9ft by 7 ft and 30"
deep at places. I have it inhabited by 7 goldfish and 2 koi (all are
under 5" right now). I have a waterfall powered by a 1200 gal/hour pump.
My skimmer is a "Savio compact skimmerfilter". The skimmer (at least
claims) is a skimmer, a biofilter, and UV (optional, of course). After
installing it -- I had to wonder about the biofiltering capabilites as the
matting quickly got clogged up with "stuff", so I added some lava rock int
he compartment that the pump resides.

Now, that I have described my pond -- the problem. I have mostly brown
water. It doesn't look like alge (at least I don't think so). However
adding a clarifier like "crystal lagoon" didn't clear it up. So what is
the best way to clear this up? And is there a way to keep the pond clean?

Also anyone have comments on the savio?

Thanks a lot for the information

Nasa

On Mon, 26 Jul 2004 08:48:44 -0400, Gale Pearce wrote:

Wecome to the group :~)))

Thanks!


The Savio is a good skimmer, but the 2 pads are not enough for good bio
filtration - you need a separate filter for the skimmer to feed to, also I
wouldn't put lava rock in the pump compartment as it will eventually clog up
and starve your pump burning it out.

Ok, I am confused. When I bought my pump orignally, I was told that
placing it in a box full of lava rock would be good to "protect it".

So how does lava rock clog up the filter? At worst it would seem that the
rock could put some rock dust in the pond....

Nasa


Even though it is called a
"skimmerfilter", it is not really a bio filter. The 2 pads are there to
mechanically filter the water before the pump, keeping your pump running
free of debris. Any container (I use a 45 gal barrel for a pond close to
your size) with filter media in it will work well, then have that feed your
waterfall
Gale :~)
"Nathan A. Smith" wrote in message
news
Hi,

Just joined the group -- looks like a great resource.

I have built a pond (my very first) that is about 9ft by 7 ft and 30"
deep at places. I have it inhabited by 7 goldfish and 2 koi (all are
under 5" right now). I have a waterfall powered by a 1200 gal/hour pump.
My skimmer is a "Savio compact skimmerfilter". The skimmer (at least
claims) is a skimmer, a biofilter, and UV (optional, of course). After
installing it -- I had to wonder about the biofiltering capabilites as the
matting quickly got clogged up with "stuff", so I added some lava rock int
he compartment that the pump resides.

Now, that I have described my pond -- the problem. I have mostly brown
water. It doesn't look like alge (at least I don't think so). However
adding a clarifier like "crystal lagoon" didn't clear it up. So what is
the best way to clear this up? And is there a way to keep the pond clean?

Also anyone have comments on the savio?

Thanks a lot for the information

Nasa

also I
wouldn't put lava rock in the pump compartment as it will eventually
clog up
and starve your pump burning it out.

Ok, I am confused. When I bought my pump orignally, I was told that
placing it in a box full of lava rock would be good to "protect it".

So how does lava rock clog up the filter? At worst it would seem that the
rock could put some rock dust in the pond....

Hi Nathan

Your Savio skimmer is protecting your pump with the coarse filter pads and
leaf basket in it - the lava rock isn't needed - BUT if you didn't have the
skimmer and just set the pump into the pond, it would clog up with plant
debris etc and cause your pump to starve for water, run hot and eventually
burning out the bearings. Actually, ( amending my first statement) the lava
rock might not hurt anything as the water is already prefiltered
mechanically by the basket and pads and IMHO it just isn't needed. I am sure
when you bought the pump, they didn't know about the skimmer - they assumed
you were putting the pump directly in the pond
Gale :~)

On Tue, 27 Jul 2004 10:03:56 -0400, Gale Pearce wrote:


also I
wouldn't put lava rock in the pump compartment as it will eventually
clog up
and starve your pump burning it out.

Ok, I am confused. When I bought my pump orignally, I was told that
placing it in a box full of lava rock would be good to "protect it".

So how does lava rock clog up the filter? At worst it would seem that the
rock could put some rock dust in the pond....

Hi Nathan

Your Savio skimmer is protecting your pump with the coarse filter pads and
leaf basket in it - the lava rock isn't needed - BUT if you didn't have the
skimmer and just set the pump into the pond, it would clog up with plant
debris etc and cause your pump to starve for water, run hot and eventually
burning out the bearings. Actually, ( amending my first statement) the lava
rock might not hurt anything as the water is already prefiltered
mechanically by the basket and pads and IMHO it just isn't needed. I am sure
when you bought the pump, they didn't know about the skimmer - they assumed
you were putting the pump directly in the pond
Gale :~)

Ok cool,

I think I got all that.

The reason I was looking at placing lava rock into the basin around the
pump is to provide a place for "good bacteria" to live. In other words I
wanted to create a small bio-filter next to the pump. Since lava rock --
or some other material (like the nylon scrubbers) allow for bacteria to
grown on them -- wouldn't this work?

Nasa

Nasa wrote
The reason I was looking at placing lava rock into the basin around the
pump is to provide a place for "good bacteria" to live. In other words I
wanted to create a small bio-filter next to the pump. Since lava rock --
or some other material (like the nylon scrubbers) allow for bacteria to
grown on them -- wouldn't this work?

We did that for several years around our pump.
We cleaned it out once a year and really noticed an improved flow rate on the
waterfall after the yearly cleaning.
Lava rock has lots of little holes in it that tend to get clogged up and are
heavy and hard to clean.
Last year my DH said to heck with this and put the pump back in its slotted
black basket without the lava rock. It was heavy to get out of there and took a
lot of hosing off in a wheel barrel to clean it. So back it went into the pond
last summer without the lava rock.
Early this summer the pump died.
Was it old age? it must have been 7+ years old.
Or was it the fact that it didn't have the lava rock protecting it?
The new pump is back in the pond without lava rock so we'll see next year ;-)

Yes, lava rock will provide biological bug activity going on. Any rock with
water running over it in the pond will do the same. We have rock in our
waterfall, water hyacinths in the upflow stock tank and watercress at the
bottom of our waterfall all doing biological filtering duty along with plants
in the pond.


kathy :-)
algae primer
http://hometown.aol.com/ka30p/myhomepage/garden.html

Hi Nathan - Yes, you have the right idea, and it would work, it just isn't
large enough for the size of pond you have - the denser the media you use,
the more surface area you have for "good bacteria" to live on. The only
problem with this is, the denser it is, the quicker it plugs up and no
longer allows your pond water to pass through it and has to go around it, so
you only have the outside surfaces left for your bacteria to biologically
filter the water. Sponge has the most surface area, but clogs up in a few
days and is hard to rinse - then you have Scotch type scouring pads (which I
use) - more porous and easier to clean and will run all season without
cleaning if the quantity is large enough - then all the rest (screening,
lava rock, pea stone, hair curlers, cut up pop bottles and anything else you
can think of that will give you enough surface area to host enough "good
bacteria" to "eat" the stuff in your pond water that causes algae bloom
and/or cloudy/green water. You can use a smaller container than the 45 gal
drum I use, but will probably have to clean it more often, but just remember
it takes time for a filter to become biologically active, so you can't clean
it too often - the longer it runs between cleanings, the better it works
I also try to run my pond volume through my filter/ hour even though I
keep reading once every 2 to 4 hours is good
Gale :~)

The reason I was looking at placing lava rock into the basin around the
pump is to provide a place for "good bacteria" to live. In other words I
wanted to create a small bio-filter next to the pump. Since lava rock --
or some other material (like the nylon scrubbers) allow for bacteria to
grown on them -- wouldn't this work?

Nasa

Add super activated carbon ( same stuff used in home aquariums) to your
waterfall.

Patty


"Nathan A. Smith" wrote in message
news
Hi,

Just joined the group -- looks like a great resource.

I have built a pond (my very first) that is about 9ft by 7 ft and 30"
deep at places. I have it inhabited by 7 goldfish and 2 koi (all are
under 5" right now). I have a waterfall powered by a 1200 gal/hour pump.
My skimmer is a "Savio compact skimmerfilter". The skimmer (at least
claims) is a skimmer, a biofilter, and UV (optional, of course). After
installing it -- I had to wonder about the biofiltering capabilites as the
matting quickly got clogged up with "stuff", so I added some lava rock int
he compartment that the pump resides.

Now, that I have described my pond -- the problem. I have mostly brown
water. It doesn't look like alge (at least I don't think so). However
adding a clarifier like "crystal lagoon" didn't clear it up. So what is
the best way to clear this up? And is there a way to keep the pond clean?

Also anyone have comments on the savio?

Thanks a lot for the information

Nasa

"Nathan A. Smith" wrote in message
I have built a pond (my very first) that is about 9ft by 7 ft and 30"
deep at places. I have it inhabited by 7 goldfish and 2 koi (all are
under 5" right now). I have a waterfall powered by a 1200 gal/hour pump.
My skimmer is a "Savio compact skimmerfilter".

Also anyone have comments on the savio?

I also run a savio skimmer/filter, but with a 3600 gal per hour pump
for about the same size pond you discribed (consider you may need a
larger pump). We find we need to clean the pads every do or two, but
it's easy so we don't mind (might be a problem if we decide to go on
vacation however). I also couldn't get the water clear so I finally
got one UV lite and now the water is crystal clear. We had a problem
at the beginning with frogs getting into the Savio Skimmer (poor
design) and being chewed up by the pump, but my husband put hardware
cloth over the opening and ran a handtowel through the handle so they
can't get in the unit anymore. In the fall when we have leaves we
will have to remove the hardware cloth, but for now it works. I
wouldn't recommend lava rock in the pump chamber as it makes it very
difficut to get to the pump if needed.

you can see my Ripplin Waters Pond at...

htpp://community.webshots.com/user/aspenjd

Sue W
Brooksville, FL

"Nathan A. Smith" wrote in message .. .
Also anyone have comments on the savio?

Sorry, I forgot to mention I also run a home make bio filter seperate
from the Savio, which I clean only once last year.

you can see my Ripplin Waters Pond at...

http://community.webshots.com/user/aspenjd

Sue W
Brooksville, FL