Why is my neighbors pond so perfectly clear.

I have a 300 gallon preform. My neighbor has a 200 gallon preform. I do
have bio.mech filter and all she has is a simple pump with a canister
and one fine sponge in it. No bio balls, no course filter or medium,
just one fine filter that is tiny. She said she puts no chemicals in.
She has 7 6 inch fish which seems over kill. She said her secret is a
automatic fill and drain system. A valve opens and puts in tap water
everyday (15%) And the overflow tube waters her garden. She uses no
declor. Is it possible to do this? She has done this for 3 years and
never lost one fish. She has chorine in her tap water but says 15% daily
water change has not harmed her fish and her water is crystal clear. She
cleans the small canister filter and puts in a new sponge once a month.
Takes her 5 minutes. She does no other maintenence at all. Can A pond
function with no bio? Cause it seems great to me. I have never seen a
pond clearer than heres. And she feeds her fish 2 times a day and I
think to much but it works for her. What does everyone think about this
setup? Thank you

"DD DDD" wrote in message
...
I have a 300 gallon preform. My neighbor has a 200 gallon preform. I do
have bio.mech filter and all she has is a simple pump with a canister
and one fine sponge in it. No bio balls, no course filter or medium,
just one fine filter that is tiny. She said she puts no chemicals in.
She has 7 6 inch fish which seems over kill. She said her secret is a
automatic fill and drain system. A valve opens and puts in tap water
everyday (15%) And the overflow tube waters her garden.

# I wish I could afford something like that.

She uses no
declor. Is it possible to do this?

# Yes, since it's only 15% of the water.

She has done this for 3 years and
never lost one fish. She has chorine in her tap water but says 15% daily
water change has not harmed her fish and her water is crystal clear. She
cleans the small canister filter and puts in a new sponge once a month.

# Most sponges are reusable.

Takes her 5 minutes. She does no other maintenence at all. Can A pond
function with no bio? Cause it seems great to me. I have never seen a
pond clearer than heres. And she feeds her fish 2 times a day and I
think to much but it works for her. What does everyone think about this
setup? Thank you

# I think it's great and the fish sure would love the fresh water. It's
crystal clear because nothing is building up in it to feed algae.
--
McKoi.... the frugal ponder...
EVERYONE: "Please check people's headers for forgeries
before flushing." NAMES ARE BEING FORGED.
Do not feed the trolls.
~~~ }((((o ~~~ }{{{{o ~~~ }(((((o

On Tue, 21 Jun 2005 23:34:33 -0500, (DD DDD) wrote:

I have a 300 gallon preform. My neighbor has a 200 gallon preform. I do
have bio.mech filter and all she has is a simple pump with a canister
and one fine sponge in it. No bio balls, no course filter or medium,
just one fine filter that is tiny. She said she puts no chemicals in.
She has 7 6 inch fish which seems over kill. She said her secret is a
automatic fill and drain system. A valve opens and puts in tap water
everyday (15%) And the overflow tube waters her garden. She uses no
declor. Is it possible to do this? She has done this for 3 years

Is it possible? Sounds obvious to me. Assuming she has goldfish, with good
filtration/water changes she could have 10. Giving each 20 gallons a piece.

never lost one fish. She has chorine in her tap water but says 15% daily
water change has not harmed her fish and her water is crystal clear. She
cleans the small canister filter and puts in a new sponge once a month.
Takes her 5 minutes. She does no other maintenence at all. Can A pond
function with no bio?

There's bio going on there, the sides of the pond, plants and all surface
areas thereof.

I would consider 15% daily changes excessive, but if it's working for her,
who am I to tell her that fish won't swim? ;o) Only question I have, are
the 7 fish 3 years old? ~ jan

~Power to the Porg, Flow On!~

"DD DDD" wrote in message
...
I have a 300 gallon preform. My neighbor has a 200 gallon preform. I do
have bio.mech filter and all she has is a simple pump with a canister
and one fine sponge in it. No bio balls, no course filter or medium,
just one fine filter that is tiny. She said she puts no chemicals in.
She has 7 6 inch fish which seems over kill. She said her secret is a
automatic fill and drain system. A valve opens and puts in tap water
everyday (15%) And the overflow tube waters her garden. She uses no
declor. Is it possible to do this? She has done this for 3 years and
never lost one fish. She has chorine in her tap water but says 15% daily
water change has not harmed her fish and her water is crystal clear. She
cleans the small canister filter and puts in a new sponge once a month.
Takes her 5 minutes. She does no other maintenence at all. Can A pond
function with no bio? Cause it seems great to me. I have never seen a
pond clearer than heres. And she feeds her fish 2 times a day and I
think to much but it works for her. What does everyone think about this
setup? Thank you


It would appear that she has the "lazy man's approach" to ponding.
The fairly low chlorine levels in the pond after she water cycles probably
doesn't harm the fish, but the dilute chlorine levels combined with the
diluted fish waste obviously helps maintain the water clarity.

200 gal with a daily 15% water change is 30 gal per day, about 900 gal per
month. Shower heads sold in this area are rated at 2.5gpm. So that's an
additional 12 minutes of shower time, daily. I can't think of any place in
the world where that kind of consistent waste of water would be considered
responsible behavior. You point out that she drains the water into the
garden, fortunately there aren't many plants that need a daily watering
(potted plants being the obvious exception)

I dunno about her claim,, but if she feels confident thats whats doing
her job for her, then fine, but often times adding fresh water
excessively or on a regular basis can ad to algae blooms...........

I do not use declor of any type in my holding tanks and QT when doing
water changes of 15% or less. I just use straight tap water..Over 25%
sometimes I do and sometimes I don;t........use dechlor. I do however
think daily water changes are excessive though, but hey its her time,
money and water and if its working for her great.

She may also have hit the right combination of plants, filtration rate
and fish load..........

A lot of folks IMHO create their own problems of turbid water by the
types of food they deed, and the amounts of food they feed, so take
your feeding practice into consideration as well.
Yes ponds can function without a BIO but a BIO can also help keep
things in check better as long as its functioning properly........one
that is not, can be a source of headaches.

I think if she is happy with however her fish. water / plants are then
its what she likes, and perhaps it may work for you or maybe not......

On Tue, 21 Jun 2005 23:34:33 -0500, (DD DDD) wrote:

===I have a 300 gallon preform. My neighbor has a 200 gallon preform. I do
===have bio.mech filter and all she has is a simple pump with a canister
===and one fine sponge in it. No bio balls, no course filter or medium,
===just one fine filter that is tiny. She said she puts no chemicals in.
===She has 7 6 inch fish which seems over kill. She said her secret is a
===automatic fill and drain system. A valve opens and puts in tap water
===everyday (15%) And the overflow tube waters her garden. She uses no
===declor. Is it possible to do this? She has done this for 3 years and
===never lost one fish. She has chorine in her tap water but says 15% daily
===water change has not harmed her fish and her water is crystal clear. She
===cleans the small canister filter and puts in a new sponge once a month.
===Takes her 5 minutes. She does no other maintenence at all. Can A pond
===function with no bio? Cause it seems great to me. I have never seen a
===pond clearer than heres. And she feeds her fish 2 times a day and I
===think to much but it works for her. What does everyone think about this
===setup? Thank you


==============================================
Put some color in your cheeks...garden naked!
"The original frugal ponder"
~~~~ }((((o ~~~~~~ }{{{{o ~~~~~~~ }(((((o

Snooze wrote:

"DD DDD" wrote in message
...
....
all she has is a simple pump with a canister
and one fine sponge in it.
....
She said her secret is a
automatic fill and drain system. A valve opens and puts in tap water
everyday (15%) And the overflow tube waters her garden. She uses no
declor. Is it possible to do this?

It would appear that she has the "lazy man's approach" to ponding.
The fairly low chlorine levels in the pond after she water cycles probably
doesn't harm the fish, but the dilute chlorine levels combined with the
diluted fish waste obviously helps maintain the water clarity.

Chlorine levels wouldn't do anything for clarity. It might kill stuff, but
then you'd have floating particulate dead stuff instead of floating
particulate live stuff.

200 gal with a daily 15% water change is 30 gal per day, about 900 gal per
month. Shower heads sold in this area are rated at 2.5gpm. So that's an
additional 12 minutes of shower time, daily. I can't think of any place in
the world where that kind of consistent waste of water would be considered
responsible behavior.

How about North America? That sort of consistent waste of water wouldn't
even be _noticed_ in a society that thinks it's alright to spray water over
lawns!

Still, I think it's serious overkill. There's no good reason why you would
need more than 5% if you're going to do changes daily.

My new pond is going to be watered from the eavestroughs, and won't have a
pump at all. It'll be interesting to see how well it works.
--
derek

And your neighbor doesn't have turtles
in her pond. You do. Turtles contribute a huge
amt of work for the bio filter.

kathy :-)

"Snooze" wrote in message
m...
200 gal with a daily 15% water change is 30 gal per day, about 900 gal per
month. Shower heads sold in this area are rated at 2.5gpm. So that's an
additional 12 minutes of shower time, daily. I can't think of any place in
the world where that kind of consistent waste of water would be considered
responsible behavior. You point out that she drains the water into the
garden, fortunately there aren't many plants that need a daily watering
(potted plants being the obvious exception)
============================
She may have her own well. Just a thought. I personally would feel I'm
wasting water doing 15% every day unless I did have my own well. But then I
don't water my huge lawn either. I use recycled pond water on my flowers
and veggies.
--
McKoi.... the frugal ponder...
EVERYONE: "Please check people's headers for forgeries
before flushing." NAMES ARE BEING FORGED.
Do not feed the trolls.
~~~ }((((o ~~~ }{{{{o ~~~ }(((((o

"Reel McKoi" wrote in message
...
She may have her own well. Just a thought. I personally would feel I'm
wasting water doing 15% every day unless I did have my own well. But then
I
don't water my huge lawn either. I use recycled pond water on my flowers
and veggies.

What makes you think that having your own well gives you the right to treat
water like it's gasoline. It's not like there is an limitless supply of
ground water for everyone to freely use. Decades of using the ground water
in the Salinas valley by the farmers as if it's a free resource has caused
salt water from the oceans to get drawn into the ground water supply.

Mexico city has dropped a few feet over the years because of ground water
depletion. Other cities aren't doing so well either. Rural areas are
partially isolated from the realities of drinkable water shortages by virtue
of the fact that many have their own well. In the south west water is used
to mask the fact they live in a desert, everyone has a nice lawn, and pool.

"Snooze" wrote in message
m...

"Reel McKoi" wrote in message
...
She may have her own well. Just a thought. I personally would feel
I'm
wasting water doing 15% every day unless I did have my own well. But
then
I
don't water my huge lawn either. I use recycled pond water on my
flowers
and veggies.

What makes you think that having your own well gives you the right to
treat
water like it's gasoline.

## I had a well in NY. Why not use the water as it was there and
replenished with each rainfall and snowfall. If no one used it, it just
ended up in the river and then on down to the ocean.

It's not like there is an limitless supply of
ground water for everyone to freely use.

## That depends on where you live. I live in the mid-south. No water
shortages here.

Decades of using the ground water
in the Salinas valley by the farmers as if it's a free resource has caused
salt water from the oceans to get drawn into the ground water supply.

## I'm aware of that.

Mexico city has dropped a few feet over the years because of ground water
depletion. Other cities aren't doing so well either. Rural areas are
partially isolated from the realities of drinkable water shortages by
virtue
of the fact that many have their own well.

## Our water here in TN comes from a small town Utility's deep well. The
surrounding towns get it from the river or a huge nearby lake. Again, it
depends on where you live.

In the south west water is used
to mask the fact they live in a desert, everyone has a nice lawn, and
pool.

## It's hard to relate as I never lived there,... although I took a trip out
west in the 1970s.
--
McKoi.... the frugal ponder...
EVERYONE: "Please check people's headers for forgeries
before flushing." NAMES ARE BEING FORGED.
Do not feed the trolls.
~~~ }((((o ~~~ }{{{{o ~~~ }(((((o