Calcium Montmorillonite Clay ??

(snip) George wrote:
"Anyway, you have dirty water?"
"How big is your pond, and describe your filtration system."

Yes, I have green water, with about 1 inch of organic matter on the
bottom of liner and some string algae on waterfall spillway rock.

Pond is 2000 gals, 24 inches deep. I have a bio-filter in pond-- and a
veggie filter at the top of the waterfall.

I have 2 new eight inch koi, 14 other fish, (goldfish, shebunkin and 1
perch to keep the pond population down..) also found one very large
bullfrog tadpole. I skim daily. Water tests are all in normal range.

There are 3 water lilies, 2 large clumps of Iris, mini catails, assorted
oxygenators, plus floaters on top..

Yes, I have green water, ...

A good UV sterlizer will take that right out*. Assuming you have no
real water quality issues, the problem would be solved.

,,,some string algae on waterfall spillway rock...

An enzyme digester, if that bothers you?

Pond is 2000 gals, 24 inches deep. I have a bio-filter in pond-- and a
veggie filter at the top of the waterfall.

Let's here about the size of your biofilter (which type?) and veggie filter,
as well as your flow rates.

And the veggie filter... it is lively?

C//

* p.s., I'm new at this, and have been doing a ginormous amount of reading;
book learning isn't to be mistaken for hard experience. Be that as it
may, the written word is: UV sterilizers zap free floating single cell algae.

"Bette E" wrote in message
...
(snip) George wrote:
"Anyway, you have dirty water?"
"How big is your pond, and describe your filtration system."

Yes, I have green water, with about 1 inch of organic matter on the
bottom of liner and some string algae on waterfall spillway rock.

Pond is 2000 gals, 24 inches deep. I have a bio-filter in pond-- and a
veggie filter at the top of the waterfall.

I have 2 new eight inch koi, 14 other fish, (goldfish, shebunkin and 1
perch to keep the pond population down..) also found one very large
bullfrog tadpole. I skim daily. Water tests are all in normal range.

There are 3 water lilies, 2 large clumps of Iris, mini catails, assorted
oxygenators, plus floaters on top..

Actually, George didn't write that.

George

Thank you for your advice about purchasing pond products. (Point taken,
see bottom.)

I understand that there are two types of bentonite-- Sodium & Calcium.
Apparently, the sodium type clumps more, where as the calcium type, is a
bit more soluble (perhaps better, for some types of filtration.)
See: http://www.sfbakc.org/koienews/clayvsclay.html

I found this (see below) on the site: (along with info on how it makes
the water crystal clear and destroys algae.)

"Wal-Mart has a brand of kitty litter, apparently only carried by
Wal-Mart since it is their special brand, which is clearly labeled as
Bentonite clay, the preferred kind of clay to add to fish ponds. It's
brand name is 'Special Kitty', in a 25 pound red colored bag
(unscented), costing $5 for the 25 pound bag."

"Bette E" wrote in message
...
Thank you for your advice about purchasing pond products. (Point taken,
see bottom.)

I understand that there are two types of bentonite-- Sodium & Calcium.
Apparently, the sodium type clumps more, where as the calcium type, is a
bit more soluble (perhaps better, for some types of filtration.)
See: http://www.sfbakc.org/koienews/clayvsclay.html

I found this (see below) on the site: (along with info on how it makes
the water crystal clear and destroys algae.)

"Wal-Mart has a brand of kitty litter, apparently only carried by
Wal-Mart since it is their special brand, which is clearly labeled as
Bentonite clay, the preferred kind of clay to add to fish ponds. It's
brand name is 'Special Kitty', in a 25 pound red colored bag
(unscented), costing $5 for the 25 pound bag."

Even better, goto a industrial pump company or better, a drilling supply
company, and you can buy 100 lbs of bentonite powder for $6. FYI.

Bette E wrote:

Thank you for your advice about purchasing pond products. (Point taken,
see bottom.)

I understand that there are two types of bentonite-- Sodium & Calcium.
Apparently, the sodium type clumps more, where as the calcium type, is a
bit more soluble (perhaps better, for some types of filtration.)
See: http://www.sfbakc.org/koienews/clayvsclay.html

I found this (see below) on the site: (along with info on how it makes
the water crystal clear and destroys algae.)

"Wal-Mart has a brand of kitty litter, apparently only carried by
Wal-Mart since it is their special brand, which is clearly labeled as
Bentonite clay, the preferred kind of clay to add to fish ponds. It's
brand name is 'Special Kitty', in a 25 pound red colored bag
(unscented), costing $5 for the 25 pound bag."



I just purchaed a 25 lb. bag for $1.97 + tax, US. The bag is red, say
"Special Kitty" and the ingredient is 'ground clay'.
Think it is the same thing? It looks like a duch ... "
W. Dale

Thank you for your advice about purchasing pond products. (Point taken,
see bottom.)

I understand that there are two types of bentonite-- Sodium & Calcium.
Apparently, the sodium type clumps more, where as the calcium type, is a
bit more soluble (perhaps better, for some types of filtration.)
See: http://www.sfbakc.org/koienews/clayvsclay.html Bette E

Wow, interesting article and Chris N. is one of the KHA teachers. Sounds
like sodium and calcium are added after the fact?

I just purchaed a 25 lb. bag for $1.97 + tax, US. The bag is red, say
"Special Kitty" and the ingredient is 'ground clay'.
Think it is the same thing? It looks like a duch ... "
W. Dale

Sounds like it. Btw, what color is the clay? ~ jan

~Power to the Porg, Flow On!~

~ janj JJsPond.us wrote:

Thank you for your advice about purchasing pond products. (Point taken,
see bottom.)

I understand that there are two types of bentonite-- Sodium & Calcium.
Apparently, the sodium type clumps more, where as the calcium type, is a
bit more soluble (perhaps better, for some types of filtration.)
See: http://www.sfbakc.org/koienews/clayvsclay.html Bette E



Wow, interesting article and Chris N. is one of the KHA teachers. Sounds
like sodium and calcium are added after the fact?



I just purchaed a 25 lb. bag for $1.97 + tax, US. The bag is red, say
"Special Kitty" and the ingredient is 'ground clay'.
Think it is the same thing? It looks like a duch ... "
W. Dale



Sounds like it. Btw, what color is the clay? ~ jan

~Power to the Porg, Flow On!~


It is gray. Is that the same stuff?
W. Dale

It is gray. Is that the same stuff?
W. Dale

Hmmmm, not sure. The koi clay I've seen has been more buff or tan in color.
Roy seems to know a lot about this, perhaps he can clue us in. I assume
anyone buying this would crush it up, not use the nuggets. ;o) ~ jan

~Power to the Porg, Flow On!~

Sodium (western type) is more on the grey side, but it can also be
creame or tan as it depends on what depth it was mined at, and the
area it came from up in that area of the country where its mined,
which is Montana, Wyoming and the Dakotas .

Calcium for the most part is usually a cream of buff / tan color, and
ther larger the mesh size the more pronounced the color is.......

Both of the bentonites are collodial type clays which means they
expand and multiply in size as they get hydrated..........and both
will clump to some degree. Sodium will expand upwards of 22 or more
times its original size, and calcium can expand up to 5 times, with
about 3 being more common.

Calcium when wet and mixed feels slick and smooth but not sticky, as
sodium is, which feels like a handfull of slugs in a bowl of jello,
anmd has a heavy thick body to it. Using granulated form is wasted
material as what is in the granule will just expand out and stick to
each grain in that granule. Finer mesh gives more surface area and it
has to "hunt" for other particles to bond to. You can try crushing it
up buyt its almost impossible to do it right without a ball mill. I
know folks that have bought kiutty litter to make foundry sand and
wore out their wifes blenders, coffee grinders, cake mixers and wore
themselves out beating it up into fine particle size with hammers and
mortars and pestles, and it still does not work as good as stuff thats
ground up uniformly with a ball mill and seived.Kitty littler is
sodium so it is not what you want to use.....if it says clumping its
definately sodium bentonite ...although it will work fine with plants.

I just would not want to run sodium bentonite thorugh a filter system
or pipes as it leaves a film and its sediment is going to make things
prone to blocking or reducing flow.

On Tue, 31 May 2005 17:54:29 -0700, ~ janj JJsPond.us
wrote:

===
===It is gray. Is that the same stuff?
===W. Dale
===
===Hmmmm, not sure. The koi clay I've seen has been more buff or tan in color.
===Roy seems to know a lot about this, perhaps he can clue us in. I assume
===anyone buying this would crush it up, not use the nuggets. ;o) ~ jan
===
=== ~Power to the Porg, Flow On!~


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Put some color in your cheeks...garden naked!

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