Lava rock cleaning?

With winter in west-central Ohio on the wane, I am nearly ready to begin
getting the pond back up and running. This will be the second full year
for the pond. It is approximately 1800 gal with a 200 gal. bio-filter.
That bio-filter has approx. 50 bags of lava rock. Last summer a young man
at the local nursery/water garden outlet advised me to take out and replace
the lava rock because of my complaint about string algae. I had never
heard of the need to replace this rock and find the thought of the cost of
replacing it just a bit hard to swallow. Was that sound advice? Can't the
rock be "cleaned" instead. NOTE: I do keep small bales of barley straw in
the both the filter and at the waterfall and treat the water with products
recommended by the people who sold me the liner, pump and fish (5 to date).
The ratio of time I spend maintaining versus enjoying my pond does not set
well with me. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

"Tom Wikoff" wrote in message ...
That bio-filter has approx. 50 bags of lava rock

50 bags of lava rock?!?!?
I have a littly bitty 20 gallon garbage can/lava rock filter
and it takes me an hour to clean it.
I don't even want to think about what you've got ahead of you
some day.......
It will clog up eventually.
You for sure need a big veggie or mechanical pre filter to keep
that day as far off as possible!

Peace!
Dan D. Louisville Ky good ole USA
http://ky-dan.com

"Tom Wikoff" wrote in message ...
That bio-filter has approx. 50 bags of lava rock

50 bags of lava rock?!?!?
I have a littly bitty 20 gallon garbage can/lava rock filter
and it takes me an hour to clean it.
I don't even want to think about what you've got ahead of you
some day.......
It will clog up eventually.
You for sure need a big veggie or mechanical pre filter to keep
that day as far off as possible!

Peace!
Dan D. Louisville Ky good ole USA
http://ky-dan.com

I would Not replace the lava rock. No Way. Lava rock is
too heavy and just all round pain in the rear to deal with.

Better to build a Veggie Filter adjacent to your pond..
make the VF at least 10% of the surface area of your pond.
Don't put rocks in it at all. Just plants and more plants.
I just let the water do the work. I have a picture of my VF
on the first page of the first link below my name.

Nedra
http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Pines/4836
http://community.webshots.com/user/nedra118

"Tom Wikoff" wrote in message
...
With winter in west-central Ohio on the wane, I am nearly ready to
begin
getting the pond back up and running. This will be the second full year
for the pond. It is approximately 1800 gal with a 200 gal. bio-filter.
That bio-filter has approx. 50 bags of lava rock. Last summer a young
man
at the local nursery/water garden outlet advised me to take out and
replace
the lava rock because of my complaint about string algae. I had never
heard of the need to replace this rock and find the thought of the cost of
replacing it just a bit hard to swallow. Was that sound advice? Can't
the
rock be "cleaned" instead. NOTE: I do keep small bales of barley straw
in
the both the filter and at the waterfall and treat the water with products
recommended by the people who sold me the liner, pump and fish (5 to
date).
The ratio of time I spend maintaining versus enjoying my pond does not set
well with me. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

I would Not replace the lava rock. No Way. Lava rock is
too heavy and just all round pain in the rear to deal with.

Better to build a Veggie Filter adjacent to your pond..
make the VF at least 10% of the surface area of your pond.
Don't put rocks in it at all. Just plants and more plants.
I just let the water do the work. I have a picture of my VF
on the first page of the first link below my name.

Nedra
http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Pines/4836
http://community.webshots.com/user/nedra118

"Tom Wikoff" wrote in message
...
With winter in west-central Ohio on the wane, I am nearly ready to
begin
getting the pond back up and running. This will be the second full year
for the pond. It is approximately 1800 gal with a 200 gal. bio-filter.
That bio-filter has approx. 50 bags of lava rock. Last summer a young
man
at the local nursery/water garden outlet advised me to take out and
replace
the lava rock because of my complaint about string algae. I had never
heard of the need to replace this rock and find the thought of the cost of
replacing it just a bit hard to swallow. Was that sound advice? Can't
the
rock be "cleaned" instead. NOTE: I do keep small bales of barley straw
in
the both the filter and at the waterfall and treat the water with products
recommended by the people who sold me the liner, pump and fish (5 to
date).
The ratio of time I spend maintaining versus enjoying my pond does not set
well with me. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

"Tom Wikoff" wrote in message
...
With winter in west-central Ohio on the wane, I am nearly ready to
begin
getting the pond back up and running. This will be the second full year
for the pond. It is approximately 1800 gal with a 200 gal. bio-filter.
That bio-filter has approx. 50 bags of lava rock. Last summer a young
man
at the local nursery/water garden outlet advised me to take out and
replace
the lava rock because of my complaint about string algae. I had never
heard of the need to replace this rock and find the thought of the cost of
replacing it just a bit hard to swallow. Was that sound advice? Can't
the
rock be "cleaned" instead. NOTE: I do keep small bales of barley straw
in
the both the filter and at the waterfall and treat the water with products
recommended by the people who sold me the liner, pump and fish (5 to
date).
The ratio of time I spend maintaining versus enjoying my pond does not set
well with me. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Sounds like Koi Poop to me. Lava rock does not filter your water. The reason
you use lava rock is that is has LOTS of surface are per rock. With all that
surface area, you have lots of room for the biological critter crew to live
and grow and filter the water for you.

I use a VF for filtration, so I can't speak to the lava rock from
experience, but it seems to me at worst, you may need to rinse your lava
rock down, and be sure that the filter box is not clogged with sediment. Of
course, rinsing the rock will kill any critters you have already built up,
so you may want to use pond water to do this.

BV.

"Tom Wikoff" wrote in message
...
With winter in west-central Ohio on the wane, I am nearly ready to
begin
getting the pond back up and running. This will be the second full year
for the pond. It is approximately 1800 gal with a 200 gal. bio-filter.
That bio-filter has approx. 50 bags of lava rock. Last summer a young
man
at the local nursery/water garden outlet advised me to take out and
replace
the lava rock because of my complaint about string algae. I had never
heard of the need to replace this rock and find the thought of the cost of
replacing it just a bit hard to swallow. Was that sound advice? Can't
the
rock be "cleaned" instead. NOTE: I do keep small bales of barley straw
in
the both the filter and at the waterfall and treat the water with products
recommended by the people who sold me the liner, pump and fish (5 to
date).
The ratio of time I spend maintaining versus enjoying my pond does not set
well with me. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Sounds like Koi Poop to me. Lava rock does not filter your water. The reason
you use lava rock is that is has LOTS of surface are per rock. With all that
surface area, you have lots of room for the biological critter crew to live
and grow and filter the water for you.

I use a VF for filtration, so I can't speak to the lava rock from
experience, but it seems to me at worst, you may need to rinse your lava
rock down, and be sure that the filter box is not clogged with sediment. Of
course, rinsing the rock will kill any critters you have already built up,
so you may want to use pond water to do this.

BV.

On 3/18/04 7:14 PM, "Tom Wikoff" wrote:

Last summer a young man
at the local nursery/water garden outlet advised me to take out and replace
the lava rock because of my complaint about string algae.

Is there string algae on the rock?

I had never heard of the need to replace this rock and find the thought of the
cost of replacing it just a bit hard to swallow. Was that sound advice?
Can't the rock be "cleaned" instead.

Yes, but probably no need. I have some in a water fall thing too but I've
never cleaned mine, just the mats.

Sounds like someone just has a big markup on lava rock to me.


Joe



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On 3/18/04 7:14 PM, "Tom Wikoff" wrote:

Last summer a young man
at the local nursery/water garden outlet advised me to take out and replace
the lava rock because of my complaint about string algae.

Is there string algae on the rock?

I had never heard of the need to replace this rock and find the thought of the
cost of replacing it just a bit hard to swallow. Was that sound advice?
Can't the rock be "cleaned" instead.

Yes, but probably no need. I have some in a water fall thing too but I've
never cleaned mine, just the mats.

Sounds like someone just has a big markup on lava rock to me.


Joe



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http://www.newsfeeds.com - The #1 Newsgroup Service in the World!
-----== Over 100,000 Newsgroups - 19 Different Servers! =-----

All the "pores" in lava rock will eventually fill up and it will cease to
work for bio filtration. I only know of three ways to clean the stuff: a)
lay it all out in the driveway and power wash it; or b) build a fire under
it and cook the "stuff" out. Of course, that option smells something fierce,
but it will work, or c) isolate the filter from the rest of the pond and
nuke it with potassium permanganate. That will eat the crud out, and once it
expends itself (or you neutralize it), it's harmless to your pond, plants
and fish.

Lee


"Tom Wikoff" wrote in message
...
With winter in west-central Ohio on the wane, I am nearly ready to
begin
getting the pond back up and running. This will be the second full year
for the pond. It is approximately 1800 gal with a 200 gal. bio-filter.
That bio-filter has approx. 50 bags of lava rock. Last summer a young
man
at the local nursery/water garden outlet advised me to take out and
replace
the lava rock because of my complaint about string algae. I had never
heard of the need to replace this rock and find the thought of the cost of
replacing it just a bit hard to swallow. Was that sound advice? Can't
the
rock be "cleaned" instead. NOTE: I do keep small bales of barley straw
in
the both the filter and at the waterfall and treat the water with products
recommended by the people who sold me the liner, pump and fish (5 to
date).
The ratio of time I spend maintaining versus enjoying my pond does not set
well with me. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.