BIO Question ??

Depends a lot on what you have in the pond. Is the water clear? Have you
had the water tested? ~ jan

On Sat, 17 Jul 2004 03:28:51 GMT, "Steve \(Dart\)" wrote:

My pond is about1300L or 300 imp gal
that means my pond gets turned over once every 2.5 hrs (give or take)
does that sound reasonable?
by the way, your yellow fish is HUGE !! It looks nice, i particularly like
the color.

Steve

" George" wrote in message
...

"Steve (Dart)" wrote in message
...
Thanks George, I also use them to cover the surface to keep our birds,
coons and sun while I am at work.
The filter feeds from the bottom and pumps about 8L or 2 gal /min
so far everything is fine but was just wondering how long till the
filter is
working at max capability.
Thanks
Steve

Depends on the size of the pond, but 2 gal/min doesn't seem to be very
much. If
your pond is very big, it is possible that your filter will go septic, and
start
cranking out foul-smelling hydrogen sulphide. Mine pumps about 1,400
gallon/hour for a 1,200 gallon pond (the container is an old jacuzzi
swimming
pool filter with about 40 gallons capacity, half-filled with rounded
gravel).
It also has a 5 gal capacity pre-filter. What size is your pond?

Here is a link to my web site that shows my pond:

http://bellsouthpwp.net/r/o/rockcat/pond/pond.htm

You can see the pre-filter in the first picture. The main filter is below
the
waterfall (which I have since made major modifications to).

" George" wrote in message
...

"Steve (Dart)" wrote in message
...
I just built a bio filter with veg on top and was wondering how long
it
will
take for this bios stuff to grow in the filter?
How long until it is working at 100%?
Can the bio freeze solid or should I sink it?

I used pot scrubbies and cut up election signs (Canadian). The
corrugated
plastic makes good medium with good water flow and surface area. All
crammed
into a 5 gal (imp) plastic flower pot. If I had a digicam I would
have
a
pic.
thanks


I have to say it. That is the best use of an election sign I've ever
heard of.








(Do you know where your water quality is?)

"Steve (Dart)" wrote in message
...
My pond is about1300L or 300 imp gal
that means my pond gets turned over once every 2.5 hrs (give or take)
does that sound reasonable?

I think that the recommended turnover is at least once per hour. Some say twice
per hour. But if you don't overpopulate the pond, you should be ok. I will add
though, that I think that that rate is somewhat marginal. Watch your water
quality carefully for large changes in a short period of time.

by the way, your yellow fish is HUGE !! It looks nice, i particularly like
the color.

Steve

Thanks. It looks yellow in the picture only. The photos don't do it justice. I
have found it very hard to photograph because it is so white that it tends to
over-expose the image. I think the yellow coloring effect is at least in part
due to a combination of sunlight, the water, and the exposure setting on the
camera. When you see it in person, it is very white, with only a hint of
yellow. If I expose it normally, you can't see it's pink eyes because the
whiteness of its skin overpowers the pink. If I underexpose it, it looks
yellow. When it is near the surface, it is very white. When it is near the
bottom, it looks a slightly yellowish. The water is very clear. None of the
other fish display this color change that I've noticed.

The big guy is a little sick right now. We had a huge storm here Tuesday
evening that knocked the power out for nearly two days. I had a hard time
keeping the water aerated. I have solved it now (a lot of good it does after
the fact, but I'm ready for the next time), but the pH dropped rather rapidly
due to CO2 buildup, which I think stunted him a bit. It affected all of the
fish somewhat, but the others have already come around. He is much larger, and
has higher oxygen demands, so it affected him more. He is moving around, but is
a little sluggish, and hasn't properly eaten since the storm. He is also pretty
tempermental, and so my messing with the pond likely has also made him a little
skiddish. He came up to eat this evening, but just spit the food out after
taking it in his mouth. I've managed to get the O2 levels back up and added
sodium bicarbonate, and a little salt to the water. The pH is slowly coming
back up to normal. It dropped one whole point over night tuesday (from 7.8 to
6.8 in less than 8 hours). Hopefully, he will come around in a day or two. I
think he will be ok. He's been sick before, last year, so I know what to do if
he gets worse. I've noticed that albino fish seem to be a little less hardy
than their normal counterparts. By the way, my brother does a lot of
catfishing, and he estimates that it weighs about 6 pounds. The one time I got
him out of the pond (last year when he was sick) his weight (and thrashing)
badly damaged my fish net. I had to buy another one. He wasn't hurt by the
incident (except perhaps his pride). If I have to get him out this time, it is
going to be a real chore, because he is twice the size that he was last year.

" George" wrote in message
...

"Steve (Dart)" wrote in message
...
Thanks George, I also use them to cover the surface to keep our birds,
coons and sun while I am at work.
The filter feeds from the bottom and pumps about 8L or 2 gal /min
so far everything is fine but was just wondering how long till the
filter is
working at max capability.
Thanks
Steve

Depends on the size of the pond, but 2 gal/min doesn't seem to be very
much. If
your pond is very big, it is possible that your filter will go septic, and
start
cranking out foul-smelling hydrogen sulphide. Mine pumps about 1,400
gallon/hour for a 1,200 gallon pond (the container is an old jacuzzi
swimming
pool filter with about 40 gallons capacity, half-filled with rounded
gravel).
It also has a 5 gal capacity pre-filter. What size is your pond?

Here is a link to my web site that shows my pond:

http://bellsouthpwp.net/r/o/rockcat/pond/pond.htm

You can see the pre-filter in the first picture. The main filter is below
the
waterfall (which I have since made major modifications to).

" George" wrote in message
...

"Steve (Dart)" wrote in message
...
I just built a bio filter with veg on top and was wondering how long
it
will
take for this bios stuff to grow in the filter?
How long until it is working at 100%?
Can the bio freeze solid or should I sink it?

I used pot scrubbies and cut up election signs (Canadian). The
corrugated
plastic makes good medium with good water flow and surface area. All
crammed
into a 5 gal (imp) plastic flower pot. If I had a digicam I would
have
a
pic.
thanks


I have to say it. That is the best use of an election sign I've ever
heard of.

I have a 600 gal/hr pump on a 1600 gallon koi pond and my pond is clear. I dont have
any big water falls and this rate is great for my veggie filter setup. better yet my
new pump is 55 watt which sips electricity in small amounts. Ingrid

"Steve \(Dart\)" wrote:
My pond is about1300L or 300 imp gal
that means my pond gets turned over once every 2.5 hrs (give or take)



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