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Hi Team
I have an outdoor covered fish pond facing North east, capacity 1500 L.
Could you please advise:
1. A water pump, filter, uv light (all integrated ?)
2. 3 pond lights?
3. Do i need to remove the middle pot and install a new pump there?
4. Im thinking if can fit through central pot water feature
My current pump with small integrated filter (after 2 years) is not pumping water although everything appears to be working. And it was connected to an external UV. Also, my 3 led lights are weakening now, need replacement.
Need to fix this asap as theres 8 goldfish
Thanks
Thierry
Solved! See most helpful response
Hi @Thierry
Yes 3000L - 5000L per hour for all components to keep things straight forward and larger filter minimises maintinance periods too.
The 5000L rating for pond stuff is for no fish, just water. Fish load down the filter with OASE 5000 Pump-UVC-Filter 3in 1 this will support fish in 2500L tank. your pond will be very clean and healthy for the most part and need a little less attention. And yes included fountain.
The 3000L rating for Bunnings Aquapro AP3100DW(this is 3000L per hour Pump i/n 2810303 and the Aquapro AP5000UV Combo Pressure Filter I/N 2810202 will support your 1500 litre fish pond. and yes it will still support a fountain in the middle and waterfall at the side if you wish you will have to buy a fountain and base for it separatly best to have water pipe coming out the side of filter and spraying horizontal it still looks and sounds good it can be a simple tube. No water lights included.
You can add a tee piece and divert water to a water fall feature you just need some more tubing People in store at bunnings can help you with extra components and make sure it all fits together.
Buy lights separately as you wish for. A water fall is just a dish shape with a hose water inlet at the back or same for a fish ornament that spouts water out its mouth . Many personal choices here easyest is in store service in plumbing section. Below pic is a sample of your possible system.
Hi @Thierry
Ok lets help your fish it is not good two are dead so lets try make them more comfortable.
Your tank size is 1500L we will add some salt to the water is a controlled manner to follow.
Salt acts like a soothing tonic to fish and it helps them generate a slime coating to repel parisites.
Salt should not be used all the time as it will lose effectiveness and may accumulate increasing saltiness. We can not exceed 6 parts per million.(PPM)
Salt will help diminish parasite populations and bacteria in water.
Rocks breed anaerobic parasites that fish touch while swimming so its great you dont have them.
Salt non ionized regular table salt in packets from supermarket is good (can also use plain pool salt)
The most important thing is to not change water parameters to fast as fish will suffer .
What to do to help your fish with a health tonic
Instructions in a bucket of collected pond water mix 450gm salt in bucket until dissolved fully each day for 5 days
This will raise your estimated pond salt levels to 5 ppm With a safety margin incase pond is plus minus 500L.
Stop add no more
Salt will diminish slowly over time with any water changes
Sick Fish
If any fish look or act unusual put one table spoon salt in one bucket of pond water and put the fish in the buckets for 10 mins watch them. If they become distressed or start swim funny return them pond asap. They should vomit up helping reduce internal gut parisites if they present.
Visually Sick Fish if you wish put them in a shallow bowl glass container and take photos of there conditions both sides fish and top I might be able too help more. Red sores, missing scales white scales and white fluff, bloated bodies etc.
Hi @Thierry
I should tell you i like the use of your space and the pond looks good
I was thinking too much about pond pump stuff problem to appreciate your space here and say so. Nice space.
I re read you initial post you have 8 gold fish that not a lot. (I did a quick count of your fish in picture and doubled it roughly for 2nd half of the unseen under water in pond and as you said they breed so more fish may come. If you use recommended pond filter options 30 goldfish will be comfortable in 1500 L.
So my estimate was for more fish which dosnt change any pump information for 8 fish as the more water a filter system can handle the better water quality. If some one double filtered your drinking water thats great but under filtering it is yuck says your fish.
Fish farmers have 1000s of fish in small ponds but they have super filters and constanly monitoring there fish health because within hours mass deaths can occur and loose of profit.
You can drill your pot base with care and have a fountain tube in the middle spouting. You can lift your pot and put pavers underneath to allow water pipe access with out squashing it you can use a 3in 1 system and take the water outlet and divert it to your pot water spout or a cascade on the side too.
You mentioned a lack of growth and you feed them once a week I might increase that to one medium pinch of food every two days as a guide if this is possible for you or every time you visit them and feel like feeding them.
Once a week is ok the fish will scavenge and eat mosquito larve and other water bugs and even nibble on the growth on the pond hoses ( look for clean nibble patches on your hoses) as food. But they will definaly eat the smaller babies (that is nature and stops over population in your pond, a 10mm mesh made into a under water box will be a safe spot for baby fish) only the strongest will survive if they really hungry they will pick on adult fish and kill them reduce competition for food I am estimating as they dont always eat them.
It is a great bonus nice work your pond under cover this will reduce alge growth and rain water changes pH. Later if you wish to lean more buy a water test kit and learn what the results mean but I also understand you just want some fish and not want to know the history of water . I had that level of knowledge too at one point but my koi demanded I learn more to live longer.
Feel free to ask me to clarify anything i failed to explain properly.
Hi again @Jewelleryrescue
Thanks for your response and for sharing your fish tank - looks fantastic!
To summarise the case of my pond, I have 8 fish and pond is facing east, and but is under cover.
I still get algae issue but UV light should fix it.
I like the idea in your previous photo of the Blagdon inpond 5 in 1.
Also, the pot is sitting on 2 bricks and rocks surrounding it. Theres already a small hole (should be ok if only power cord will go through it)
I will check if the pump can fit inside the pot together with a fountain + LED light, and if possible to have a cheap frog water feature linked to it, from flow control.
1. Should i get a blagdon 5 in 1 3000 Or 6000? As from what i read the 3000 should be enough? Will UV light 5kw on 3000 enough?
Thanks Thierry
Hi @Thierry
If you wish to use blagdon 5 in 1 the 6000 will properly support you fish now and into the future with its larger capacity and it has that led light too and enough capacity to run a side water feature later. 3000 may just work if you clean it regularly but not enough water pressure for side feature.
Can I suggest the fountain Blagdon go into the middle of pond stand alone no pot surrounding it (as blocking/limiting water flow will hinder water cleaning function around the pond Also if in the pot pump return water must enter small base hole of the pot half blocked by the cord and it is possible to get dead spots in your outer pond alge spots etc. Water through the pot hole wont be big enough to replace pumped out water in pot pump could run dry.
Now you around your middle feature fountain you can add two pots either side, or 4 pots in a square around but away from filter with the fish swimming under the 4 plants it will give them a more interesting happier environment or design your new pot layouts.
Hi @Thierry
My apologies for not seeing this pump on offer. In reference to the AQUAPRO 2000 All-In-One Pump And UVC Filter System, it should work with the size of your pond. Have you considered making an independent filter for the entire pond? It is mainly made of an Award 50L Black Storage Container with Lid and Wheels, Ki-Carma 20kg 10-20mm Drainage Gravel, 3M Scotch-Brite 120mm x 80mm Heavy Duty Scrub Sponges, QEP Tile Sponge and Everhard 600mm x 6m Drain Matting.
The basic assembly involves cutting a hole at the bottom to let the water out. You can place a hose or a pipe fitting of your choice for the outlet. The rocks go to the bottom then the scrub sponges next followed by the QEP tile sponge. The top part is occupied by the drain matting. The outlet of the pump is run through the top of the giant filter. In essence, it is like a giant freshwater aquarium filter only on a much larger scale.
Done properly you'll be able to propagate the nitrate-eating bacteria that will keep your pond fresh and clean. It will provide you with long-term filtering and you won't have to keep cleaning it compared to a small filter. In combination with the salt regimen that @Jewelleryrescue suggested your tank will be very clean and free of algae.
If you need further assistance, please let us know.
Eric
Bio balls vs rocks.
I totally respect EricL advice as it is the mainstream solution here but I do believe this area is evolving as to better solutions for tomorrow.
I think you will like to grow with my journey down this rabbit hole as I am building a mega filter trying to keep this real. See if you agree ? The rock solution is ok but there is new evidence of a better way of building a self cleaning bio tank as I am in the middle of that project now. When I finish my design pros and cons I will share the design into the future after I test proto type and tweak final design.
Rocks specifically (volcanic perforated )add more surface area to grow bacteria on an inside if they porous that is 100% true. But they are heavy and clog up over time and water flows around them not through them. Clogged rocks invite parasites to breed in an on them. So its a pain to clean them and once bacteria colonises rock surface it slows down growing. To clean you have to dig them all out wash them (heavy work) even in pond water killing bacteria is un avoidable and waiting for a colony restart can be a month. (there are some great colony restart additives that do work in 3 days)
Key point is there are 2 bacteria types one is aerobic the other Anaerobic in a rock system anaerobic bacteria hide deeper into the rock pores away form any oxygen. Please discuss with me if I get any facts wrong I need to learn too so I dont built a white elephant.
New Filter concept (actual proto type design still being finalised so bear with me at concept level)
Anaerobic Bacteria Tank
Its being proven the that bacteria eats the ammonia and Nitrate mostly as its growing! as food. So think Tank no1 The pond water can be dumped into a settling tank with bio balls buffeted by incoming fish poop and water. The water movement with minimal pond air as pond intake is in the bottom of the tank anaerobic water. The incoming water movement keeps the bio balls clean and no home to parasites as well as knocking of the old anaerobic bacteria enabling regrowth for maximum self cleaning and bio filtration. The poop settles towards the bottom with the the old bacteria and is flushed out periodically on to grateful garden plants via a floor drain valve.
What is a "bio ball".... well its a man made plastic ball various designs that are hollow to allow maximum surface area for bacteria to grow on inside it and out.. The same bacteria grows on all surfaces in your pond feeding on fish wastes. If it grows on pond walls why do we need more well thats because we are stocking the pond with more fish that a nateral pool of water can provide and we need larger colonies of bacteria.
Aerobic Bacteria Tank.
So think bio plastic balls floating in a 2nd tank not overly congested you want bioballs to move with a steady stream of bubbles underneath as one of the bacteria types is aerobic (needs oxygen) .
What happens is the bioballs are constantly bouncing around each other and knocking of bits of old bacteria which is perfect as its only the new bacteria growing is doing most of the converting. So the old bacteria falls to the bottom of the tank dead as waste and if you install a floor drain simply open valve into your garden it will suck out the bottom mess in a jiffy and plants love it.
Key features are
Pumic volcanic rock floats and may work instead of bioballs but over time will smash its self to sand.
Well thats the future it will take a few years for those facts to become mainstream but you heard it hear first.
Thank you for the insight on other possible filters. It's definitely something worth considering, I suppose it depends on how big the filter tanks will be. I reckon the third filter tank would be a biological filter such as a floating raft with plants in it. When the nitrate enters the water the plants absorb it and clean the water at the same time. But your idea of flushing the solids into the garden is great as this will be like a natural fertilizer for the garden.
Eric
Well @EricL your very close here re plants getting involved.
If you make the plants with no soil ( as soil is a nice little hidy place for water micro organisims to breed in). Basically treat them as hydroponic just use floating raft with bare roots but I cant vouch for that is a real solution definatly out of my skill set.
When it comes to hydroponics I really a I have no idea in that last plant stage of the nitrogen cycle. That's a lot of more study in itself.
FYI in a man made koi pond plants shouldn't be in the water but around the edges in the garden to once again to keep dirt out. The larger the pond the less it is vulnerable to dramatic and sudden pond water changes and or pH swings if sudden influx of rain water etc
I remember knowing zero about fish but i still enjoyed keeping them and made tanks for them yes my fish lived an died and had strange conditions so I learnt more to save more fish. But it is important not to bog regular fish owners down too much just guide them and help them and fish to be a little happier so if you see me not telling a fish owner something its to strike a balanced solution. Thierry wants to put pump in pot plant I had to suggested no as the pump simply wont work well.
Trivia : Did you know Koi fish in perfect conditions can live 100+ years? lol puts alot of other pets to shame re life cycles but in realitiy they live an average of 23 years as there owner may pass away and pond gets neglected is one scenario they get shorter life spans.
Hi @Jewelleryrescue and @EricL
Thanks for keeping the ball rolling.
@Jewelleryrescue i like the idea of the Bragdon 5 in 1 6000, which i will like to give a crack. Its a cheaper option and an easy installation. I think its the only one model in the market.
As advised, will remove the middle pot.
Questions:
1. The bragdon 5 in1 6000 pump says max flow per hour is 1500. Is that sufficient for my pond?
2. The 4 plants with pots- whats plants do you reckon i should get?
Not sure about the quantity of the filters etc, and other ongoing costs such as filters replacement but if once a year to clean im happy with that.
Thanks
Thierry
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