Biomedia for garden fish pond filters revisited
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Biomedia for garden fish pond filters revisited I get more queries associated with biofilters than anything else. This is not surprising since a biofilter is so important in any fish pond .... A biofilter for a fish pond is essential, it is not just a nice-to-have item.
Selection is much simpler than you think especially for small to medium sized garden fish ponds. The following points are important even if you build your own biofilter.
*****Specification is based upon pond volume with consideration given to quantity of fish if you really overstock the pond. The size of the biofilter box or container is almost totally irrelevant .... many people will tell you that the filter should be a certain percent of the pond volume.
This is quite simply WRONG.
Such advice will cost you more money than necessary and will not help you. The biomedium used and the flow rate through the biofilter are important to determine the size of the box or container. As far as flow is concerned see the end of this article since many people misunderstand and believe all water must flow through the filter at the same time.
*****In simple terms the biofilter contains media on which a large amount of specific bacteria grow. These bacteria are required in order to digest the pollutants created by fish bodily wastes building up in the pond water.
Think of the bacteria as clinging to all possible surfaces in the biofilter box. This means the more surface there is then the greater the space for the bacteria to cling to and the more the amount of bacteria there can be ... simple as that. The surface comes from media with rough porous surfaces (not smooth plastic or stones) and this is what creates large areas of surface. We talk of SSA ... specific surface area... Look for biofilters which contain biomedia with high SSA.
To really push this home take the situation of two different biomedia The first has an SSA of 5, the second an SSA of 10. The box for the first medium will have to be twice as large as the second one in order to hold the amount of media that will do the job of biofiltration adequately.
Please take a look at biomedia for pond biofilters and tips for making your own homemade biofilter Here you will find information on different biomedia and also tips on how to build your own low cost biofilter.
Many commercial units are very overpriced and no better than a home made one. From what readers tell me Rubbermaid make some great low cost containers you can use. By the way it appears Alfagrog is NOT available in USA. It is an UK product. We have it in South Africa ... I have been putting it into all my biofilters for years.
NOTE IMPORTANT.... If you are pumping more water around your circuit than stipulated as the maximum flow for any biofilter then all you have to do is split the flow so some goes into the biofilter and the rest by-passes the actual filter box and goes to your waterfall for example.
All the pond water eventually goes through the biofilter. In fact this will happen about 12 times a day for most ponds.The more serious koi keeper would prefer that all the water is passed through the filer 24 times per day.
If you want to calculate how many times your water is flowing through the filter every day just divide the flow through the filter into the ponds volume. For example if you are pumping 500 galls per hour and the pond is 2000 gallons then all the pond water if filtered every 4 hours which is the same as 6 times per day
3. MORE ON CHEMICALS .. should be I hate Chemicals
The first point to bear in mind if you succumb to the temptation to add something to your pond is ...... you MUST know and know ACCURATELY the volume of water in your pond which includes the volume in the waterfall, filters (if large) and streams etc... in other words ALL the water in your system and not just the pond. You must then be able to measure the dose based upon the total volume and the instructions. This can be difficult for many because of poor instructions and mixed units on the container.
If in doubt ..... seek advice
Malachite Green is actually a dye which is used in treating parasites, and fungus diseases in a pond. By overdosing you would tend to kill off your biofilter which is very dangerous. On the other hand it can be totally ineffective if dosage is not right. Are you starting to see what I mean about adding chemicals to a pond?
It is probably best to turn off flow to the filter before adding but only for an hour or so. Most dyes are broken down by air and sunlight so best time to treat is late in the day. This is another reason your supply might not be what you think (ie it has deteriorated in the container). This creates more complexities.
Once added it cannot be added again for a period of time. Like I said last time treating a fish outside pond is almost always better than treating in pond.
IF YOU WOULD LIKE YOUR POND CONCERNS OR QUERIES TO BE ADDRESSED DO PLEASE SEND THE QUESTIONS IN. TO MAKE THIS EASY just click the link below - DO NOT CHANGE THE SUBJECT LINE just add your query to the body of the email and then just send. I will try to reply personally if I can. Just click below
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QUICK TIPS QUICK TIPS QUICK TIPS QUICK TIPS
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Today's quick tips ..........
A. If you have very young fish in danger of being eaten by larger fish you can separate them until they are a bit bigger as follows .......
Create a fine mesh bag about 2 feet deep. Attach the bag to pieces of foam (or maybe polystyrene) that float creating a ring or square. Add a bit of weight to bottom of net ... eg stones and let it float around the pond. Of course you must catch the fish first and then put them in their safe floating environment.
B. This one sounds a bit crazy but works. Your fish will learn to recognize you especially if you feed them. To speed up this process move your hands as you approach the pond (or do something similar) ... just don't let the neighbours see you. Keep the movement the same every time.
C. A tip from Patricia in Ireland. She has a large pond with no fish. She had green algae problems. She used barley straw which took 6 weeks to work.
Her tip is that to prevent the mess floating barley straw can make put it into old (or new for that matter) tights. Thanks Patricia.
A list of quick tips is maintained at http://www.practical-water-gardens.com/tiptrick.htm
6. Expert Articles .............In case you are not aware of the articles we publish by leading experts in the water gardening field take a look at:
http://www.practical-water-gardens.com where you will see the list.
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