On Wed, 14 May 2003 13:21:26 -0600, John Rutz
wrote:
welcome to the group I have attempted to Partialy answer some of your
questions
answers are scattered through youur post marked with **
SNIP
.
** Pump probly needs upgrading to a 750 or so reccomended to pump pond volume through the filte4r
once per hour ( twice is OK too)
Hmm, Am I dropping a decimal point? 20 Gallons per minute X 60
minutes per hour = 1200 GPH. This was a 'guesstimate' - The inlet to
the barrel is about 1/3 of the way up, the outlet about 2/3. When the
pump is turned off, the water flows back out through the pump until it
drops below the inlet (no check valve). It takes less than a minute
from the time the pump is turned on until water flows out the outlet.
One of the things I came across in my research was "The Skippy
Filter", which looks like it might actually do a better job of
cleaning the water at a reasonable price. Does it work as well as he
claims? I'm not afraid to spend money, but don't want to try anything
that might result in some dead koi!!
** Skippys filter is a good one lots of us are using it or a variation
of it
My current idea (subject to revision, based on suggestions) is to
modify the current filter by shortning the inlet 'riser' so it is
perhaps 6" above the bottom of the barrel, add a plastic grate just
above the inlet, and then fill the space up to the outlet tube with
'floor scrubber media' as described by Skippy. Given the filtering
the plants provide, would this provide sufficient filtering?
The previous owner (tpo) had a slightly different filter arrangement
for the goldfish pond. He has elevated that barrel about 6", and
hooked up a drain with shut-off valve. When he cleaned that filter he
simply hooked up a large hose which was run over to a 'settling area',
opened the valve, and rinsed everything out through the hose. That
certainly qualifies as an easier way, and I had considered duplicating
it for the koi pond. However, I'd also like to improve the water
quality in the pond. I assume swimming pool clean is neither possible
nor desirable.
As always, thanks for any suggestions.
PlainBill
Also, the previous owner had placed a bag of barley? in each pond to
control the alge. (He described that as 'experimental'). Does it
actually work? There is a lot of string alge growing in the ponds,
some of it on the bag of barley.
*** the jury is still out on that it works for some but not others
Thanks,
PlainBill
-- Look for Jan Jordans posts and check out her filter its a good one
I have a version of it on my website also
others will chime in with other ideas and suggestions over the next few
days see what seems to be best for you
dont hesitate to ask any question you come up with we are happy to try
to answer
here are a couple good sites to answer some of your questions I cant
find the faq link
http://www.click2roark.com/cgi-win/w...ocument=index2
http://pondrushes.net/
John Rutz
Z5 New Mexico
good judgement comes from bad experience, and that comes from bad
judgement
see my pond at:
http://www.fuerjefe.com
He that would make his own liberty secure must guard even his enemy from oppression, for if he violates this duty, he establishes a precedent that will reach to himself.
-Thomas Paine