Yes I know everyone here wishes they had a pond that ran on autopilot. But I
really need one. Come fall I have been accepted into a business school and
won't be able to take care of the pond at home.

My parents aren't likely to do anything more then occasionally tossing in a
handful of food. So is there anything I can build in the mean time, that can
let the pond run on autopilot, so I only need to do the maintanence/cleaning
when I come home, which is probably once every month or two.

Thanks
Sameer

--
Sameer

change the two in my email address to a 2, when replying

sameer wroteCome fall I have been accepted into a business school

congrats!

We do maintainance once a year.
Usually mother's day as they can't resist
my request on that day. ;-)

I think an overbuilt filter and pump housing is the trick.
For 3,000 gallons we have a 150 gallon stock tank filter filled with 50 yards
of mesh screening.
The pump 2900 gph, is in a large black vertical laundry basket up off the floor
of the pond.
It is all full of mulm by cleaning time and the pump has slowed down but we
seem to do okay with yearly maintainance.
cross fingers!
k30a

Sameer,

How many fish, and what size, in what size pond? If the number of fish is
small, in relation to the pond, the fish can just eat algae off the side.
This will result in a cleaner pond, and the filters won't need cleaning near
as often. A large prefilter for the pump, will reduce the chances of pump
clogging and minimize the amount of solids to the filter. Don't know if
this helps or not.
--
RichToyBox
http://www.geocities.com/richtoybox/pondintro.html


"Snooze" wrote in message
rthlink.net...
Yes I know everyone here wishes they had a pond that ran on autopilot. But
I
really need one. Come fall I have been accepted into a business school and
won't be able to take care of the pond at home.

My parents aren't likely to do anything more then occasionally tossing in
a
handful of food. So is there anything I can build in the mean time, that
can
let the pond run on autopilot, so I only need to do the
maintanence/cleaning
when I come home, which is probably once every month or two.

Thanks
Sameer

--
Sameer

change the two in my email address to a 2, when replying

"RichToyBox" wrote in message
news:Kk1oa.516141$3D1.282089@sccrnsc01...
Sameer,

How many fish, and what size, in what size pond? If the number of fish is
small, in relation to the pond, the fish can just eat algae off the side.
This will result in a cleaner pond, and the filters won't need cleaning
near
as often. A large prefilter for the pump, will reduce the chances of pump
clogging and minimize the amount of solids to the filter. Don't know if
this helps or not.


The pond is about 1200-1300 gal, estimated based on a rough estimate of the
pond volume. The pond holds 14 koi of various lengths, 5 are full grown. I
made a settling tank out of a 55 gal drum, which is filled with some random
length of mesh, a few milk crates, and some plants rested on top of the milk
crates.

From here the water is sprayed into an area behind the waterfall, where
water hyacinth grow.

My plans for this summer a

1. add a trickle tower as well, to slow down the ammonia buildup, since the
10% water changes aren't likely to be done when I'm not here.

2: add a second drum to make a 2 stage settling tank

Sameer

"Snooze" wrote:

Actually, the most useful info you could have given us is the type and
frequency of the maintenance you currently are doing.

If I had to put a pond on "auto pilot", I would tap into a water
sprinkler timer pipe to add water in an nice aerating spray pattern on
a regular basis and adjust it so the pond would overflow slightly
(perhaps into a bog) every day so that would add up to be like a water
change. Obviously, if you have highly clorinated water or if
cloramine is used by your water company, this probably won't be a good
idea. (I guess one could add a metered dispenser of clor* neutralizer
but this sounds too complicated for me)

How big are 5 fully grown koi? Sounds like you have too much fish for
the size of pond... I would expect the koi to be able to "graze" for
much of their food and train the folks to feed them very lightly.

Jay

"RichToyBox" wrote in message
news:Kk1oa.516141$3D1.282089@sccrnsc01...
Sameer,

How many fish, and what size, in what size pond? If the number of fish is
small, in relation to the pond, the fish can just eat algae off the side.
This will result in a cleaner pond, and the filters won't need cleaning
near
as often.

The pond is about 1200-1300 gal, estimated based on a rough estimate of the
pond volume. The pond holds 14 koi of various lengths, 5 are full grown. I
made a settling tank out of a 55 gal drum, which is filled with some random
length of mesh, a few milk crates, and some plants rested on top of the milk
crates.

I currently clean the drum and the area behind the water fall on an
alternating 2 week cycle. So this week I'll clean the drum, and two weeks
from now I'll clean the area behind the waterfall.

Cleaning in this case involves draining the drum, letting the pump refill
the drum, drain again. Hose off the muck, and drain that off as well. Then I
refill the drum with tap water. Two drums worth of pond water is about 10%

Cleaning the area behind the waterfall involves mostly siphoning off the
muck with a hose.

The 5 full grown are about 1.5ft long, the rest are about 6-8inches

Sameer

"JJ" wrote in message
...
"Snooze" wrote:

Actually, the most useful info you could have given us is the type and
frequency of the maintenance you currently are doing.

If I had to put a pond on "auto pilot", I would tap into a water
sprinkler timer pipe to add water in an nice aerating spray pattern on
a regular basis and adjust it so the pond would overflow slightly
(perhaps into a bog) every day so that would add up to be like a water
change. Obviously, if you have highly clorinated water or if
cloramine is used by your water company, this probably won't be a good
idea. (I guess one could add a metered dispenser of clor* neutralizer
but this sounds too complicated for me)

How big are 5 fully grown koi? Sounds like you have too much fish for
the size of pond... I would expect the koi to be able to "graze" for
much of their food and train the folks to feed them very lightly.

Jay


The pond is about 1200-1300 gal, estimated based on a rough estimate of
the
pond volume. The pond holds 14 koi of various lengths, 5 are full grown.
I
made a settling tank out of a 55 gal drum, which is filled with some
random
length of mesh, a few milk crates, and some plants rested on top of the
milk
crates.

isnt anybody up for doing the experiment ... running water thru peat moss to find out
if this stuff dechlors water???? Ingrid

(JJ) wrote:
Obviously, if you have highly clorinated water or if
cloramine is used by your water company, this probably won't be a good
idea. (I guess one could add a metered dispenser of clor* neutralizer
but this sounds too complicated for me)

wrote in message
...
isnt anybody up for doing the experiment ... running water thru peat moss
to find out
if this stuff dechlors water???? Ingrid

Ingrid...care to volunteer? *laugh*

BV.

Ingrid wrote isnt anybody up for doing the experiment ... running water
thru peat moss
to find out
if this stuff dechlors water????

Came late to this thread, though I remember answering it at one point.
Youngest son and I might try it!
In our middle school we usually run into a science project. This last year we
gathered all the materials for a fire starter experiment and I was
understandably nervous, especially since Dad was on lots of overtime and that
left mom to surpervise!
So I could go for an experiment that involves water!
I'll query youngest son about it.


k30a

Sameer,

My personal opinion is you have a very high fish loading for your pond
size and my free advice to you is to either enlarge the pond at least
2 or 3 times in volume before you go to school :-) or get rid of some
big fish. :-(

It sounds like you have had success with this setup so far and that is
because you have been keeping an eye on things and doing regular
cleanup/water changes.

Also, if you don't already, include a distinct looking scoop or other
measuring cup in the koi food container and have the folks use that vs
"a couple of handfuls method" and tell them if they forget to feed one
day, don't "make up for it". Yes, I know this sounds harsh...

Jay

"Snooze" wrote:
The pond is about 1200-1300 gal, estimated based on a rough estimate of
pond volume. The pond holds 14 koi of various lengths, 5 are full grown.
I made a settling tank out of a 55 gal drum, which is filled with some
length of mesh, a few milk crates, and some plants rested on top of the
milk crates.

not harsh at all. after taking spring break at Jo Ann's I have come to the
conclusion that I am seriously overfeeding my koi. Jo Ann and Steve got a pond full
of huge koi, like 60 koi from 18-30 inches long and many of them that pudgy shape in
the middle full of eggs. I saw Steve give em their one time a day feeding in the
evening, he says it is 1 PINT of food. OK.. so it looks like between 1-2 pints. In
any case, that isnt much food, they DONT have anything else to eat in the pond cause
there isnt lots of algae or veggies. and those suckers are growing, I know cause I
saw em 4-5 years ago. Ingrid

(JJ) wrote:
Also, if you don't already, include a distinct looking scoop or other
measuring cup in the koi food container and have the folks use that vs
"a couple of handfuls method" and tell them if they forget to feed one
day, don't "make up for it". Yes, I know this sounds harsh...