Hi,
A friend of mine recently moved into a farmhouse that has a small pond (15 -
20 m diameter, 2 metre depth max,. a little through flow of water). I'm an
aquarium fish keeper, and he asked me about about filtering his water, to
remove algae which I presume is from nitrate/ite build up, and to give
greater water clarity. He has some koi / shubunkins (can't remember how its
spelt). What I'm looking for is do you have a beginners faq or good web
links on how to build a decent, but not too expensive (he's just moved
house) filter. The usual one I have seen is with old hair rollers, and some
foam matting.

Help would be appreciated.

Many thanks

A

There's no way to filter nitrate unless you have the water go through a
wetland first. The anerobic bacteria in the wetland will remove the nitrate.
You could build one by digging a hole 18 inches deep. Line the bottom with a
return pipe and 6" of gravel. On the top place 12 inches of organics
(topsoil). Pump the water ontop of the dirt and as it flows down through the
soil it'll be stripped of O2 and the anerobic bacteria will convert the
nitrate. To keep a constant supply of organics plant cattails.

Sam

"Ali" wrote in message
...
Hi,
A friend of mine recently moved into a farmhouse that has a small pond
(15 -
20 m diameter, 2 metre depth max,. a little through flow of water). I'm an
aquarium fish keeper, and he asked me about about filtering his water, to
remove algae which I presume is from nitrate/ite build up, and to give
greater water clarity. He has some koi / shubunkins (can't remember how
its
spelt). What I'm looking for is do you have a beginners faq or good web
links on how to build a decent, but not too expensive (he's just moved
house) filter. The usual one I have seen is with old hair rollers, and
some
foam matting.

Help would be appreciated.

Many thanks

A

"Sam Hopkins" wrote in message
.. .
There's no way to filter nitrate unless you have the water go through a
wetland first. The anerobic bacteria in the wetland will remove the
nitrate.
You could build one by digging a hole 18 inches deep. Line the bottom with
a
return pipe and 6" of gravel. On the top place 12 inches of organics
(topsoil). Pump the water ontop of the dirt and as it flows down through
the
soil it'll be stripped of O2 and the anerobic bacteria will convert the
nitrate. To keep a constant supply of organics plant cattails.

Sorry yes my mistake with the nitrate. Any ideas where I can read up on this
please.

Thanks

A

Search for "anaerobic limestone drain". It's commonly used to reduce acid
mine drainage (AMD) but has the same effects on nitrates. You need
"anaerobic" and not "aerobic." Check out the page below for a picture. Your
situation would be the wetlands and the pond on the right.

http://www.ctcnet.net/scrip/solution.htm

Sam

"Ali" wrote in message
...

"Sam Hopkins" wrote in message
.. .
There's no way to filter nitrate unless you have the water go through a
wetland first. The anerobic bacteria in the wetland will remove the
nitrate.
You could build one by digging a hole 18 inches deep. Line the bottom
with
a
return pipe and 6" of gravel. On the top place 12 inches of organics
(topsoil). Pump the water ontop of the dirt and as it flows down through
the
soil it'll be stripped of O2 and the anerobic bacteria will convert the
nitrate. To keep a constant supply of organics plant cattails.

Sorry yes my mistake with the nitrate. Any ideas where I can read up on
this
please.

Thanks

A

Hi,
Here are some links to DIY filter systems.
Hope this helps.

http://www.mikebentley.com/ponds/homemadefilters.htm
http://www.animalnetwork.com/aquafish/reference/ap2.asp
http://www.wavepumps.com/state_of_the_art_filters.htm

Mark

"Ali" wrote in message
...
Hi,
A friend of mine recently moved into a farmhouse that has a small pond
(15 -
20 m diameter, 2 metre depth max,. a little through flow of water). I'm an
aquarium fish keeper, and he asked me about about filtering his water, to
remove algae which I presume is from nitrate/ite build up, and to give
greater water clarity. He has some koi / shubunkins (can't remember how
its
spelt). What I'm looking for is do you have a beginners faq or good web
links on how to build a decent, but not too expensive (he's just moved
house) filter. The usual one I have seen is with old hair rollers, and
some
foam matting.

Help would be appreciated.

Many thanks

A

all snipped

Thanks much appreciated

A