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#1
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Filtering out dirt and fish waste question,.building a small waterfall, fish dieing, help me?
I wish i were able to post captioned pictures but i am not. Oh my, what a two weeks i have had. First let me say "hi!" to everyone, i havent kept up with the group but no doubt will for a while now again. okie dokie...... I had the 70 gallon pond sitting in the ground with only fish and no pump, filtration, etc. My fish were two years old and big and happy...little clowns they were. Well, live and learn! I pulled up a plant and i guess released the mulm into the water and my 3 fish went belly up. I have done at least a 75% water change since then, but fish continue to die if left there but tend to recover if i put them somewhere else. I have never had to worry about ph and stuff, everyone was happy. Here is what has changed: I added about a 150 gallon raised preform that runs into the bottom pond. I built a little waterfall to run into the new top pond and dropped a 250gph pump into the bottom pond. This is when i notice large dirt particles being circulated around. ('ll be cleaning it soon but still...) I know i need a filter but what is the easiest/cheapest way to go for my small set-up? A rubber maid tub with some sort of material...... I can do a web search but what can i use that is fish safe? I itch just thinking about insulation, anything easier to handle/clean? And why are my fish ok in the top pond but not the bottom? On a sour note, My waterfall made the side of the pond tilt and most of the water ran into the yard. Tomorrow i tear out the old and make new. I DID have some fish in the bottom and so i had the pump running in there but the fish got distressed so i removed 3 of the 4, turned off the pump, and added all i had, a very very small bubbler. I dont know if anyone will be alive tomorrow or not. The waterfall has to go in a very small area between the pond and fence. I used rock and dirt to make the slope, covered with liner hanging into the pond a bit, and used flat rock to build 'er up. It was great until the whole thing tilted... I think i saw brown speckles on the gold heads of the distressed fish? One that died last week looked like blood pooled in it's stomach. ? |
#2
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On Tue, 14 Sep 2004 00:48:50 -0500, jammer wrote:
I wish i were able to post captioned pictures but i am not. Sure you can. Go get a Yahoo account and then you can put hundreds of megs of photos online to share. It helps if you put small size files there as some are still using dialup connections. Can't help with the fish problems, but someone will be along momentarily. (all our experts are helping other ponders. Your post is important to us, so please continue to hold . . .) -- Crashj |
#3
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On Tue, 14 Sep 2004 00:48:50 -0500, jammer wrote:
I wish i were able to post captioned pictures but i am not. Sure you can. Go get a Yahoo account and then you can put hundreds of megs of photos online to share. It helps if you put small size files there as some are still using dialup connections. Can't help with the fish problems, but someone will be along momentarily. (all our experts are helping other ponders. Your post is important to us, so please continue to hold . . .) -- Crashj |
#4
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On Tue, 14 Sep 2004 00:48:50 -0500, jammer wrote:
I have never had to worry about ph and stuff, everyone was happy. Time to worry, you've seen all the answers of what kits to have on hand, so I suggest you get them and let us know what the numbers are. ) In a nutshell, you added at top pond that pours into the old bottom pond, fish are/were dying in the bottom pond, but were okay in the top pond? How big a pump did you put in the lower pond? How long did it pump till you had to turn it off? You disturbed a plant, releasing mulm in the lower pond? Was this before or after the pump was circulating? ~ jan ~Power to the Porg, Flow On!~ |
#5
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The water fall is acting as a skimmer for the top pond and all the dust,
dirt, debris that lands on the pond, plus any floating plant material all go over the water fall to the small pond at the bottom. The pump will recirculate some of this stuff, since it will be dispersed through the water column. The bottom pond will fill with muck, mulm, fairly quickly and needs to be cleaned regularly. When I started out, I had a similar setup to yours, and then added a 1500 gallon liner pond to the mix, and then the amount of mulm built up very quickly in the bottom pond. You really need a solids handling pump that you can put on the bottom of the small lower pond and then have the water circulated through some form of filter that can be easily cleaned, or you will be cleaning the bottom pond very often, or you will be building pockets of hydrogen sulfide gas that will kill fish, if you want to have fish in the lower pond. If you don't mind not having fish in the lower pond, then it can be a settling tank, setting the pump intake near the surface, and as material builds up, turn off the pump, use a shop vac or similar to clean the pond and then refill the bottom pond and restart the system. -- RichToyBox http://www.geocities.com/richtoybox/index.html "jammer" wrote in message ... Here is what has changed: I added about a 150 gallon raised preform that runs into the bottom pond. I built a little waterfall to run into the new top pond and dropped a 250gph pump into the bottom pond. This is when i notice large dirt particles being circulated around. ('ll be cleaning it soon but still...) I know i need a filter but what is the easiest/cheapest way to go for my small set-up? A rubber maid tub with some sort of material...... I can do a web search but what can i use that is fish safe? I itch just thinking about insulation, anything easier to handle/clean? And why are my fish ok in the top pond but not the bottom? |
#6
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The water fall is acting as a skimmer for the top pond and all the dust,
dirt, debris that lands on the pond, plus any floating plant material all go over the water fall to the small pond at the bottom. The pump will recirculate some of this stuff, since it will be dispersed through the water column. The bottom pond will fill with muck, mulm, fairly quickly and needs to be cleaned regularly. When I started out, I had a similar setup to yours, and then added a 1500 gallon liner pond to the mix, and then the amount of mulm built up very quickly in the bottom pond. You really need a solids handling pump that you can put on the bottom of the small lower pond and then have the water circulated through some form of filter that can be easily cleaned, or you will be cleaning the bottom pond very often, or you will be building pockets of hydrogen sulfide gas that will kill fish, if you want to have fish in the lower pond. If you don't mind not having fish in the lower pond, then it can be a settling tank, setting the pump intake near the surface, and as material builds up, turn off the pump, use a shop vac or similar to clean the pond and then refill the bottom pond and restart the system. -- RichToyBox http://www.geocities.com/richtoybox/index.html "jammer" wrote in message ... Here is what has changed: I added about a 150 gallon raised preform that runs into the bottom pond. I built a little waterfall to run into the new top pond and dropped a 250gph pump into the bottom pond. This is when i notice large dirt particles being circulated around. ('ll be cleaning it soon but still...) I know i need a filter but what is the easiest/cheapest way to go for my small set-up? A rubber maid tub with some sort of material...... I can do a web search but what can i use that is fish safe? I itch just thinking about insulation, anything easier to handle/clean? And why are my fish ok in the top pond but not the bottom? |
#7
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On Tue, 14 Sep 2004 08:27:38 -0700, ~ jan JJsPond.us
wrote: On Tue, 14 Sep 2004 00:48:50 -0500, jammer wrote: I have never had to worry about ph and stuff, everyone was happy. Time to worry, you've seen all the answers of what kits to have on hand, so I suggest you get them and let us know what the numbers are. ) Yes, i guess so..... In a nutshell, you added at top pond that pours into the old bottom pond, fish are/were dying in the bottom pond, but were okay in the top pond? YES How big a pump did you put in the lower pond? 250gph How long did it pump till you had to turn it off? 24 hrs or so You disturbed a plant, releasing mulm in the lower pond? yes Was this before or after the pump was circulating? before ~ jan And the fish i added and tried to save, they died. I guess cleaning the bottom pond is a must, for one thing. Thanks, jan |
#8
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On Tue, 14 Sep 2004 23:57:18 GMT, "RichToyBox"
wrote: The water fall is acting as a skimmer for the top pond and all the dust, dirt, debris that lands on the pond, plus any floating plant material all go over the water fall to the small pond at the bottom. The pump will recirculate some of this stuff, since it will be dispersed through the water column. The bottom pond will fill with muck, mulm, fairly quickly and needs to be cleaned regularly. When I started out, I had a similar setup to yours, and then added a 1500 gallon liner pond to the mix, and then the amount of mulm built up very quickly in the bottom pond. You really need a solids handling pump that you can put on the bottom of the small lower pond and then have the water circulated through some form of filter that can be easily cleaned, or you will be cleaning the bottom pond very often, or you will be building pockets of hydrogen sulfide gas that will kill fish, if you want to have fish in the lower pond. If you don't mind not having fish in the lower pond, then it can be a settling tank, setting the pump intake near the surface, and as material builds up, turn off the pump, use a shop vac or similar to clean the pond and then refill the bottom pond and restart the system. *I was thinking about throwing in a dunk and saying to heck with fish, but next spring i will have tadpoles again so i have to get this right. Solids handling pump........i will look that one up. Thanks If i clean the bottom pond regularly, can i keep the 250 pondmaster and waterfall? (will the fish live then) I KNEW there had to be some explanation, thank you very much. As always, juls/jammer (i am sure i'll be back with more about this) |
#9
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On Tue, 14 Sep 2004 23:57:18 GMT, "RichToyBox"
wrote: The water fall is acting as a skimmer for the top pond and all the dust, dirt, debris that lands on the pond, plus any floating plant material all go over the water fall to the small pond at the bottom. The pump will recirculate some of this stuff, since it will be dispersed through the water column. The bottom pond will fill with muck, mulm, fairly quickly and needs to be cleaned regularly. When I started out, I had a similar setup to yours, and then added a 1500 gallon liner pond to the mix, and then the amount of mulm built up very quickly in the bottom pond. You really need a solids handling pump that you can put on the bottom of the small lower pond and then have the water circulated through some form of filter that can be easily cleaned, or you will be cleaning the bottom pond very often, or you will be building pockets of hydrogen sulfide gas that will kill fish, if you want to have fish in the lower pond. If you don't mind not having fish in the lower pond, then it can be a settling tank, setting the pump intake near the surface, and as material builds up, turn off the pump, use a shop vac or similar to clean the pond and then refill the bottom pond and restart the system. *I was thinking about throwing in a dunk and saying to heck with fish, but next spring i will have tadpoles again so i have to get this right. Solids handling pump........i will look that one up. Thanks If i clean the bottom pond regularly, can i keep the 250 pondmaster and waterfall? (will the fish live then) I KNEW there had to be some explanation, thank you very much. As always, juls/jammer (i am sure i'll be back with more about this) |
#10
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On Tue, 14 Sep 2004 23:57:18 GMT, "RichToyBox"
wrote: The water fall is acting as a skimmer for the top pond and all the dust, dirt, debris that lands on the pond, plus any floating plant material all go over the water fall to the small pond at the bottom. The pump will recirculate some of this stuff, since it will be dispersed through the water column. The bottom pond will fill with muck, mulm, fairly quickly and needs to be cleaned regularly. When I started out, I had a similar setup to yours, and then added a 1500 gallon liner pond to the mix, and then the amount of mulm built up very quickly in the bottom pond. You really need a solids handling pump that you can put on the bottom of the small lower pond and then have the water circulated through some form of filter that can be easily cleaned, or you will be cleaning the bottom pond very often, or you will be building pockets of hydrogen sulfide gas that will kill fish, if you want to have fish in the lower pond. If you don't mind not having fish in the lower pond, then it can be a settling tank, setting the pump intake near the surface, and as material builds up, turn off the pump, use a shop vac or similar to clean the pond and then refill the bottom pond and restart the system. *I was thinking about throwing in a dunk and saying to heck with fish, but next spring i will have tadpoles again so i have to get this right. Solids handling pump........i will look that one up. Thanks If i clean the bottom pond regularly, can i keep the 250 pondmaster and waterfall? (will the fish live then) I KNEW there had to be some explanation, thank you very much. As always, juls/jammer (i am sure i'll be back with more about this) |
#11
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jammer wrote:
Was this before or after the pump was circulating? before Okay, sounds like they got toxed-out with hydrogen sulfide. ~ jan ~Power to the Porg, Flow On!~ |
#12
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jammer wrote:
Was this before or after the pump was circulating? before Okay, sounds like they got toxed-out with hydrogen sulfide. ~ jan ~Power to the Porg, Flow On!~ |
#13
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On Tue, 14 Sep 2004 20:56:59 -0700, ~ jan JJsPond.us
wrote: jammer wrote: Was this before or after the pump was circulating? before Okay, sounds like they got toxed-out with hydrogen sulfide. ~ jan ~Power to the Porg, Flow On!~ What can i use for filtering that is fish safe and less itchy than insulation? |
#14
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On Tue, 14 Sep 2004 20:56:59 -0700, ~ jan JJsPond.us
wrote: jammer wrote: Was this before or after the pump was circulating? before Okay, sounds like they got toxed-out with hydrogen sulfide. ~ jan ~Power to the Porg, Flow On!~ What can i use for filtering that is fish safe and less itchy than insulation? |
#15
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Okay, sounds like they got toxed-out with hydrogen sulfide.
~ jan What can i use for filtering that is fish safe and less itchy than insulation? Out of the pond filter? Or around the pump? Around an in-pond pump I only have mesh baskets to keep the big particles out till they break down to little particulars, then I made an upflow out-of-the-pond filter like the flower pot filters show at the bottom page of *My Filter* on my website www.jjspond.us . This can be stuffed with window screening, or in my case, because I had extra open cell foam, I used pieces of it and then three 1" rounds. I filter my 1,000 gallon lilypond with a 19 gallon size pot, 700 gph mag drive in-pond. 7 large fantail goldfish with a few goldfish and koi babies. Lots of plants (and once I got the pH below 8.4) it has been perfectly clear. ~ jan ~Power to the Porg, Flow On!~ |
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