I have a 1400 gallon pond and
have a 40W UV filter, Pool
size sand filter and have a
Veggie/bog filter. I have 9
koi that vary in size. 5 are
about 11inches, 1 about
10inches, 3 4inches and under.
3 of the fish I need to catch
and give away...they are ugly
babies that grew up. They are
so hard to catch!

I am tired of replacing the
sand every spring due to the
channeling I get. I am now
backwashing two to three times
a day.

But once I change out the
sand...which is actually a
fine pea gravel (coarse grade
red sand), everything is fine
for one season. But I would
rather not change that every
year.

My pond is always crystal
clear, no problems that I can
see, I dump some Microbe lift
spring/summer along with some
koi clay and the string algae
dies off that grew over the
winter and that is what starts
the problems with the sand
filter. I think if I could get
the string algae to NOT grow
at all I would not have this
problem, but that is never
going to happen.

Can I put bio balls in my pool
filter (Triton II)? I like the
polished, clear water I have.
Would I have the clear water
with the bio balls, but give
up the crystal clarity as I
get with the sand?

DY

"Dominique" wrote in message
link.net...
I have a 1400 gallon pond and
have a 40W UV filter, Pool
size sand filter and have a
Veggie/bog filter. I have 9
koi that vary in size. 5 are
about 11inches, 1 about
10inches, 3 4inches and under.
3 of the fish I need to catch
and give away...they are ugly
babies that grew up. They are
so hard to catch!

I am tired of replacing the
sand every spring due to the
channeling I get. I am now
backwashing two to three times
a day.

But once I change out the
sand...which is actually a
fine pea gravel (coarse grade
red sand), everything is fine
for one season. But I would
rather not change that every
year.

My pond is always crystal
clear, no problems that I can
see, I dump some Microbe lift
spring/summer along with some
koi clay and the string algae
dies off that grew over the
winter and that is what starts
the problems with the sand
filter. I think if I could get
the string algae to NOT grow
at all I would not have this
problem, but that is never
going to happen.

Can I put bio balls in my pool
filter (Triton II)? I like the
polished, clear water I have.
Would I have the clear water
with the bio balls, but give
up the crystal clarity as I
get with the sand?

DY


Sand filters for ponds are a very bad idea, as you've discovered. you can try
using porous scoria rock in place of the sand. The pores will provide niches
for beneficial bacteria, and turn your filter into an efficient biofilter. Note
that you should have a pre-filter in front of this filter, one that is easy to
maintain. That way, your maintenance of the main filter will be greatly
reduced. And remember, a pond is not a swimming pool with fish in it. There
should be at least some amount of growth in it in order for it to remain
healthy.

I probably should mention
bedsides the veggie/bog that
has iris, watercress,
horsetail, pennywort, parrots
feather, cardinal flower and
pickerel rush and some sort of
tall grassy thing, I have 3
water lilies and a lotus in
the pond. When they get
started they will cover more
than 75% of the pond.

-----------------------------------------------------------
"George"

wrote in message
news:z2Q9e.5469$r53.625@attbi_s21...

Sand filters for ponds are a
very bad idea, as you've
discovered. you can try
using porous scoria rock in
place of the sand. The pores
will provide niches
for beneficial bacteria, and
turn your filter into an
efficient biofilter. Note
that you should have a
pre-filter in front of this
filter, one that is easy to
maintain. That way, your
maintenance of the main filter
will be greatly
reduced. And remember, a pond
is not a swimming pool with
fish in it. There
should be at least some amount
of growth in it in order for
it to remain
healthy.

The bioballs will provide a good amount of bio filter surface area, but they
will not polish the water like a sand filter. In addition, unless you have
a very good prefilter, the debris will collect in the bioballs, and it is
very difficult to get it back out, so the normal backwash will not work,
IMO. Reworking the filter to have the intake at the bottom and the outflow
from the top, would allow you to use the floating beads of a bead filter.
They are more easily dispersed for complete backwash than sand, and yet
nearly as efficient at polishing the water.
--
RichToyBox
http://www.geocities.com/richtoybox/pondintro.html

"Dominique" wrote in message
link.net...
I have a 1400 gallon pond and
have a 40W UV filter, Pool
size sand filter and have a
Veggie/bog filter. I have 9
koi that vary in size. 5 are
about 11inches, 1 about
10inches, 3 4inches and under.
3 of the fish I need to catch
and give away...they are ugly
babies that grew up. They are
so hard to catch!

I am tired of replacing the
sand every spring due to the
channeling I get. I am now
backwashing two to three times
a day.

But once I change out the
sand...which is actually a
fine pea gravel (coarse grade
red sand), everything is fine
for one season. But I would
rather not change that every
year.

My pond is always crystal
clear, no problems that I can
see, I dump some Microbe lift
spring/summer along with some
koi clay and the string algae
dies off that grew over the
winter and that is what starts
the problems with the sand
filter. I think if I could get
the string algae to NOT grow
at all I would not have this
problem, but that is never
going to happen.

Can I put bio balls in my pool
filter (Triton II)? I like the
polished, clear water I have.
Would I have the clear water
with the bio balls, but give
up the crystal clarity as I
get with the sand?

DY