Prefilter fell off pondmaster, got my fish.

14 years ago

I looked out this morning to check on my son and noticed that the water coming out of the filter was severely slow. I looked in the pond and saw that the pumps prefilter was unscrewed where it screws together. I thought it was just gunk clogging the pump until I tilted it up to look at it and was greeted by one of my fishes heads sticking out, mouth gapping. I unplugged the pump and of course the fish came out. There is no way this poor thing will survive. I'm no fish expert but I believe there is visible internal bleeding and there is no sign of life but the gaping breathing and some faint body movement when I approached with the net to scoot him over to where I could reach him. He is now on his way to cross the fishy bridge in my freezer, hopefully in shock so he doesn't feel pain or scared.

I believe until I make my own prefilter that I will be doing something to make sure these two pieces do not come apart again. Not what I expected to see first thing this morning.

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Comments (6)

koijoyii
14 years ago
Sorry to hear about your loss hb. It happens to the most careful ponder. I know the shock you are feeling. When I had my first pond I placed my pump in a huge flowerpot buried in about 9 inches of lava rocks. I woke up one morning to silence. The pump had quit. When I pulled it out of the lava rocks there were four of my beautiful long flowing finned shubunkin's heads and pieces/parts stuck to the intake of the pump. Nothing can prepare you for it.

To keep a hole in the ice this winter I placed my pump in a mesh bag I made. In the bag I had plastic scrubbies to stop the pump from getting all gunked up. When I made the mesh bag I put in a drawstring that could be tied tightly to be sure it was not "fish accessible." When I pulled the mesh bag up yesterday (still tightly tied) I placed it on the grass. It had that unmistakeable "dead fish smell" to it. When I opened the bag there was one of my 5-6" goldfish stuck to the intake of the pump. Those darn fish find a way to get into the smallest openings. Wouldn't surprise me if the fish had something to do with the prefilter coming off. Sometimes I think they are more crafty than mice.

Jenny
sleeplessinftwayne
14 years ago
I think it is instinctive for them to follow the flow. You and Jenny are not the only ones to have it happen. I lost an 8 inch comet that way two or three years ago. The pump pressure kept them trapped and crushed it. I have had as many as six 3 inch goldies find their way into an Adams filter that I would have sworn was too tight a fit around the tubing for them to get in. I had to check it almost daily.
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Hi Jenny, Sorry you are having problems with your pump. It looks from the picture that it is a direct drive, and that is why you can't get past the impellor. It is fairly likely that something is wrapped around the shaft behind the impellor, causing the pump to slow. You certainly need a better prefilter system, and I have found that a guy in Amherst sells a pretty sturdy batting type pad. Krew Kut is name of the place. He sells a coarse grade (blue)and a finer composite of medium and fine bonded together (green/white). (filter media search on E-bay) I have been using a sock I made out of it as a prefilter since September, and I is still going strong with some signs of wear. (I think of the visible wear as stretch marks in the material.) No holes yet though, and I bet I have rinsed it out over 25 times! (I am not real gentle with it either.) I sugesst you find away, (like wire ties, or simple loop stiching like I did) to cover your inlet strainer with a sleeve of the coarse grade and rinse that as needed. As far as getting behind the impellor, it is tough to say without seeing the pump. It is likly to be either press fit on, meaning is has to wedged off with equal pressure all around. Or there is a nut, clip, or spring holding it in place. Danner doesn't seem to have much info on it on their site yet. You can write to me directly if you need more help. I have some time this weekend. Here is a link that might be useful: Media
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mwp, that type of basket screen's purpose is to prevent the pump from sucking up pea gravel or anything hard that may damage the pumps impeller. The scrubbies will screen the water even further and become a small bacteria colony. It will probably require weekly cleaning, by washing it out with a blast from the garden hose. I use one in a small sump, that filters water to a pond statue that spouts water into my bog type pond/garden. I clean it about twice a season. The main pond water is drawn from the pond, through a bottom drain and surface skimmer. It then passes through a mechanical filter pad located in a 50 gallon barrel sump. I pump out the silt and other sludge from the bottom of this sump barrel once during the season and again in the fall in preperation for winter. From the sump barrel the water is pumped to a home made filter system [ Rubbermaid totes], after which it returns back into the pond via a small waterfall. The water in my ponds is crystal clear all year round. I use bird netting, pot scrubbies, furnace filter pads [the blue cut to size ones] and last, quilt batting to "fine tune" the water before it returns to the pond. My pond capacity is around 2000 imperial gallons and the filter system capacity is around 125 gallons in total. "Horton"
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LOL Theresa, It hadn't dawned on me that I am now considered a 'ponder'! Mine is cycling well, had that pea soup stage for less than a week, and it seems everything is going well. I know I need the thin coat of algae to maintain the natural biological blah blah blah, lol. It hasn't gotten out of hand yet. Just in case, I did buy some Hydrogen Peroxide last week. And I did use the good bacteria stuff when I first got it going. I have the prefilters wrapped in aquarium sponges and then cheesecloth. I have also been rinsing them in either pond water, or rain water, which is what I have been using more of since we are getting so much of it. That's also what I have been using to do the partial water changes once a week, as well topping off the lotus tub when it needs it. Then I use the extra water for the plants. I know I have quilt batting somewhere in my closet with all my material n stuff, it's just that I can't find it, lol. (It's one of those closets that gets messy real fast, lol..you open the door a crack and just push something in the crack so it doesnt all fall on you! Just happens no matter how often I straighten it up.) That's why I have been using the sponges and cheesecloth for now. I also have some activated charcoal in the skippy in front of the water outlet. Think that's what cleared up the pea soup so fast. Which I think was made worse by all the pollen from the trees. The waterlilies are really poppin out pads fast so I think I should have some good coverage soon. O and yes, I do have the dechlorinator. Havent used it yet though. If I know am gonna need water, and dont have the rain water, I just fill up some buckets w/hose water and let them sit for 24 hrs before I use em. As for the catfish, I know..that's why I havent gotten him yet, I'm nervous he'll get the Koi sick. Thank you!
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goodkarma_
14 years ago
Sorry about your fish. I remember my favorite catfish being sucked into a bottom drain when the dome came off and getting stuck in the bend of a pipe. He died and viewing his poor bloated body actually made me scream. It makes you sad but you just keep going.

Lisa
horton
14 years ago
HB, if that pre-filter is giving you problems you may opt to make a home made type that will not fall off or come apart.
Click on the link below for more information.
"Horton"

Here is a link that might be useful: Home made pre-filter basket.
ernie_m
14 years ago
koijoyii: I'm on Long Island NY which is milder then Ohio (my wife is from there) but we had an extremely cold winter this year.

I kept the ice hole in my pond with just a bubbler on a fish tank air pump. I checked it frequently for freeze-over, only had to chop a hole once.
koijoyii
14 years ago
Hi ernie_m:

I did that a year ago and it worked just great. I ran a huge air pump with a gang valve attached to three shell shaped airstones. I dug the apparatus out last winter to repeat the performance. When I plugged the airpump into the GFCI it tripped the circuit. Don't know what happened. I kept it in the garage over the summer so it didn't get wet. When I had it by the pond I put it in a Sterlite container to protect it from the elements. So I had to go to plan b. I dropped the pump into a bag into the pond. It kept a hole in the ice, but I sacrificed my poor fish. My light bill was out of site cuz I ran three pumps (1 in each pond) as well as a stock tank heater in the settlement pond where the frogs overwinter. Looks like I may need to invest in another good air pump for the upcoming winter.

Jenny

Prefilter fell off pondmaster, got my fish.

Comments (6)

koijoyii

sleeplessinftwayne

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