What is a good turn-over rate for 7000 gallon pond?

16 years ago

Hi,

For my 7,000 gallon pond (includes settlement chamber and stream water volume), being in full-sun for about 3/4 of the day and heavily planted, with a good amount of frogs and fish.........

how much of a turn over rate can I EASILY get away with, and yet have clear water.

Please, FACTOR IN the fact that I will have an airstone associated with the airated bottom drain and a 25' stream that will provide additional airation.

I was thinking about getting about 6,000 GPH of flow.

What are your opinions???

Thanks,

Steve

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Comments (8)

comettose
16 years ago
1 to 1.5 times total water volume per hour minimum
bbriggs
16 years ago
My opinion is that 6000 gph will be more than adequate if water is mixing well as it will with aerated BD. I'm moving approaching 8000 gph with 15000 total volume, 25 koi, many goldfish that rode in on some iris I didn't disinfect, and heavily planted. 3/4 day full sun. Can count the scales on the ones that have them at 7' depth. No UV, fed fairly heavily both lilies and koi. I do get some string algae on some of the plants and the stream.
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ccoombs1
16 years ago
the smaller the pond, the more frequent the turnover. A little pond needs at LEAST 1 times per hour, but as the ponds get bigger and your aeration is good, you can get by with less. But....remember that even though you may have a 6000 gph pump, you won't get 6000 gph. If you want 6000 gph, then plan on oversizing the pump a little.
loma_ponder
16 years ago
Yeah what comettose AND ccoombs1 said.

Information on commercial sites can be bogus. They always seem to undersize the need of the ponder. It seems to me that it is dependent of the fish / plant load, the size of the pond, the plumbing layout of the pond, and just how healthy you want your fish (10 cent goldfish vs. more expensive (environment demanding) koi).

That's my three cents

LP
bugsb
16 years ago
LP hit the nail on the head. It depends on what you want and what your equipment needs are. You will hear everything from turn it over twice an hour to turn it over every three hours or more. It depends on the ponder or equipment salesman. Just be careful because there is always someone wanting to lie to you and sell you their product guaranteeing results that you don't get and then saying hmmm it shoulda worked. Some are just outrageously deceitful knowing that many ponders order over the net and don't have much recourse.

Here is a link that might be useful: My pond the way it was before the freeze.
kalevi
16 years ago
It depends on fish load more than anything else. If you have a lot of fish generating a lot of poop, you need to filter more than if you have few fish. I have a 600GPH pump in a 1100 gallon pond with a 55 gallon drum biofilter and have clear water and healthy fish (7 adult gold fish and ~20 rosy reds). My head is only 2' so I figure I'm getting around 500GPH flow through my filter and out my waterfall.
delaney276
15 years ago
I would like to see some pictures of these ponds please!
hoovb zone 9 sunset 23
15 years ago
Depends on the fish too. Goldies are not nearly as dirty as Koi. Also how much they are fed. And there's more to clarity than just the turnover rate. Sunnier the pond, the more algae growth you will have. Also your source water--if it contains phosphorus and nitrates, that is also going to add to algae growth.

What is a good turn-over rate for 7000 gallon pond?

Comments (8)

comettose

bbriggs

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