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Ponds in the UK

What filter system and pump?

21 years ago

My pond is now just over 2000 gallons and heavily stocked with Koi and Goldfish.(was only 1200 gallons but a lot of digging!)I have a blagdon 8000 pump and a Ecomax 9000 filter going through a further biological filter. The whole system needs updating as it is now struggling to keep water clean. I have to clean the pump every day and thats a chore. What do people recommend? Oase or Oasis, Bioys Set 3 or a Vortec System? I will probably keep existing filter system as well. Any comments greatly appreciated.

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Comments (4)

Sean_McKinney
21 years ago
Oase pumps are or were good, I havent tried the new aquamaxes but assume they will be, hence the "were".
Sorry I cant help with the filters but I would guess you will be wanting more than 5000lph from the pump which means at least a 6000lph aquamax and IMO that would be on the small side. You need to look at the flow charts for the pumps you are interested in. You also want to think about plumbing size and for at least 1000gph I wouldnt go below 1.5"
mark22
21 years ago
How many Koi and goldfish have you got? My pond is 2000 gallons and fairly heavy stocked as well but my filters are homemade or converted comercial ones.
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I have a DIY filter that I designed and built that uses air. I am using 2 of these filters now and LOVE them. they are inexpensive to build (although the filter media I have selected is not cheap) and they are a snap to clean. On the down side...the first part of the system (the mechanical filtration) does clog with plant fibers so if you have a watergarden this may not be the idea filter for you. An air pump aerates the second part of the filter all the time...this is my bio-filtration. When I want to clean the mechaical filtration, I simply turn two valves and divert all the air to an air ring that is in the bottom of the static K1 filter. This boils the media clean in a few minutes. Here is a link that might be useful: diy filter
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What have you tried? The quietest filter for that size tank is going to be one of the in tank power filters like a fluval 1 or a duetto shark. These filters are ok, not great, but ok. Just be careful not to change the foam in them. Clean them during a water change by rinsing and squeezing them in the used tank water (NOT fresh tap water, the chlorine will kill the biological filter). The one drawback of these is the filter material is pretty small and in one piece, so if you actually change it with something new you've removed your biological filter. Better to just clean out the sponge. If you went with one of these I'd also stuff as many plants in there as possible *if* you have the light for them. Good low light choices are anubias, java moss, and java fern. These are all pretty common and can survive in lower light levels (although more light would help a lot). It is very feasible to have a tank this size where plants are the only filter, but if you haven't done this before it will be a new challenge for you. If you wanted to go this route do a web search for "Diana Walstead". She wrote a great book called Ecology of the Planted Aquarium. Its very technical, but the practical side of it is reasonably easy and you should be able to get a lot of info on the web.
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Kevinf
Original Author
21 years ago
When I emptied the pond to reline it and make it deeper I counted 115 fish in total.I found new homes for 40 and since then have bought 5 6" koi. Most of the fish are goldfish,3 x shubunkins, 5 x Ghost Koi, 5 x Orfe(12" long)and the new koi.I really have neither the time or inclination to make a homemade filter although I can see some advantages in this.Not rich but find you might as well buy best if possible.
mark22
21 years ago
Ok, that's an awful lot of fish for that size pond. I really haven't got much experience with larger commercial filters so maybe someone else can help. I can tell you it would be best if you could gravity feed to a vortex or mechanical filter of some kind first before pumping or carrying through to the biofilters. All those fish will make a lot of mess and you really don't want to pump it into the mech filter.

It sounds like you don't have a bottom drain but maybe you could add one or retrofit one in as most comercial decent filters work best with a gravity fed 4" inlet. It will make life a lot easier as well, a lot less pump cleaning, well none really.

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