First Koi pond

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Tizzle240

Aquarium Advice Regular
Joined
Jul 23, 2018
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Location
North Carolina, USA
So take number 2,

I did something earlier that caused it to delete the original post. I think it was photo related

So i went from no experience to i am working on a 2 koi ponds for my wife. and 3 aquariums

1 110g small pond for a staging area

1 1500g plus to come in the future

Due to bioload i am really struggling trying to sort out the filter system for the 110g pond,

The koi are currently in a 29g aquarium, it has a aquapapa corner filter attached to 20g air pump, and a penguin 200b standard filter, even with this the tank stays pretty cloudy, its been several weeks and we did start with bio additive etc, so i dont feel that bacteria is the problem, but i could be wrong.

There are 4 koi approximately 5 inchs currently that will be in the 110g pond till the larger is finished, from what ive read playing it safe and doing 5x what you think you need is a good way to handle with Koi, but i am having trouble locating what would work, most things i see are for 1000g ponds and up. I was hoping you guys might be able to give me some advice.
 

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So take number 2,

I did something earlier that caused it to delete the original post. I think it was photo related

So i went from no experience to i am working on a 2 koi ponds for my wife. and 3 aquariums

1 110g small pond for a staging area

1 1500g plus to come in the future

Due to bioload i am really struggling trying to sort out the filter system for the 110g pond,

The koi are currently in a 29g aquarium, it has a aquapapa corner filter attached to 20g air pump, and a penguin 200b standard filter, even with this the tank stays pretty cloudy, its been several weeks and we did start with bio additive etc, so i dont feel that bacteria is the problem, but i could be wrong.

There are 4 koi approximately 5 inchs currently that will be in the 110g pond till the larger is finished, from what ive read playing it safe and doing 5x what you think you need is a good way to handle with Koi, but i am having trouble locating what would work, most things i see are for 1000g ponds and up. I was hoping you guys might be able to give me some advice.

Are you into dig projects? I could show you a filtering setup I will be using on my 1300g pond. It was cheap and easy to build.
 
Are you into dig projects? I could show you a filtering setup I will be using on my 1300g pond. It was cheap and easy to build.

Digging is no problem im actually terracing the entire side of the yard where the pond is. We live in the mountains so slopped yards always require work
 
Digging is no problem im actually terracing the entire side of the yard where the pond is. We live in the mountains so slopped yards always require work


lol im sorry i meant to say diy not dig. :) here is my setup


XnyonHx.jpg

JvB7MPo.jpg

ll3MX5N.jpg

I5Sbfeo.jpg




2000g per hour pump to a ball valve so you can close off the system or control the flow rate. then on to the inlet pipe in picture 2. its a 1 inch reducer that expands to a 2 1/2". the long pipe in picture one has holes drilled in it to spray water onto your filtering media. there will be lava rocks in the very bottom, green scotchbrite scrub pads for a bit of filter and more area for BB, on top of that fine filtering material like whats used in air condition filters and then on top of that a little less fine filtering material to catch the really big stuff like leaves,grass and all that. i will also be running a diy prefilter on the pump so most large stuff isnt even going to make it into the filter anyways. the outlet pipe is 3" pipe(you want your out larger than your in so your filter doesnt overflow) that has a T in it. the T then has pipe on the bottom reaching all the way to the bottom of the filter. drill holes in the very bottom of the bottom pipe like in picture 4 to force water down through the filter material and the BB material then up and out the outlet pipe. and thats it. i am using a 27g plastic tote but for your lower volume you could probably use something even smaller. ive seen people use the big blue plastic barrels, totes, trash cans. i just looked it up and you can get a 400 gph pump off ebay for $24. sorry i would link it but i dont think your allowed to link things like that on here. after everything is said and done ive paid $60 for this setup. alot of great videos on youtube showing how to build a variety of these diy filter systems.
 
lol im sorry i meant to say diy not dig. :) here is my setup


XnyonHx.jpg

JvB7MPo.jpg

ll3MX5N.jpg

I5Sbfeo.jpg




2000g per hour pump to a ball valve so you can close off the system or control the flow rate. then on to the inlet pipe in picture 2. its a 1 inch reducer that expands to a 2 1/2". the long pipe in picture one has holes drilled in it to spray water onto your filtering media. there will be lava rocks in the very bottom, green scotchbrite scrub pads for a bit of filter and more area for BB, on top of that fine filtering material like whats used in air condition filters and then on top of that a little less fine filtering material to catch the really big stuff like leaves,grass and all that. i will also be running a diy prefilter on the pump so most large stuff isnt even going to make it into the filter anyways. the outlet pipe is 3" pipe(you want your out larger than your in so your filter doesnt overflow) that has a T in it. the T then has pipe on the bottom reaching all the way to the bottom of the filter. drill holes in the very bottom of the bottom pipe like in picture 4 to force water down through the filter material and the BB material then up and out the outlet pipe. and thats it. i am using a 27g plastic tote but for your lower volume you could probably use something even smaller. ive seen people use the big blue plastic barrels, totes, trash cans. i just looked it up and you can get a 400 gph pump off ebay for $24. sorry i would link it but i dont think your allowed to link things like that on here. after everything is said and done ive paid $60 for this setup. alot of great videos on youtube showing how to build a variety of these diy filter systems.

Thanks for this, yeah that looks like it would work much better for the larger pond, probably a bit overkill for the 110g im assuming, ill keep that in mind ive also been contemplating doing a bog filter for the larger pond. Would something like that scale down to the smaller one?
 
Hi, filtering for Koi should be 10 times the gallons per hour as a min. For the aquarium and pond you can get a Fluval Aquaclear 110 rated for around ~400 gallons per hour, and that is too much waste for that small tank even a kid pool or something larger for now rather than the aquarium. 4 5" Koi Should be in around 80g of water filtering 800 gallons per hour with cycled filter/ media.

Liquid test kit to monitor water quality. The bottle bacteria just helps, doesn't automatically cycle a tank. That's why it's cloudy, likely from waste and possibly in addition with a bacteria bloom.

Small tank should be 100% water change every day.
 
Hi, filtering for Koi should be 10 times the gallons per hour as a min. For the aquarium and pond you can get a Fluval Aquaclear 110 rated for around ~400 gallons per hour, and that is too much waste for that small tank even a kid pool or something larger for now rather than the aquarium. 4 5" Koi Should be in around 80g of water filtering 800 gallons per hour with cycled filter/ media.

Liquid test kit to monitor water quality. The bottle bacteria just helps, doesn't automatically cycle a tank. That's why it's cloudy, likely from waste and possibly in addition with a bacteria bloom.

Small tank should be 100% water change every day.

Thanks Autumn, just as a verification, Should the pump move the water 10 times gallons, or should it be a filter designed for 10 times gallons.
 
Figuring a minimum of what the number of fish you have need in gallons / mainly for aquariums, small ponds similar to a tank size.

Big ponds are different because you have so much more water to dilute the waste and often plants to use it up.

You want to be able to turn the number of gallons over per hour times 10
 
Unless I'm missing something......why aren't you using a couple large HOB's on your black 110g trough and keeping your fish in that? Also....you should purchase a water test kit to monitor things as you go.
 
Unless I'm missing something......why aren't you using a couple large HOB's on your black 110g trough and keeping your fish in that? Also....you should purchase a water test kit to monitor things as you go.

I thought of this, wasn't sure on the viability since they will be exposed outdoors. Water kit is definitely high priority for pay day as i got our tap water yesterday and the results came back pretty bad,

water going in (before the chlorine remover)

PH 8.5
Chlorine 2.0
Nitrates 1.5
Lots of particulate like a 39 is how it registered

so family members have always used Marineland filters, other then looking weird would 3 penguin 350b's sound right to to you?
 
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I don't see a problem using HOB's outside. Just water proof your power cord connection....like you would some Christmas lights.

The pH won't be a problem....the fish will acclimate. Dechlorinator will knock out the chlorine. Get some plants growing to help out the nitrates. Add some Seachem Prime to the water during your water changes and evap water additions. Your trough/tub will have to cycle so the test kit is a must IMO to monitor things. I'm guessing, until then, you will be doing water changes frequently.
 
Hi, filtering for Koi should be 10 times the gallons per hour as a min. For the aquarium and pond you can get a Fluval Aquaclear 110 rated for around ~400 gallons per hour, and that is too much waste for that small tank even a kid pool or something larger for now rather than the aquarium. 4 5" Koi Should be in around 80g of water filtering 800 gallons per hour with cycled filter/ media.

Liquid test kit to monitor water quality. The bottle bacteria just helps, doesn't automatically cycle a tank. That's why it's cloudy, likely from waste and possibly in addition with a bacteria bloom.

Small tank should be 100% water change every day.

So you are saying if I do goldfish or koi in my 1300g pond I need a 13000g per hour pump? Wahh... If I did that my pond would be white water rapids...
 
So you are saying if I do goldfish or koi in my 1300g pond I need a 13000g per hour pump? Wahh... If I did that my pond would be white water rapids...

Hehe, i thought that same thing initially, however,

Autumn made a second post, stating that is for aquariums/small ponds. In larger ponds 10x isnt needed as there is more water for stuff to spread out in.
 
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Hehe, i thought that same thing initially, however,

Autumn made a second post, stating that is for aquariums/small ponds. In larger ponds 10x isnt needed as there is more water for stuff to spread out in.


ah ok :) guess i was reading the first post when he/she was adding the second.
 
Hey Everyone,

So i have decided to make my own filter for the pond. May i get some feedback on what you guys think. SImply take the list below put the media in the spillway and call it a day. lol

I will use the following

1000gph pump
8 inch waterfall spillway box
1 inch tubing for connection
1.25in thick blue filter media
Then i was going to pick up some combo media, (charcol, cermaic and bioballs)
 
Haha, yes I was thinking of the present housing of the fish then thought the comment could be misplaced in thinking about the pond too!!!

The housing you mention seems a bit small to me, how many gallons does it hold?

You can use a rubbermaid trash can dug into the ground in a kind of DIY thing. Like a tall kitchen or bigger 32-55G can. Just a thought. As plants will help clean the water, but any time you have Koi or GF it is nice to not worry as much as they grow to 22-30 inches long and as big around as a giant grapefruit.
 
Hey Everyone,

So i have decided to make my own filter for the pond. May i get some feedback on what you guys think. SImply take the list below put the media in the spillway and call it a day. lol

I will use the following

1000gph pump
8 inch waterfall spillway box
1 inch tubing for connection
1.25in thick blue filter media
Then i was going to pick up some combo media, (charcol, cermaic and bioballs)

Yep that will do just fine. I would recommend putting a ball valve between the pump and spillway though. Just so if you notice its to much of a current you can use the ball valve to reduce the flow a little. Also useful for if you need to clean the pump it won't let all the water run out of your spillway killing all your BB.
 
Yep that will do just fine. I would recommend putting a ball valve between the pump and spillway though. Just so if you notice its to much of a current you can use the ball valve to reduce the flow a little. Also useful for if you need to clean the pump it won't let all the water run out of your spillway killing all your BB.

So the specific pump i was thinking of getting is this

Hydrofarm Active Aqua Submersible Water Pump, 1000 GPH

It can work submersed or inline,

My initial thought to help make sure it stays at the correct flow rate we want is to set it up in line format, with a tube feeding down into the pond(with strainer) then connecting spillway directly to pump with the ball valve in the middle. Sound good?
 
So the specific pump i was thinking of getting is this

Hydrofarm Active Aqua Submersible Water Pump, 1000 GPH

It can work submersed or inline,

My initial thought to help make sure it stays at the correct flow rate we want is to set it up in line format, with a tube feeding down into the pond(with strainer) then connecting spillway directly to pump with the ball valve in the middle. Sound good?


yep that will work. now this is for the 110g temporary tank right? not the big pond you are building?
 
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