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Using carbon to remove an unknown chemical. Pond filtr. –
04/22/09
Hi, I have a pond that has been in “use” for over a year now. the
problem is that I didn’t feel like working with it previously do to
an illness that I have, so essentially it was left for my family to
care for. Due to mosquito issues my family added a floating chlorine
realizing device and several dosings of bleach last summer. I now
wish to work with my pond and have tried adding some paradise fish
to it. The paradise fish look horrible only minutes after being
added and I’m unable to locate them the next day. I have also been
having some problems with duckweed and salvia that I have
contributed to the sun before I noticed the problem with the fish.
So here’s the condition of the pond. Ammonia and nitrites are 0, I
didn’t test nitrate yet because it wouldn’t account for the speed of
deterioration in the fish that I have been noticing, and the API
test is kind of a pain. PH is high, about 7.5-8, but again, while
not ideal for the paradise fish, I don’t see it killing them. The
duckweed is mostly dead, but there are a few that are staying green,
and there are a few aquatic insects currently alive at this time.
I’m thinking that there is some chemical in the water that is
causing the fish death, and that the duckweed and insects are only
surviving in small numbers. 99% of the duckweed is dead, and I’m
guessing that there should be a lot more insects then there are, but
only a small number are surviving. As to whatever may have been
released by the floating chlorine releasing device or something
extra in the bleach I unfortunately don’t know.
<Mmm, possibly just the excess chloride... easy to remedy...>
There’s even a possibility that something else might have been added
to the water last year, and forgotten about, so no one mentioned it.
My plan was to use carbon to remove anything that might be left.
<Nah>
Do you think carbon would be enough to remove an unknown toxin? I
was thinking 30lb, pond is approximately 160-180, three uses of
10lbs each or so. i will be making my own addhawk
<Heeee! Ad hoc?>
filter for this purpose so if you have any suggestions on dosing I can
probably accommodate it.
I would eventually like to release some Xiphophorus birchmanni which
would enjoy the high ph, but I’m afraid to until I start seeing some
better results with the paradise fish. Thank you for any help,
Christian.
<Much cheaper and surer to dump most all the water out and just
re-fill it anew. Bob Fenner>
Pond Dried Up... Oh no! Holding tank set up, op.
10/23/08
Hi, I'm contacting you for this reason: my pond
dried up. I had no clue it did until I returned home from college one
evening and my mom asked me to help her collect the fish. They were very
easy to catch, if that gives you a hint of how shallow the water was. My
mom knew of my love of fish and asked me if she could use my 30gal tank
to hold a small portion of the fish chosen (possibly a max of 30).
They're all small specimens, and only a max of 10 fish are at 1". I'm
disappointed in my mom because she doesn't even know the type of fish
she bought. I don't know either because I'm more of a saltwater
enthusiast. My mom thinks they're bass and minos so I'll just go with
that.
<Bass eat minnows, so mixing these fish together isn't exactly
recommended.>
I have two power sweeps (yes I know they will get stuck
sooner or later) that I'm willing to donate to my mom that get 270gph
and I was thinking of getting an Emperor Bio-Wheel (400gph) so that I
can use filter media (e.g. carbon to make the water clearer).
<Carbon
doesn't make water clearer. Carbon removes dissolved organic chemicals,
and in freshwater tanks is almost always redundant provided you perform
regular water changes. Concentrate on mechanical media (which removes
silt) and biological media (which removes ammonia). Unless there's some
overwhelming reason to get a hang-on-the-back filter, I don't recommend
you choose one; standard external canister filters are better value and
more flexible, and don't force you to use proprietary filter modules.
Sponge filters are also very useful when maintaining small fish for
short periods.>
I also will be using reverse-osmosis water, and all the other correct
electrical devices (e.g. heater).
<Why are you using RO water?
Remember, pure RO water is lethal to freshwater fish. If in doubt, stick
with tap water treated with dechlorinator. This should be reasonably
close to the water these fish were inhabiting, assuming your water
supply gets the water locally. Do not use water from a domestic water
softener.>
I'm going to purchase an array of fish food so that the
fish will have a varied diet.
<Minnows and bass obviously eat
different things, but wet frozen bloodworms and mosquito larvae should
work well for both, at least while the Bass are small.>
Water changes
weekly (keep pH at 7... it's a safe number for freshwater I'm guessing).
<Preferred pH actually depends on the species in question, but pH 7
should be fine for these species.>
I wanted to know if allowing the
water to cycle 24hrs would be good enough to then introduce the fish?
<You can't "cycle" a tank in a system without ammonia. By definition,
cycling is how ammonia-consuming bacteria get established. There are
products on the market (like Tetra SafeStart) that supposedly
"instantly" cycle a tank when used correctly. At least some of these
(like Hagen Cycle) are of questionable success in this regard, but
better than nothing. In any case, your best bet is to grab some live
biological media from another filter on an established tank and put into
your chosen filter. Do read here:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/fwestcycling.htm >
We're
keeping them in buckets for now outside (very hardy to those conditions;
very different from saltwater :D). And I wanted to know if I could keep
the tank with a bare-bottom?
<Fish aren't wild about bright colours
underneath them, so plain glass or white plastic don't go down well, and
the fish get scared easily.>
I know the algae will help within the
substrate at the bottom of the tank but we're only doing this for the
winter so that when our pond gets back to its regular size the fish will
be reintroduced into their natural habitat.
<I'd scatter at least a
bit of smooth silica sand or gravel. Just enough to cover the glass.>
Thanks for the help,
Jeff
<Cheers, Neale.>
Chicken Grit, pond filtration 6/4/08
I just built a new pond. Its about 25 feet long, 12 feet wide at the widest,
tapering to 5 feet wide at the narrowest. It's 18 inches deep at
the narrow end tapering to 30 inches deep at the wide end. It's roughly 2200
gallons. I'm using an Ebara pump, rated at about 4300 gph to an 18
inch Hayward sand filter filled with 100 lbs of crushed granite Chicken grit.
The pieces are roughly 1/8 inch to 3/16 inch.
<Mmm>
I've only had the filter up for a couple days and the water is starting to
clear. I saved about 100 gallons of my old pond's water for a bacterial boost.
<Good technique>
Unfortunately we've been hit by torrential rains since I filled my pond and have
been unable to complete the waterfall or anything else, yet. I
was wondering how well the crushed granite would perform over pea gravel.
<Both can be problematical... in terms of "compacting" and channeling... lighter
media is highly preferable>
The pea gravel sold in my area is more like ½ to ¾ inch gravel and with pieces
that large, I don't see how they will do much filtration. I
backwashed the filter this afternoon and the water was still relatively clear. I
don't have any fish in this pond yet. My son managed to catch
all my Koi from my old pond and carry them like a squirmy bluegill to the horse
tank for safekeeping.
Unfortunately they died from the trauma of an overzealous teenager's handling.
Any idea you can throw my way would be most appreciated.
<Best to scoop up not-so-handled "medium" (a foot, foot and a half) Koi in thick
(4 mil.) fish bags (see your dealer or save old ones) and move with minimum
water. Larger Koi still, esp. ones that have been handled from time to time, can
be picked up, carefully, from underneath... there is a great deal that can be
related re technique here>
I'm kind of a jack-off-all-trades, and I prefer to make whatever I can. My
drywall bucket bio prefilter is my first engineering marvel and is still in use
in my new pond. It's installed after the mini skimmer with a 900 gph pump
discharging toward the waterfall site, so there aren't any dead spots.
<Ah, good. Again, I would look into "more appropriate" filtration methods here
period. Pressurized filters, the pumping to run them... is too expensive and
inefficient in this day and age... Do check out the Net, libraries for modern
books, articles on other means. And we'll chat if you'd like re. Bob Fenner>
Pond Filter Design
Hi Robert,
I read your article in Wet Web Media.com. I think your ideas make a lot of
sense. Do you have more details on the construction of this simple idea
including the filter media to use.
<Do... in my files at the S. Cal. res... but am out of town... Are you looking
for something in particular? We started with encouraging folks to use crushed
rock, graded... some people advocated the use of igneous... we eventually found,
cut with a band saw, plastic honey-comb used in cooling towers...>
Thanks in advance. I'm installing an 1100 gal fiberglass pond.
Best regards, Horst Riedner
<Bob Fenner>
Rocks, bricks... as Pond
Filter Media
Thank you for offering to answer my questions.
I am considering using refractionated bricks or cinder blocks (broken up) as
a filter media.
Will either of these hurt the fish in any way?
Do you see any reason why I should not use one or the other?
Thanks!
Cindy
<It's possible these materials may alter your water pH and alkalinity... but
easy to test for... and it may well be that your source water is deficient in
alkaline reserve and this might well be a good way of bolstering/supplying it. I
definitely would do a chemical AND "bio-assay" with a bit of the proposed filter
material in a container, testing the water before and after for pH and alkaline
reserve... and adding a few (likely "feeder" gold)fish to the mix to see how
they do. Bob Fenner>
Pond Filters, media
Last March(03) my wife and I purchased a 15ac. 200 year old farm house (NC).
The last owner had had the "yard guy" create a 10,000+ gal. fish pond. We were
told we only had to clean the filter two or three times per year.
<Some types of systems, yes... some even less frequently... depending on what
one means by "clean">
The filter is a circular gray(3 ft dia. and 4 ft deep), 250/300 gal., up flow
system with seven, 2 inch thick plastic fiber mats. I cleaned the filters every
30 days during the first summer and let it go during the winter (5 months/ Nov.
thru march). There were no fish in the pond to start but my wife added feeder
goldfish 1/2 through the summer and they have done very well. We now have 50 to
100 " good size" goldfish. My question is... what is the best filter media
to use to keep a pond this size clean. Ease of cleaning is my highest priority.
<Good question... as you will find, there is an article/discussion of various
pond filter media archived on WWM:
http://wetwebmedia.com/PondSubWebIndex/pdfiltmedia.htm
Criteria for your particular choice include the make-up of your water (chemical,
physical), cost/availability of media there, the degree of "cleanliness" you
desire... and what other means you're willing to apply (e.g. other filtration
modes like UV, ozone...) to get you where you want to. What you have now is
likely 80 some percent of so what you can hope to achieve with the current
set-up... and I might just add some live plant material and leave the rest as
is. This will be fine along with partial water changes, vacuuming of
debris/overburden during warm months and careful feeding of your goldfish, to
keep the system biologically (and aesthetically) sound. Bob Fenner>
Biological Filter
Hi Robert,
I'm in Australia and would appreciate your advice.
I have just been given an old fibreglass rainwater tank (approx 1100 gals & 8 ft
in diam.).
I am going to use it as an additional biological filter for my 10 yr old 6000
gal koi fish pond. It will be an upflow system through a crushed rock medium
gravity feeding to my existing filter (it will have a bottom drain for
cleaning). In the future, if needed, I will add a vortex settlement tank at the
start of my system.
<Many possibilities... the settlement one is good... with brushes, some sort of
material as a "pre-filter"... maybe dacron "batting" material from a yardage
store.>
The outlet from this new tank will need to be about 4 ft from the bottom to
enable gravity feed to existing filter.
I have 2 questions:-
1) I have read varying reports on filter media depth and would love your
perspective on the optimum thickness?
<Mmm, depends on make, diameter, and to some extent on "roundness" of the media.
Have you read over this: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/pndfltmedia.htm
re filter media for ponds?>
2) Because of depth of water in this new tank (4 ft) will it affect bacterial
growth if say there was 2ft of water over the top of this media?
<No problems... better to have a large amount of water than have difficulties
with too much media, clogging/channeling... Other possibilities include
stratifying media types, grades over a screen... even using lightweight "beads"
or plastic "rings" as per sewerage treatment... even floating plant material in
the water column above (like hyacinths, myriophyllum... many more). Some of
these are covered on WetWebMedia(.com) under the "Planted Aquarium" index>
Thank You very much,
David McPherson
<Let's keep chatting this over if anything is unclear. Bob Fenner>
pond filtration
hi,
Just wanted to ask for your opinion on the emperor aquatics bag and bio pond
filters.
(http://www.emperoraquatics.com/pondbagbio.html) thanks
<Of products of their kind, they are superlative. I have used these bags as
"first lines of particulate and filth (fish, invertebrate wastes) in
aquaculture, live-holding facilities for many years. They really work. Bob
Fenner>
Foam Filters? (this time for ponds)
Hi Bob,
I recently bought a home with a small Koi pond and am trying
desperately to make sure they survive... My problem is this: the
filtration system pumps the water up into a tank on the bottom of which
are two layers of polyurethane foam with a hole cut in the center
through which the hose from the pump goes pumping the water under the
foam.
<Yikes... hard to clean>
Near the top of the tank is a hose returning the water to the
pond. The previous owners left instructions on when and how to clean
the tank and replace the foam however I am running out of foam and can
not seem to find a source of this "biological filter foam".
<You can get it from a yardage store (as in sewing) or furniture or large
hardware store outlet... it's likely just open-cell polyurethane sheet... can be
cut in a few ways>
Can you
recommend a place to get more or a better material through which the
water should filter.
<Yes... look into "batting material" from the yardage store...>
I seem to be in trouble because for a few months
an extra fish temporarily lived in the small space over taxing the
environment leaving a lot of algae and other plant life living on the
pond liner (on the sides)and causing the pump and or hoses to slow the
water flow to a trickle every few days. The only way I seem to be able
to clear it up is to force water through the hoses and clear them but
every 3 or 4 days I seem to have to do that again. This was not true
for months before the now gone visiting fish over taxed the pond's
capacity... What do I do now?
<Mainly a seasonal problem... with cooler weather, less sunlight all should
settle down>
Replace the filter material more
frequently until it clears up or what?
Help!
Thanks for your time,
Jim Gallagher
<I would really like to start way, way back (watch yourself, don't fall in the
pond...) and have you read through the Pond Index on our site:
www.WetWebMedia.com: http://wetwebmedia.com/ponds.htm
and particularly all the sections on pond filtration, starting here:
http://wetwebmedia.com/pndfilts.htm
Don't despair, and let's not "band-aid" what you have here, but work toward a
better (cost to run, time, overall water quality improvement) solution with me
here. Bob Fenner>
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