Polyurea Spray Liner Pond

[MikeM2]

The retrofit EAzys arrived yesterday, so today the first was installed. And, the lids for the Nexus units came with them. With the Nexus units in full sun for half the day, lids are important! Not only keeping leaves out, but to prevent algae. I have more green algae in the Nexus than in the pond right now.

[MikeM2]

Since this is likely one of the first retrofit EAzy installations (in the U.S. anyway), I'll give my thoughts about installing them.


...gotta go. Will return.

[MikeM]

...Sorry for the interruption.

It took me about 3 hours to install the EAzy. Having done it once, I think the second one will take half as long.

I only installed one this week because I did not want to disrupt the filtration systems too much. It is recommended to use mature kaldnes in the EAzy, rather than the new that comes with it. The instruction book does not say why, but I expect it is because the new kaldnes floats too well. I think it would be spilling over into the vortex chamber if only new kaldnes was used.
Since so much of the mature media is diverted to mechanical filtration, and I'm unsure how dramatic the impact on the bacteria will be, I decided to install one and do the second unit next week.

There are a couple of minor challenges I encountered:

1. The Legs: The first thing that has to be done is attach 4 legs to the EAzy unit. The instruction booklet, however, does not tell you that. There is a separate instruction sheet for the legs, slipped in the bottom of the box. It tells you to attach the legs first. (I am sure that is why it slipped to the bottom of the box.) The legs are simple to attach, but the pieces & parts do not fit as securely as one would think they should. There is a black spacer to use, and it is a tiny challenge to get in place, but I have no idea why it is used. The screw on which it is placed does not tighten to the point that the spacer does anything. It's just there. There are supposed to be 4 washers ... one to be used with each leg, but none were in the package. I started to go off to the hardware store to search for stainless steel washers, but as I looked at the assembly, I could not figure out what good they would do. The Nyloc nuts that come with it are made such that the screw cannot go all the way through the nut. The "plastic built into the nut simply will not let a screw through (so, you can save yourself a lot of time by not worrying about it). As a result, a washer would simply spin around on the screw ... like the spacer spins on the other side. It would take many washers before enough space would be occupied to cause a tight fit. Above is a photo of the screws that attach a T-connector to the airline. Same thing with them... the washers for those screws were in the package, but they serve absolutely no purpose. Still, it all fits securely enough. Just not how I think it was envisioned by its designer.

2. The Drill: The 4th step in the booklet is to drill holes per "the template supplied". Where is the template? Well, it was in my hand the entire time I scrounged around trying to find it ... in the instruction booklet after the instructions for installing the EAzy on the 300 model are instructions on installing it on the 200 model. Then comes the steps for cleaning it after it has been operating. Then is a list of all the EA distributors around the world. Then, after all that, you will find the template ....tear it out of the booklet, or you won't be able to use it.

3. The Drill Again: Step 4 also says to drill two 4mm holes . The picture has to be turned around several times to become oriented, but not a problem. My challenge was that my drill is not metric. After a few experiments, a 9/64 inch drill bit worked just fine. BTW, I found it best to use the template to make pencil marks for where to drill. Using the paper template to drill through as pictured in the booklet was not satisfactory ... the paper does not stay still.

4. The Air-Pipe Clips: A breeze to screw into those holes you drilled, if you have a screwdriver that is no more than 3 or 4" long. I do have a 3.5" one that did just fine.... once I found where it was stashed. It took a while. The screwhole closest to the spot where the air line enters the outer chamber is at a very narrow area. Too narrow for ordinary length screwdrivers to be of any use. I am not sure if a 5" long one would work.

5. The Elbow: The existing elbow connection of the airline has to come out. (For someone not reading the instructions, that probably makes no sense, but it will when you get to step 6.) The elbow will come out. Really. It may take several choice words, more time than you think it should, but it will come out. It is just a very tight fit. I found that prying it with a screwdriver helped, but perhaps it just made me feel better to use something pointed on it.

6. The Jubilee Clip: For some reason step 12 has you place the centre pipe into the EAzy unit, and Step 13 then has you putting on the Jubilee Clip, at the bottom of the pipe, contorting quit a bit to reach that far with a screwdriver. It is easier if the Jubilee Clip is lightly attached to the centre pipe first. Then, do Step 12 and then Step 13 ...it only takes a few turns of the screwdriver to get it fully tightened and the contorting is much reduced. .

In every other way, the instructions made sense. Things fit together nicely. Now, we'll find out in the weeks ahead if it works as well as the old sponge.

[B.Scott]

You are absolutly right about the K1 floating. You will not believe the places I come across K1 in the yard. It has gotten everywhere and I have no idea how. Must be pixies

[marco]

Hi Mike, I just brought up your tread on the top to know how your pond is looking now. How does the water looks now ? How are the water parametre ? How are doing your EAsy retrofit ?
Are you still moving stones and sand ?
All the best
Marco

[MikeM]

Ah, Marco, in 6 weeks we will have the anniversary of the hurricane that devastated our garden ... which led to getting the new pond. But, I have my doubts if we will finish the renovation of the yard by then. Believe me, when we get the flagstone down, I'll post photos!

Meanwhile, the EAzy seems to be doing fine. I waited until today to install the second one on the other Nexus unit. It took a leisurely hour to do it. It goes much quicker once you understand how things fit together. Since I do not have an Answer, I cannot compare the EAzy to it. I can say that I believe the huge sponge that comes with the Nexus does a better job of catching the finest dust-like debris. However, the sponge is too difficult and messy to clean. I much prefer the EAzy.

As for water parameters, well, I'll be back to post about that.

[MikeM]

Some of you may be familiar with the "fast cycling" debate occuring on other boards involving JR, Roddy Conrad, Roark and others. I am on JR's side in the debate, but recognize that cycling a new pond to have a full biota of nitrifiers and algae is one thing, and simply having ammonia-free water is another. I wish I had kept detailed notes on water parameters along the way, but I didn't. What I experienced was rather odd.

For five weeks after the koi were placed in the pond, I had no detectable ammonia, nitrite or nitrate. They were fed full rations after a few days, and the BradyB Showas (the "Rainbow of Showas" thread) were added. With about 1,000 gallons per fish, the Bakki Shower degassing, and all the air in the Nexus, etc., I figured it was a combination of dilution and degassing. I have been changing approximately 30% of the water during the course of a week. (My wife says there is always water running. )

Then, at week 6 I detected nitrite. It was not much, but it was there. The test kit has a color chart that begins at 0.25 ppm. I did not have that much. But, the test did not indicate the bright blue I had obtained every time before. I tested 3 times to be sure. And, each time I had the faintest hint of color indicating some nitrite was present. It never got worse and disappeared after 3 days ... every test since has consistently shown no nitrite.

The same time nitrite appeared, I began to detect nitrate for the first time. Again, it was too little to accurately measure with my test kit. But, it was there!

This is now week 8 since fish went into the pond and nitrate is present at less than 5 ppm. Is it stabilized? Perhaps it will increase as the summer progresses. We'll see.

I cannot explain what occurred. I can guess that the combination of dilution and degassing resulted in a lack of food for nitrifiers, and that meant that it took longer for the nitrifier community to establish to compete with algae, etc. But, that is just a guess. Makes no sense really, since the bead filter was mature and was operating on the holding tank during construction. So, there should have been some nitrate produced along the way. Whatever the reason, I do have nitrate now, if only a little. And, that makes me much happier than when there was none and I had no idea what was going on.

[keokoi]

Ok Mike! how is da pond doing???

[MikeM]

Joe, there have been some challenges in regard to getting things finished. Price quotes on doing the flagstone were considerably higher than I think reasonable and availability to do the work even at inflated rates questionable. My number one recommendation to anyone thinking of constructing a pond: Don't do it after a natural disaster and in the midst of the hottest building boom seen in 50 years.

However, I finally located a mason who works by himself, does everything by hand, and has a good track record. He has begun laying out the stone in a pattern suiting his fancy & mine. Hopefully will be done by the end of the month. ... He works at his own pace & if I want it done, I have to go with the flow. I'll post some pics of progress when I get a chance. It's going to be close to what I had dreamed-up in my mind.

There has been one functional problem related to not having the flagstone done. Our soil is very fine sand. When it rains, there is a lot of splattering of that fine sand. Some goes in the pond, where it gets sucked through the bottom drain to the vortex. When I dump the vortex, the fine sand gets in the sump where it is pumped out the discharge line. The discharge line has check valves on each of the two sump pumps. They prevent a back flow of water into the sump. The fine sand in the discharge water settles onto the check valve when it is in a closed position. If a lot of it settles, it prevents the valve from opening fully, which then prevents the sump pumps from doing their job, risking a flood in the filter pit. I have had to disassemble the array of sump plumbing twice to flush out the sand. As a result, I am now having to be careful about flushing the vortex. If a lot of sand has been caught at the bottom of the vortex, I'm trying to get as much out as I can manually before flushing. This is a pain... and a very dirty task. I believe the problem will end as soon as the flagstone is laid. It improved quite a bit when I placed wide boards around the edge of the pond to prevent splattering ...It's always something.

Except for that and the fish going off feed somewhat when the water temps went above 85F, all has been doing well. I've not caught any fish to measure (which is going to be a real challenge), but eyeballing them, I'd say the growth is pretty good. Algae in the pond is now a green slime as well as brown, and the beginnings of a fuzz of algae has started. Still an open question on how well the EAzy units will work once there are algae filaments to filter. Otherwise, I am pleased with how the filters are operating. I feel I'm doing O.K. learning how to maintain everything. So, I'm starting to think about what fish get moved along and what I want to add. I just wish I was not working so much so I could more fully enjoy it.

[keokoi]

Mike I hear ya! It took my 9 months to make a solid plant to build my decks around my pond.. I just plain couldnt afford it. But after 9 months I could.. We wanted to go for the Trex type of decking called Timbertech... No stains no chemicals jsut an empty wallet...

Sand all over yard.. I had the same deal where I just had dirt. My dogs would track that everywhere... All said and done the wife is happy I am broek but she is happy... Go Figure I'd have a wife that is happy that I am broke