pressurized filters

[mitten]

Mike-

When needing to compromise it is important to know what you are compromising from.

We all have restrictions of land area, physical strength and ready cash. We have been posting so that you will not suffer a restriction of knowledge of the possibilities. Take heart.

There is a pond at a nursery in Florida that is deep and mysterious and only about 5 x 7 at the surface. With a total depth over four feet it has about 700 gallons. It can be done. My first pond at this house, which has been redone several times, is still not very useful for koi because it is only two feet deep. But because it has bottom drains and a skimmer and a brush chamber and a biofilter and an actively "bouncy" waterfall I can use it for three seasons for smaller fish. They like it. But if it were five or six feet deep I could call it a koi pond because it would house them well through four seasons, one of which is winter in Deetroit, lasting closer to 5 months than to three.

All of the improvements I've made have allowed me to finally understand what other folks were talking about. For me, an obstinate man, seeing is believing. I have learned enough to concieve the whole package. A half package will not really work better than what you have. It will just s@ck less. If you must stay small, that is all the more reason to make it good.

Have you ordered Koi Kichi yet?

[KoiCop]

Mike . . .

Mickey's right. 4 koi in 500 gallons is the real problem -- not your filtration system -- and a better system will only s@ck less.

Think about raising a seal pup in a bathtub: At some point it ain't gonna work any more.

Now apply that analogy to your koi. Sorry, but a couple shubunkins is what belongs in a pond that size.

Good Luck,

[mstrseed]

Quote: Originally Posted by moikoi forget the absolute necessity BD on a 500 gal pond. what is absolute necessity for koi is a 5000+ gal pond.

I disagree on what is necessary, basics is what is necessary. Not every one builds a 5k pond out of the chute.
I did not, but how many of you have a 20k pond 7.5' deep?

Maybe instead of jack slapping every person who comes on here as novices, direct them where they can receive the most help.

Some will come along and become real koi kichi and build proper ponds as they will learn from experience what should or should not done.

Mentor folks in a kind way you would get a better result. Many do this and it shows.

[Rich L]

A couple of friends out here had a 700 gallon (including filtration) for years. But it took work and eventually experience for it to work.

They eventually learned to effectively sex koi when small so they could aim for a male only pond. When the koi reached 12" they looked for a new home and either sold it or gave it away. Cleaning was often but in a small pond easy.

Years ago, this board had a few Southeast Asians who were effectively maintaining small ponds on outdoor balconies. Their posts were extremely interesting because they were coming from such a different direction in the hobby. I remember they depended on Trickle Tower filters a lot. None of the above were successful from the start but with their willingness to stick it out they were all successful.

If you want to march to a different drummer, great. We will learn along with you but there's a reason so few take that rout. If all you want is an attractive, interesting pond go for some other type of fish.

As far as ponds are concerned, even in large ponds koi are harder to keep. Several years ago our club donated some koi to the Sam Francisco Steinhart Aquarium. They were an effective display with many inquiries from the public. But they were on a fresh water system with all the other fresh water tanks. The fresh water biologist was always treating sick koi. They picked up something or other whenever new fish were added to the system. None of the other types were as much a problem. The same happens with shubunkins and goldfish. They are much hardier than koi.

[mike4100]

Thanks Rich, I appreciate your reply and insight. I now know that this is a forum for experts, but that doesn`t mean that a newbie coming here asking what you guys think are stupid questions should be told to either build a 5000 gallon pond or go to a watergarden website. You guys are the experts, you should be giving good advice to beginners to help them. I really don`t want to go to a website full of people who know less than I do when I`m looking for information.

I`m not looking to rebuild my pond to 5000 gallons and spend $10,000 on pumps and filters.

[PapaBear]

If Koi are going to be the fish of choice and the 500 gallon pond is truly all space and wallet considerations permit, then you must make the best choices for your system to accommodate them.
First off, You can install a retrofit bottom drain without excavating. They are available and they do make a difference. Look for one with an air diffuser so you can run an air blower to add dissolved oxygen to the pond. With small water volumes at maximum fish load (and yours is maxed out to an extreme) maintaining good oxygen levels and maintaining good water quality is much tougher than with a large pond. Minor temperature changes can crash a small pond while big ones have more room to buffer extremes.
I don't know about the particular filter you are considering, but the flow volumes you are considering are much better for your situation than the minimal setup you have now. You might investigate the nexus ez-pod filter. I've never used one, but those I've spoken to with small ponds only have good things to say about them. They may even perform well enough to exceed just Sucking Less...

[mike4100]

Thanks Papabear.
Is say 700-1000 GPH splashing down a waterfall not enough to add oxygen to the pond? Like I said, so far I have had no problems with water quality or fish health in the 4 years this pond has been running. The pond is in shade 80% of the day, and I use the Microbelift products. I`m just sick of reaching down to the bottom of the pond everyday to pull out the Laguna foam filter to clean it.

[moikoi]

Quote: Originally Posted by mstrseed I disagree on what is necessary, basics is what is necessary. Not every one builds a 5k pond out of the chute. I did not, but how many of you have a 20k pond 7.5' deep? Maybe instead of jack slapping every person who comes on here as novices, direct them where they can receive the most help. Some will come along and become real koi kichi and build proper ponds as they will learn from experience what should or should not done. Mentor folks in a kind way you would get a better result. Many do this and it shows.

i'm not slapping every novices that comes along here. i don't have enough pond knowledge to do that, but can give advice on "what not to do". i don't want to see a new hobbyist go through what i've gone through. my pond is 12 k gal and if i had the money i would knock it down and build another one.

my advise to Mike is.....if you decide to keep koi then built the right type of pond the first time around and you'll end up saving yourself lots of money in the long run.i'm speaking from experience.

[Seefdro Tvneik]

Hey Mick, what does s@ck mean????? Perhaps I am toally lost on the meaning and everyone else gets the jargon? Pe@ce!!!

[Seefdro Tvneik]

The word is TOTALLY, I have to stay away from posting when drinking on a Saturday night!!!!!!!