Water Change 30% every week good or bad?

[An Ly]

I recently been changing my pond water every week about 30% each time, been doing it for about 1 month now, and notice a big difference in the koi behavior, my pond is about 2000G with heavy stock of koi. Each time I add some dechlorinator before filling up pond. What do most of the members think, is it good or bad, as far as filter, will this hurt the filter, hurt the Koi etc? Thoughts and opinions appreciated.

[aquitori]

Tell us a bit on your filter setup.....In general hobbyist who do that amount of water change usually means an under sized filter...or...getting their fish ready for show.

[Russell Peters]

Quote: Originally Posted by An Ly I recently been changing my pond water every week about 30% each time, been doing it for about 1 month now, and notice a big difference in the koi behavior, my pond is about 2000G with heavy stock of koi. Each time I add some dechlorinator before filling up pond. What do most of the members think, is it good or bad, as far as filter, will this hurt the filter, hurt the Koi etc? Thoughts and opinions appreciated.

If you are overstocked, I think you are doing the right thing.

[MikeM]

If your source water is good, go for it! From the moment water enters the pond, it begins to degrade. The key is to maintain a regular schedule to maintain stable conditions. If you could do 10%-20% water changes per day, and stock at 2,000 gallons per koi, you would be getting to the point of the best grow facilities in Japan. A lot of folks disagree with the notion of large water changes. I believe this is because they have seen large water changes result in fluctuating pH, etc causing instability in the environment in which the koi are being grown. This is the result of not having a regular schedule. I change about 35% per week altogether. If my pond was smaller, I would try to change 50% over the course of the week. But, the water bill really does mount up. There's an old thread I'll see if I can bump up.

[MCA]

It is hard to change too much water as long as it has be dechlored....and it happens over many hours.

[KoiCop]

Our pond is 6,000 gallons. I change approx. 10% every day -- most of it by dumping and flushing the vortex settlement tank and backwashing/rinsing the (2) Ultima 6K mechanical filters.

Then I throw a double dose of ST crystals into the pond, turn on the hose (which pumps at 10 gallons/minute, or 600 gallons per hour), set the timer-on-a-string around my neck for an hour and get back on the 'puter.

Life is good.

[Rich L]

KoiKop has an excelent routine. No shock to the pond, daily waste dump and good water change. He isn't changing 70%/wk, because some of the previous changes are going with the aged water.

I know one of the biologists for the Steinhart Musium, out here. He was surprised we only change 10% of our weter weekly; they recommend 25%.

Much more than that won't have a value added outcome unless, as mentioned earlier, you have insufficient filtration or are overstocked. However, if your water is free and doesn't consume energy pulling it out of deep wells, etc. There is aminority of hobbyists who do a constant exchange by using an overflow to allow for a continuously added supply.

[B.Scott]

I do about 30-50% a week. I have no problems with chlorine so that is an advantage. I have a timer on the hose and at least once a day (when nobody is under the shower) let it run full blast into the pond and overflow to waste. In general this is about 600-1000 liters a shot depending on how often I do it each day. I tend to turn it on when ever I walk past it The more water you change out the better.

B.Scott

[moikoi]

b/c my waterfalls leaks plus some water is splashing off the rocks. the autofill comes on every 1.5-2 hrs for about 7 mins.