Flow Through vs Bio Filtration

[Birdman]

In my over stocked holding tanks I have found the key to keeping the fish healthy is my well water flow through. I keep about 6 gal. per hour going through each 900 gal tank. This keep ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates at 0. it seams to also just keep the fish brighter and more active. Which makes me wonder.
If you maintain a big enough constant flow through, do you even need any kind of bio filtration at all?
Just fines/mech. for water clarity.

[luke frisbee]

flow IS the best way to maintain a koi pond...with a strong enough flow through and well engineered NO filtration is used

[MikeM]

Concur... but so much waste water.

[schildkoi]

OK, so flow through is "better." I would concur to a certain degree and Mike's comment is the reason I "hedge" on my concurrance (along with a couple of other points). Now, how much flow through water would be needed a day to maintain the near same levels ambient levels of Ammonia and Nitrite on a 5000 gallon pond with a turn over rate of once every 1.5 hours? This is provided that the source water contains "0" for both. After you figure that out, I think you'll come to the conclusion of why ponds are built as recirculating systems (exceptions to every rule, I know).

Steve

[Sangreaal]

The key to correct flow through with well water depends on two things--aeration and currents that move 100% of every square inch of water. I've found that using a spraybar to introduce the inflow gives a good shot of oxygen to the water, but it does not stir the bottom landscape which will sit there if you don't have a bottom drain or some other form of moving the water at the deeper levels. And yes, a good mechanical filtration system with bottom drain should correct that.

One would think that so much moving water would be bad in winter, but I've found that the temperature of the inflow will keep the pond water as close to the inflow temp as possible (here it's 54-56 degrees going in, and keeps the pond temperature between 45-50 degrees in a mild winter--in summer, it keeps it in the 70's). Also, if you warm the inflow plumbing you can keep the water even warmer if you need to.

I think flow-through is a beautiful thing, but yes, a lot of water gets pumped with the well pump and it can get costly in terms of electricity. I don't think of the outflow as water waste. It flows out and is filtered back into the aquifer to be used again. So this isn't a system to be used in a back yard on city water. But out here in the sticks--perfect.

Marie

[Fishbreeder]

I use flow through on most of my holding facility. Exchange rates vary from once every four or five hours to twice an hour. Thing is, pumping water is pumping water. I can pump up old water and try to filter it or I can pump new water. I choose new water.

In this scenario there is no recycling of metabolic wastes, no keeping bacteria and parasites in the water with the fish-they are quickly flushed away.

This works only where you have an almost unlimited source of new water. I take mine from an 80 million gallon (30 acres) reservoir. The reservoir is refilled with rainwater, well water or recycled mud pond water.

My holding facility uses about 100,000 gallons a day. waste water is either sent downstream to be reused again and again by crawfish and rice farms or recycled to the reservoir where dilution and biological "renewal" makes the water new again.

I do have a recycled water tank as an experiment. In drought conditions water becomes scairce and expensive, at that point recycling through filters makes more sense.

My holding area is densely stocked with koi (and other species). I'll have as many as 200 5" koi in 250 gallons of water with a rapid exchange.

For me the benefits of continuos flow of new water outweighs the costs as long as water remains plentiful and cheap.

Brett

[Eugeneg]

[quote=Birdman;98276]In my over stocked holding tanks I have found the key to keeping the fish healthy is my well water flow through. I keep about 6 gal. per hour going through each 900 gal tank. This keep ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates at 0. it seams to also just keep the fish brighter and more active. Which makes me wonder.
If you maintain a big enough constant flow through, do you even need any kind of bio filtration at all?

You would have to have a minimum of complete water change every 24hr but again what temperature are you talking about . There are two problems with well water usage one is lack of Oxygen and the other is the pumps dont last too long with stopping and starting every time the pressure tank is full . The big plus is that it is cheeper than heating in cold climates . As the coldest your fish should be is between 44f -48 f and during a long winter you need to do water changes.
Regards
Eugene

[Sangreaal]

[quote=Eugeneg;98307]

Quote: Originally Posted by Birdman In my over stocked holding tanks I have found the key to keeping the fish healthy is my well water flow through. I keep about 6 gal. per hour going through each 900 gal tank. This keep ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates at 0. it seams to also just keep the fish brighter and more active. Which makes me wonder. If you maintain a big enough constant flow through, do you even need any kind of bio filtration at all? You would have to have a minimum of complete water change every 24hr but again what temperature are you talking about . There are two problems with well water usage one is lack of Oxygen and the other is the pumps dont last too long with stopping and starting every time the pressure tank is full . The big plus is that it is cheeper than heating in cold climates . As the coldest your fish should be is between 44f -48 f and during a long winter you need to do water changes. Regards Eugene

And I would like to add one more caveat--if there is a power outage, everything grinds to a halt. So a generator would be a plus to have in this instance. Or, as in a problem I recently went through, the well pump ground to a halt and had to be replaced. It had lasted 6 years with a constant on-off while the pressure tank fills/drains, but I have a bakki that kept things balanced for the days it took to get the pump pulled and replaced. Expensive....

[KoiCop]

God forbid one has to keep meds in the water for any length of time in a flow-through pond.

[Russell Peters]

Quote: Originally Posted by KoiCop God forbid one has to keep meds in the water for any length of time in a flow-through pond.

Don't they have flow through meds?