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Must the UV be placed before the biofilter? In theory it does not matter at all but in practice if you have a simple box type filter is must be before the filter. Reasons are: The UV works under small pressure - water must be forced through it while the biofilter drains under gravity. In sand filter systems (which I do NOT recommend) the UV light comes after the pond filter because the whole system is under pressure. Not applicable in many cases but you can also split the flow from your pond pump - part through UV light and part through biofilter. all about pond uv and algae
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Biofilters need lots and lots of oxygen ... This might sound strange but it is true as I will explain. However before I do I would like to discuss oxygen in terms of good and effective pond keeping. You may know that trout and salmon can only breed in running water such as streams or rivers. You will also know that these particular fish make hazardous journeys up to the very top parts of river systems. The essential reason for these long perilous journeys to these headwaters are that the water is: cool, pristine, clear, fast running, shallow, full of gravel ... ie the oxygen levels are high and suitable for breeding. koi pond filters
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Fish food understanding what's important ... ALWAYS, ALWAYS look at the analysis of the koi food you buy. The ash, fibre and moisture percentages are worth absolutely nothing. So the higher these percentages the more the money is being wasted. If a 5 kg bag of food contains 15% ash, 10% moisture and 3% fibre then 28% of the bags contents (amounting to a whopping 1.4 kg) is a total waste of money. This means that the R200 you paid for the 5 kg bag actually resulted in your paying R144 for food (3.6 kg) and R56 for rubbish (1.4 kg). Worse still 18% of the food (ash and fibre pass through the fish) now has to be handled/removed by the filter - 900 gms of solid waste has to be removed from the pond. http://www.practical-water-gardens.com/koifood.htm pond pump selection
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UV light water filters, UV lamp changes & pond algae control. Pond volume, stock density and sunlight intensity is required to specify correctly the size of the Ultra violet (UV) light you need to prevent algae making your pond go green For a pond of around 250 gallons in full sun and highly stocked a 4 watt UV will do the job. This will also be big enough for a pond with very few fish and situated in the shade of 700 gallons. This assumes the UV comes equipped with a quartz tube to ensure the UV runs at peak efficiency. For a pond with average stocking an 8 watts UV will handle pond volumes up to around 1200 gallons depending upon the sun/shade situation. http://www.practical-water-gardens.com/artuvcapacity.htm uv maintenance, lamp changes
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Biofilters and bacteria starters ... Some manufacturers claim that their bio starters contain Nitrosomonas and Nitrobacter. Now it is extremely diffiult to freeze dry and keep alive such sensitive bacteria so any claim should be backed up by definitive proof of the fact that such powders do contain those bacteria and they are in a form that will work. If there was a viable population when packed then the question to be asked is are the bacteria still viable ater "x" weeks on a shelf in non-controlled conditions. If the concoction does not contain Nitrosomonas and Nitrobacter then what value is it anyway? biological pond filters
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Many people use salt in their ponds. I do not recommend it but the reason is to help prevent parasitic diseases that lead to complicated bacterial diseases. It is important not to overdose and if the intent is to remove parasites from individual fish then rather place the fish in another small temporary pond loaded with salt for a few minutes. Use about 2 lbs per 20 US gallons of pond water as a general treatment. As a short term soaking to treat individual fish use about 3 times as much salt as above. Adding pond start bacterial mixtures can do no harm especially at springtime. blanketweed in fish ponds
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How To Measure Water Garden Pond Depths and Volumes ... Pond depth is one of those factors in pond building much talked about and misunderstood especially by those people who "mix" with dedicated koi keepers. So often you must ask yourself do I want a koi pond in which I want to raise monster sized or prize winning koi or do I want a garden fish pond containing koi around which I can sit with the family and enjoy the scene. If you belong to the dedicated koi keeper class then yes depth of your pond should not be less than 4 ft and preferably 6 feet. This is quite simply to provide space to swim and exercise a mechanism which in part determines the koi's shape. http://www.practical-water-gardens.com/artponddepth.htm all about ponds and waterfalls
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Algae Isnt Bad, Is It? Algae can be either beneficial or detrimental to a pond, depending on the owners viewpoint. Algae provide nutrients for newly hatched fry, and indirectly act as a color enhancer. As algae grow in a pond, a population of zooplankton will also develop, on which the fish feed. These natural live feeds help develop the intense coloration desired in most koi. Unfortunately, algae blooms prevent viewing the fish so that sick fish can go undetected for days or even weeks. pond algae and uv
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Spring marginal plant favourites ... The Marsh Marigolds (Caltha palustris and all the species and varieties) are still at it. Brilliant. The Water Forgetmenot (Myosotis palustris) is also making waves of blue around the pond. Also there is the Golden Club (Oronitium aquaticum) and in the deep water The old South African stew ingredient, the Water Hawthorn, Aponogeton distachyos, is flowering its socks off. An amazing plants that comes up from unlimited stygian depths to perform at the most ludicrous times of the year. It still thinks its down in the Cape, nestled in the fynbos looking up at Table Mountain. where to buy pond plants
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Pond fish food sticks ... Today fish food sticks are available in all flavours, colours, sizes and formulations but they suffer from a significant disadvantage ... the cost per unit of mass and especially per unit of protein is normally very significantly higher than a similarly formulated floating koi food pellet. One possible reason for this is the incremental freight component (although I doubt this very much) because the bulk density of sticks is lower than that for pellets. I suspect the real reason is that manufacturers, distributors, retailers and any other party in the chain all make higher profit margins on the back of marketing investment going back many years and which still remains today. Next time you think of buying sticks just do a quick comparison. Varying pack weights between sticks and pellets is a well known "trick" of making pricing comparisons very difficult for most busy shoppers pond pump selection
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Never switch off your pond pump for more
than about 60 minutes
Make sure the delivery pipe from the
pond pump is not kinked
Must the UV be placed before the
biofilter?
A waterfall adds oxygen to a pond by
creating a large surface area
Submersible pond pumps can operate
against a closed valve
It is a good idea to pump out about 10%
of your pond water
Lighting in and around ponds creates a
brand new dimension
Sick and tired of looking at debris on
the bottom of your pond?
Do not feed more food than what you fish
can eat
Pond Links and Tips
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