Hi there all at the moment I am running a sand filter system and would like to add a baki shower to my pond to maybe help bring the nitrate down will this help and will it work if it is after the sand filter.

the way it will work or am asking if this is right, is the pump will pull the water from the bottom drain will go the the sand filter then after the sand filter it splits via a T the one line goes to the uv and then will run to the baki shower back into the pond and the other line after the T will run through my 25l biofilter back to the pond at the inlet to the pond i have a venturi air system (think thats what you call it)

if i had the baki shower to my pond will i benafit from it and will it give me even better quality water,

Hi,
Suggestions -

What was the capacity of your pond?
How many koi do you have?

Make the bakki large.
Remove the venturi
Send all the water from the sand filter to the bakki shower.
Maybe even remove the biofilter you have on your system at a later stage when the bakki shower is up and running. Alternatively move the water through the biofilter and then to the bakki shower.
And yes, major benefits from the bakki shower compared to what you have at the moment
Regards,
Chris

Hi there Chris

I know i am over stoked thats why im trying to sell some of my koi as you will see in the koi for sale section, my pond is about 10 000l and i have 17 koi the largest is 48cm then 2 at 40cm 4 at just over 33cm then the rest range from 19cm to 28. if i work it out at 60cm of fish per 1000l im still ok but will not be for much longer as some of my koi have doubled in size in just 14 months, and if that happens again this summer ill have to give more away or try and sell some, all ready gave my 2 biggest koi away last month both were 51cm but quality were touch and go,

I have a 2 m high water wall going into the pond this is were i want to put the baki shower here is a pic of my pond will that be a good place for it. (well its the only place) how deep should each baki be and what will the order be on what goes in them as the water coming through them would have been through the sand filter already.

Hi Shawn,

A 2m waterfall is far better than a venturi for gas exchange. Remove the venturi it puts too much nitrogen into the water.

My gut feel is you have a beautiful feature - don't spoil it with something on the water fall.

Reduce the stocking densities - that will help. Keep only the best quality koi - that will help. Its amazing to see the difference in a collection when you have removed the poor quality fish. The better quality fish seem to get better!

If your system is presently running well and you do not have any problems with the fish - why change things - it working. My suggestion is leave alone - especially if you are going to remove some fish.

Regards,
Chris

my biggest problem is the nitrate just went and bought a new test kit this time the drops and it is reading 100mg/l i really need to get that down. were i bought the drops they said if i built a hydroponic box with plants that will take out the nitrate, so the water will run down the wall into the planter that has stone and plants then into the pond,

option 2 i dont know if it will work is change my 25l biofilter to a 50l bio filter is that were the nitrate gets taken out,

or option 3 build a baki shower

or am i just been over worried about my nitrate

just did my readings
nitrite is 0.1mg/l
amonia 0.1mg/l
nitrate 100mg/l
PH 7

Hi Shawn,

Really you have a lovely home - I would not add anything from an aesthetic point of view. Its a formal home with a formal pond.

Yes some plants could take out some nitrates but ... are your koi Ok - if so leave alone. Give the koi as much water space as possible.

On the filtration side - you mentioned you have a sand filter and a biofilter.

Suggestions:
Nothing wrong with changing to a 50L biofilter. Good Idea. You can still conceal it and double the capacity.

What do you have inside the sand filter? How many bags of gravel did you put into it?
Suggestion if you have 3 - 5 mm gravel then change it for 6mm zeolite. This is lighter than gravel and back-washes easier. Further if you use 3 bags of gravel I would use two bags of gravel to lighten the bed weight (or change to zeolite).

The nitrates at that level should not be a problem. You can control this with water changes. Have you checked the nitrates in the water source?

Also are you maintaining the sand filter regularly?

I do think your pH is a potential problem. 7 is neutral and OK for the koi but the nitrifying bacteria need a pH of around 7.8 - 8.2 to function properly. The nitrifying bacteria prefer an alkaline environment.

What time of day gave you a pH reading of 7.

Take the pH in the early morning and again just after the sun has gone down.

Thinking about it you could build a plant box at the base of the water fall. Just gravel or small stones and a few plants that would grow in those conditions. No soil. The water could drop into this and then go through it into the pond. That would work - but again how would it look? And your nitrate level is not a problem.

Regards,
Chris

I dont know how many bags went in but i cleaned it out totaly last week sunday took all the gravel out and washed the hole sand filter out as there was tons of algi in it that came off my water wall as it stoped running when i was away, the sand filter has 3-5mm gravil in it, it is just three quaters full of gravil.

i do water changes every week when im home but when im away i have someone come in every 2 weeks,

the test was done at about mid day that gave me the readings of 7 , i crushed oyster shells and but them in my sand filter on friday was told that would bring the ph up but the ph has been 7 the hole time,

will test tomorrow morning early the tomorrow night will post results.

think i will go with a 50l biofilter first see if that helps thanks again for all the help.

nothing wrong with a 7.0 ph.
I wouldn't mess with it, thats your ponds PH, and it is just fine for the fish