Thought I would post an update on my pond, now 2 years down the line and still running fine.

Had a water clarity issue not long ago, redid my piping and put in an eco touch pump and my water clarity is very good again.

I have 30kl or thereabout and only have 8 fish in there at the moment, have made space for new arrivals from the tosai trip by Costa, Karl and Lionel

Here it is

Hi Cliff, the quality of our fish improved dramatically over the past year. You have few stunning show quality fish there. Your pond looks great. Well done!

thanks Paul...I have been very specific with what I have put in my pond over the last 2 years. Very different to what I had first built a pond and just wanted to chuck everything in there.

Been a slow process, but I am happy with the quality I have managed to build up thus far.

I like your pond and your edging around your pond.

Yeah, with koi keeping one never stops to strive for better koi.

Looking good Cliff! Water clarity is as you said crystal clear.

Well done Cliff.

Hi Cliff.
Pond and water looks good, rounded of with quality koi. That ochiba is a model, or should I say 'lady'!? And you know I have a soft spot for that shiro utsuri. Keep us posted when your new babies have arrived. Your plants look great. We already had some frost in April-and pond temperature 15 degrees. Enjoy!
Philip

Great stuff buddy!

Cliff,
Love your restrain. Better few koi but good ones!
I like your kindai mama, the shiro and GR chagoi...
Keep it up!

Thanks all........appreciate the comments

Water does look darn good......and that chagoi is a find!!!........can you believe I paid R70 for her as a tosai!!!

Was offered R6k for her the other day.........she will stay put and will not go anywhere!!!

Also, that karashigoi was 25cm last year september, look at it now compared to my chagoi\big showa which are both around 58cm's!!!

Hi Cliff
Sorry for calling that nice chagoi an ochiba-blond moment!
Philip

Very nice Chagoi. Full of eggs. You must allow your koi to operate during the spawning season. I am always afraid they get egg-bound.

Paul, what is the best and safest way to let your koi operate during this periods?

Hi there Cliff,

Your pond, water and fish look awesome. I see the Bakki shower in the pics but did you eventually install the moving bed filter?

Good job!

your pond is one of my favorites.

Great job.

Nardus

Thanks for the comments Mark and NArdus....Nardus....really please you like my pond that much....thank you.

Mark, regarding the moving media, really thought about it but decided that I will rather add in another bakki shower instead.

The area against the window, with the plants is where I wanted to build a chamber where I would have moving media, was going to try the vortexes but they were too big.

So decided to rather put in another bakkie shower over here, which I will do with the water is a little warmer.

In a nutshell, I am doign the following

I have 2 x sand filters
1 sand filter splits thru 2 x 25lt ultra zaps, the 1 split line feeds via my below water return, the other via my stainless steel above water return.

The other sand filter just feeds from sand filter to my 350lt bakkie shower.

What I am going to do is remove the split n the 1 sand filter and only have 2 returns back to the pond instead of 3 at present.

Each sand filter will have its own 2 x 25lt ultra zaps, then go thru it's own UV light, then the one line will feed the 1 bakkie shower and the other sand filter with it's own 2 x 25lt ultra zaps will feed the other bakkie shower.

My current below water return line I will run along side my wall join where I joined the new pond to the existing pond and up to feed the existing bakkie, and the line feeding my existing bakkie will follow around the wall to the new bakkie.

I have installed a 160lph airpump and have done air rings around my bottom drains which will compensate fr my ciculation that will be lost by removing my below water return.

Pic, hope it explains a bit of what I am doing.

Any comments?

Very good idea Cliff and well thought...Do U get lots of foam from the bakki?
I made a very simple foam fractioner for my bakki.

Neli wrote:

Very good idea Cliff and well thought...Do U get lots of foam from the bakki?
I made a very simple foam fractioner for my bakki.

Neli, what I noticed is that in summer I had quite a bit of foam, now in winter none at all.

Something else I noticed, is I backwash weekly in summer and I have no alge growth on my walls at all.

Now I am backwashing every 2nd - 3rd week and I have a nice green carpet of alge building up on my pond walls.......wonder what the simple explanation for this is?

Colin......what say you? Know you have had your experiences with foam??

I also dont have any algae...never had..I backwash every other day and on the other day I wash my SF with a compressor.So my SF is cleaned every day...but then I am a panic mechanic!
What I did is I made a small through under the bakki collecting the water...with a 4" horizontal pipe and a T at the end...I used a small peace of pipe 4" and cut half of the bottom section, in such a way that when U putit in the T it scraps the surface of the water (foam) and directs it upwards...to a 2l top of coke bottle...or 4" to 2" reducer...
Occasionally get a lot of foam exiting from it.

Hey friends I am here!!!! been a while since i posted here

Great to have you here again Q

Hi Quinton, looking fwd to reading your interesting posts. What do you think of Cliff's idea of a second Bakki Shower? Personally i'd rather put the cash twoards a special fish as the one he has should do the job just fine.

Cliff wrote:

Neli wrote:

Very good idea Cliff and well thought...Do U get lots of foam from the bakki?
I made a very simple foam fractioner for my bakki.

Neli, what I noticed is that in summer I had quite a bit of foam, now in winter none at all.

Something else I noticed, is I backwash weekly in summer and I have no alge growth on my walls at all.

Now I am backwashing every 2nd - 3rd week and I have a nice green carpet of alge building up on my pond walls.......wonder what the simple explanation for this is?

Colin......what say you? Know you have had your experiences with foam??

Sorry Cliff, I only just read this now. Yes you are correct I do have my idea about foam and what causes it, whether I am correct we will have to see but I also have the same experience with no foam in the winter and loads in the summer. I have experienced that there is far more foam on cold days, however with the cold winter months nothing. Something else that I have noticed is that my pond gets no sun this time of the year and full sun in summer. I have built two foam fractionators that take care of the huge amounts I used to get on the surface of the pond.

Quinten,
Welcome back! Post your babies...I want to see them please!
Collin,
Is foam not caused by DOC?.Is it not associated with more feeding of higher protein food in summer?