Growing on pond update

emmaandaj · Post by **emmaandaj** » Thu Jul 12, 2007 5:09 pm

Hi,

Need some advice on filtration for my growing on pond (550gallons) My plan is to have a cl1 converted to k1 running on a 6500 aquamax and then pumped over a shower. Taking the head into consideration to the shower the pump should be spot on for the max flow rate of the filter. Then i will run a 10000 aquamax straight to the shower to increase turn over.

Question is do i pump the cl1 on the skimmer line and the larger pump on the bottom drain to get more draw on the bottom drain or the other way round? My worry is either pumping all the crap over the shower from the bottom drain which may cause problems but equally if i only have the cl1 on the bottom drain it will hardly be pulling any flow????

Thanks in advance, regards Andy

dfinn · Post by **dfinn** » Thu Jul 12, 2007 5:53 pm

Hi,

I know if you are using BHM in the shower you can pump directly from the bottom drain to the shower, although I don't know if the same can be said if using other shower medias.

Thanks,

Daniel

emmaandaj · Post by **emmaandaj** » Thu Jul 12, 2007 6:20 pm

Hi,

Will be BHM in the shower (Dont tell Emma-she will kill me!) Just worried about pumping most of the waste over the shower??? I suppose skimmer line would polish water nicely!

Cheers Andy

Gazza · Post by **Gazza** » Thu Jul 12, 2007 6:21 pm

Hi Andy,

You still messing around with that

OK i would go for shower with faster turnover from the bottom drain and the cl1 on the skimmer...job done fill it up and in with the fish.

If you need some to help mature the system i have a couple of fish in my tank that you can have

Bob Hart · Post by **Bob Hart** » Thu Jul 12, 2007 6:40 pm

Depends if the CL1 can cope with the 10,000.

Sounds a great turnover rate though

Gazza · Post by **Gazza** » Thu Jul 12, 2007 6:51 pm

I would run the 6500 on the cl1 and the 10000 on the shower,if the shower was filled with BHM that could filter the tank alone

emmaandaj · Post by **emmaandaj** » Thu Jul 12, 2007 7:41 pm

Hi,

The CL1 will ideally use a aquamax 3500 but as im pumping to a shower the head means i can use the aquamax 6500. Hopefully the BHM will take care of the biological filtration and the CL1 will polish the water up plus should have about 60 litres of fluid k1 as well!

Cheers Andy

emmaandaj · Post by **emmaandaj** » Sun Jan 06, 2008 7:36 pm

Hi,

Thought id post some pics of my growing on pond. The main reason for building the pond was to allow me to use it to hold my fish until my main pond is complete.

The original plan was:

2inch bottom drain straight to one of Bobs Showers using a aquamax 5500,
Gravity skimmer through a cl1 converted to k1 using aquamax 3500 and then over the shower as well. I couldnt find a proper 2inch aireated bottom drain so i siliconed on a air disc and fed a 8mm airline up the bottom drain. Bob did a great job on the fibreglassing

emmaandaj · Post by **emmaandaj** » Sun Jan 06, 2008 7:43 pm

I soon changed over from a 5500 on the shower to a 10000 aquamax, i tried a 5500 on the cl1 but it was much flow for the filter. Unfortunately after a few weeks the aireated bottom drain began to block with algae etc until the airline blew off- i had to drain down the pond(with help from Stu and Amanda) and remove it, with hindsight i dont think it helped much anyway on such a small pond-just allowed me to add air without having stones dangling in the pond. I also fitted a valve below the water line to allow me to change a pump without having to drain the pond!

emmaandaj · Post by **emmaandaj** » Sun Jan 06, 2008 7:51 pm

After a few weeks the weather started to get a bit colder so i managed to talk Emma into letting me heat the pond, i then fitted a 3kw heater. The pond faces on to open fields and is windswept constantly, i decided to cover the pond some how to keep the wind off!

I also found some nice barrels at work and decided to rip out the cl1 and make a static barrel followed by a fluidised barrel of k1. I fitted a 3inch gravity feed to the filter form the skimmer and made a simple easy. Followed by 100ltrs of k1 (already matured) and some biochips. I also upgraded to a auamax 5500 to get a bit more flow over the shower.

emmaandaj · Post by **emmaandaj** » Sun Jan 06, 2008 7:55 pm

I then decided rather than just cover the pond i would totally enclose it to help keep heating costs down

And to stop Emma moaning

jason-m · Post by **jason-m** » Sun Jan 06, 2008 8:00 pm

Looking Good Andy..are you going to cover the filters as well......?

Bob Hart · Post by **Bob Hart** » Sun Jan 06, 2008 8:05 pm

Looking real nice now Andy, good cover/house

emmaandaj · Post by **emmaandaj** » Sun Jan 06, 2008 8:08 pm

The filters have now been enclosed to help keep the heat in. Ive also finisged the fencing and laid paving slabs through the fish house. I had a lot of trouble with condensation so ive added a folding polycarb cover to keep the condensation down and also helps with insulation! Ive also added a 70ltr air pump to the k1 and moved the 40ltr air pump to power four air stones in the pond. Just a few little mods left and a bit of tidying in the filter bay left to do now. Also got a few hooks and japenese lanterns to go up when i get a chance.

Cheers Andy

eds · Post by **eds** » Sun Jan 06, 2008 8:12 pm

Great job. Are the sides of the pond insulated on the inside to keep the heating bills down? It all looks like a really neat and tidy job.

Edit: After seeing your last post with the filter covers I guess that question will be 'side' rather than sides!!!