general questions

[colin]

Hi all, hope your all well and looking forward to Xmas?

I have a few questions that I need some help with please.....
I've just purchased a Q.T, filter and a 1Kw Electro heater, but alas the heater hasn't got any cable with it? Strange! (For £290 I thought it would of come already wired?????) My question is, what type of cable do I need for it to be pluged in?
Secondly, is it OK to have heater below water level as I will be pump feeding the filter?
And is it vital to have the electro heater plumbed in the way the manual shows if it can indeed be fitted below water level?
And lastly, how much food should I feed 3 Koi around 5/6 inch daily? The tank is 5ftX5ftX3ft bottom drain connected to aquamax external,then to heater then to Eazy Pod. Tank temp will be around 14/15c.
Is there a formula of body mass/length to food ratio or something? The fish are coming in from a friend and so with all new kit the feed rate will be keep below the recommened allowance until matured.
That better do for now with my questions,I'm sure I'll think of some more later

PS. The fish will be coming in from unheated pond, so will keep the temp low and raise 1c every 24hrs if that is still the norm?
Great site by the way.


MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ONE AND ALL
AND HAVE A CRACKING NEW YEAR
MAY YOU BE PROSPEROUS IN YOUR ENDEAVOURS


Colin

[Gazza]

Hi Colin,

Happy festive seasons to you as well

On a 1kw rated unit some normal flex should do the job and if you can go for a good type of flex like on an extension lead and you could use 2.5mm if you like.

Positioning of heater can be a problem as its sometime easier to plumb them in but we have to remember we don't want the heater on if the pump fails as it could cause a overheat problem.I think all the Electro units have a flow switch so if the pump does stop the unit switches of has your unit got a flow switch.I have mine set up below the water line and all is OK.

If this is a new filter then you will need to take it nice and easy as if you start overfeeding you will end up with all kinds of problems so nice and slow at first and keep testing the water till its mature.

If the fish are from an unheated pond then yes you will need to match that temperature as best you can first off.Then you can bring the heat up slowly and if you want these to grow on through the winter then i would suggest you need to run higher up to 20c and above and then feeding plenty of small feeds through the day.I run my tank at 23c and feed about 10ish times a day.

Glad you like the site and hope you continue to do so

[eds]

Just to add to what Gazza said, what filter is it? You can't beat a mini shower with BHM on a little QT pond and they mature really quickly IME. Failing that can you get some mature media from your friend along with the koi? This will speed up the maturation process hugely.

[Gazza]

I reckon its an easy pod Ed

[colin]

Thanks for your replys thus far guys
As mentioned,yes it's the Eazy Pod, was going to go for bakki shower but was concerned about noise levels with regards to neighbours
Shall read the bumpth again Gazza, but I believe it did say heater won't work if it detects no flow past flow switch. It's the Electro 900 EVO S/S with timer.

Thanks
Colin

[Gazza]

Hi Colin,

Is this system going to be inside as if so a shower is not that bad i run one on my tank and the main pond.

I run a Pod and shower on my tank and have the Pod feed directly from the bottom drain the pull from the Pod with a 12,000 pump straight over the small shower i have and its a great little set up and works a treat

[eds]

I reckon its an easy pod Ed

Sorry, don't know how I missed that in the first post!

Definitely see if you can get some mature media IMO, especially if you can get it from the same source as the koi as then you won't chance introducing anything nasty from another source.

Gotta agree with Gazza on the shower. Mine's the only thing filtering my QT and it's brilliant, just can't see my fish until they come to the top!!!

[colin]

My setup is in a garden shed that used to be my filter shed from 5 years ago, but unfortunately my partner and I split up and everthing was sold off. Now we are back together it's time to get obsessive again with the koi. Not that I ever stopped!!!!
It's going to take a while to recover from this Xmas prezzie to myself,but maybe in the future I'll go down the BHM route?
I have read about your set up Gazza and all looks impressive!!! Some good growth etc. I forget though? How many Kilo's of BHM do you have? And how many gallons does your growing on/Q.T. hold?


Colin

[colin]

Hi Ed,

No worries.
No mature media to get my hands on. I used to keep Koi/WATER some time back so I shall monitor things closely, I know from bitter experiance how water chemistry can change at a blink of the eye and parasite probs.....
But Buddha willing, all will be well!
Take care

Colin

[Gazza]

Hi Colin,

In a shed will be great as mine is in a shed and as long as you insulate the shed and even the tank you will be able to keep the temps nice and steady without loosing to much heat.

I think i run about 20 or 24kk of BHM in the small shower and with the Pod before it keeps it nice and clean so good clean water going over the shower

[fishy hands]

for a 1 kw heater you dont need 2.5ml cable 1.5 will do it ( its cheaper ) and put in a 5 amp fuse in the plug

[colin]

Thank you for your reply Fishy Hands, I have put on some extension lead cable before reading your post. It says Artic cable on it and on the reel it says good for up to 3150 watts. I wired it up and plugged it in and the heater did what it should do without blowing the house up, so I assume it's OK? If anybody knows different please let me know! Thanks also for the advice on the fuse.
Thank you one and all for your help, again Merry Xmas to you.........

Colin

[Gin Rin]

You could always make your own home made shower and use alternative media to BHM.

BHM is said to be the best media to use, but it is expensive. You could perhaps use the alternatives until funds allow, or over time. ie perhaps buy enough BHM for one tier initially and use an alternative in the other tiers replacing it as funds allow. Just an few ideas anyway.

[colin]

Thanks Gin Rin,

Yeah will add homemade shower as and when. Cor blimey this hobby is becoming more expensive than first time round. lol. But at least I will be doing the best for my Koi and my piece of mind..... Looking more likely that I shall be going down the soft water/RO route also. Just hope my lottery numbers come up trumps, then I'm off to Japan,for good....

A skint Colin

[fishy hands]

Thank you for your reply Fishy Hands, I have put on some extension lead cable before reading your post. It says Artic cable on it and on the reel it says good for up to 3150 watts. I wired it up and plugged it in and the heater did what it should do without blowing the house up, so I assume it's OK? If anybody knows different please let me know! Thanks also for the advice on the fuse.
Thank you one and all for your help, again Merry Xmas to you.........

Colin

no it didn't blow up the house but your meter started to take off ha ha