Simply Koi and More Koi

Hello All - my first post, please be gentle. I have done a search but nothing came up so if there is thread please point me in the right direction.

A little history to set the scene...

I've been around fish for most of my life - ponds and aquariums etc. Never had a great problem other than an odd case of white spot in the tank so apart from reading books over the years not really up to date on the latest methods/trends etc.

Now to my problem, My pond is approx 4500 gallons, I inherited my koi and goldfish, 9 years ago along with the filter system - [cold water tank, pump fed, over brushes, sponge matting and alphagrog, X 2 outlet gravity return]. All worked well for the first 7 years I've had it set up, until 2 years ago when it started to over flow on occasions - mainly in the springtime. At that time I sprung a leak in the inflow pipe and repaired it by installing a ball valve - killing 2 birds with one stone so to speak as it enabled me to reduce the inflow slightly. I have back flushed it on numerous occasions and tho' I did get some sediment out it only sorts the problem for a couple of weeks. I'm wondering if the pipes have sunk causing a low spot?

However it is now starting to do my head in and my OH is about to retire so I want a system I can depend on so we can go away without having to worry about it whilst family take care of feeding etc. but I don't want them to have the bother of sorting out an unreliable filter system. The pipes are buried [unfortunately] so come August when hubby is home the whole lot is coming out so I can get it sorted.

Reading various articles there are numerous 'new to me', systems on the market and I was wondering what recommendations you have [I understand the different systems, just not what would be best for me] - bearing in mind of course we all differ in thought and spare time. I love my fish and pond and don't mind spending time on it but don't want it to take over now another chapter is opening.

Any thoughts, opinions welcome and I'm a bit of a diy'er don't mind building my own system rather than something off the shelf.

MF

Hi Mayfly,

Welcome to KOi Quest

OK we will need a bit more info to help us work out what type of system you have and how its connected up so if you can take any pictures that would be great

Is it pump fed or gravity fed and what type of filtration do you have

How often do you clean this out

How many and what type fish do you have

What type of filtration would you like

I am wondering if your filters are overflowing due to a build up of waste which will need to be cleaned out and this depends on what type you have on how this is done.With fish pond especially if they have koi in them can create a lot of waste and need to be regularly cleaned out and this does two things:

1. Remove any waste and build up to help the filters work more efficiently and keep the pond clean and the water void (hopefully) of toxins.

2. Once cleaned out and flushed you will use some pond water up so then you top the pond back up and in doing so a going to put fresh water back into the pond to help refresh the water.

Sorry for all the questions

Hi Sorry for not getting back earlier - my pond pump has just packed in so had to rig my spare and of course the fittings didn't match.


Thanks for the reply but all a bit academic now as I have decided to re do the pump and filter system from scratch. Busy w/e coming up for my OH - haha

Hi,

OK sounds like its all under control one thing to bear in mind is if your going to change all the filters out be careful as if you install new media it will have to mature so you will need to monitor the pond while its maturing.

Have a great weekend