My Pond Pics For Terry

Gazza · Post by **Gazza** » Thu Nov 02, 2006 11:20 pm

Hi Terry,

A couple of pictures of my set-up for you

The Pond

[img]http://www.koipix.com/gallery/albums/userpi ... G_2978.JPG[/img]

Some Kit

[img]http://www.koipix.com/gallery/albums/userpi ... 0House.jpg[/img]

The Filters

[img]http://www.koipix.com/gallery/albums/userpi ... G_3909.JPG[/img]

TerryKoi · Post by **TerryKoi** » Sat Nov 04, 2006 9:30 am

Excellent Gazza
thanks, as I thought an excellent setup all looks very neat and tidy, I hope mine will one day be likewise, how do you get to those filters or have you got access from both ends,
tell me do you cover them to cut out the light

and is that an auto feeder on the far side of the pond

gosh I'm so nosy

thanks again

Gazza · Post by **Gazza** » Sat Nov 04, 2006 4:51 pm

Hi Terry,

No problem with questions mate ask away if its to do with ponds we love em

Its not that tidy all the time

as i have some mods since then as if you look you will see the skimmer is just a circuit on it own,this now has a large TT on it which is also in the same area with a 500gln QT/Growing on tank

I can get to both end of the filters and reach in no problem (i do have rather long arms anyway) if i need to get in i can also get in its a bit tight but can be done.I built them at the back of my shed as we wanted to try and make it so you could just see the pond and not have all the other stuff out in the open:

[img]http://www.koipix.com/gallery/albums/userpi ... 3_1373.jpg[/img]

The filters are totally boxed in with two large covers which lift up when i need to get to them as you will see this is when they had just been painted

[img]http://www.koipix.com/gallery/albums/userpi ... 4_1418.jpg[/img]

Yes that is a auto feeder in the corner of the pond and has done a great job in keeping the koi feed,its just the amount of times i seem to fill it up this summer

TerryKoi · Post by **TerryKoi** » Sat Nov 04, 2006 9:12 pm

Hi Gazz

Well it works for me mate tell me how many bays have you got or are they the same one's at a later date

what size is she 5/6000 gl

That will get my wife going she hates me calling things he or she

The k1 looks nice and coloured do you use any other media, and how do you remove solids, or dont you

any more pics

Gazza · Post by **Gazza** » Sat Nov 04, 2006 11:22 pm

Hi Terry,

They are all separate vortex units which are connected together by two 4" pipes so i can v get a nice flow without loosing any head.

The pond is 4500gls so a manageable size......nearly

The K1 dose change colour but this depends on how much food i feed and i must be honest bi am not all that sure about this colour thing with K1 as it could just be dirty

In the vortex systems there is K1 and Bio Chips but i have only just converted the last bay from matting to K1 and i have a TT that has three boxes of BHM in it and runs on the skimmer line

The first chamber on my system is a Geazy which is a static K1 chamber that removes solids and it does a great job

Any particular pictures you would like

Gazza · Post by **Gazza** » Sat Nov 04, 2006 11:40 pm

Hi Terry,

I have put some pictures of the main filtration so perhaps you can see it better than the picture above.

Main Filtration:

[img]http://www.koipix.com/gallery/albums/userpi ... mal_15.jpg[/img]

[img]http://www.koipix.com/gallery/albums/userpi ... mal_18.jpg[/img]

[img]http://www.koipix.com/gallery/albums/userpi ... G_2421.JPG[/img]

The TT:

[img]http://www.koipix.com/gallery/albums/userpi ... G_2542.JPG[/img]

TerryKoi · Post by **TerryKoi** » Sun Nov 05, 2006 12:26 am

Hi Gazz

Nice photos mate so what size are the vortices

And is the "Geazy " like a gazzy creation

does the K1 trap fine sediment and is it heavy on maintenance,

do you have to back flush to clean it, like perhaps a bucket or two of pond water,
is the TT very noisy

thats interesting that the K1 changes depending on amount of food fed.
I was think about trying to convert my first bays to k1 +chips, but perhaps the geazy would be a beter choice. Could you elaborate on it a bit more.

Gazza · Post by **Gazza** » Sun Nov 05, 2006 9:06 am

Hi Terry,

Yes the Geazy was made out of the original Vortex that was made by Dave Arnold and he came along and we converted it and Ive gradually modified them as Ive gone along,it like an ongoing project to see if i can improve my water quality

The static K1 stop nearly everything it does a great job,when we first converted it i thought i had a fairly clean pond (don't we all) but the K1 actually cleaned it even more as i could see the difference in the TDS

Its so easy to clean and you don't get wet hands either i just cover the two transfer ports isolate the pump and bottom drain and then turn on the air,leave it for a while then drain to waste and i do this a few times i also jet the hose on it sometimes to make sure its clean

The TT is in my shed and is insulated so you cant hear anything from it at all....well perhaps a dribble but basically nothing

K1 is a great media and performs very well i have been baby sitting a couple of Koi this summer and the guy who had em was a bit tight with food (sorry Andy lol) so i decided to feed the poor things up a tad so increased thew feeding and even the wife was throwing food in so much so i run out of food and had to borrow some from Bob

I am not 100% sure but i had two 15kg sack of food and the only lasted just over a month so i think the filters seem to be maturing well

TerryKoi · Post by **TerryKoi** » Mon Nov 06, 2006 11:09 pm

Hi Gazz

What depth of K1 do you recommend and are you jetting it with pond or tap water, perhaps your not worried about bacteria culture in this first bay,
have you only the one geazy , only it seems such a small vortex to remove all the sediment from 4500 gls. if thats all there is I find that quite amazing.Have you any pics of how you moddified the vortex inside please.

Gazza · Post by **Gazza** » Tue Nov 07, 2006 6:42 pm

Hi Terry,

The depth of the K1 is one that is just suck it and see when it was first converted i just through the K1 in the vortex with no other modifications apart from the little reservoir area to stop the K1 entering the other chambers.

This was then modified to have the bottom of the vortex open and a grid installed and the pipe work to enter below the grid so any large waste or B/W would settle out and not get to heavy in the K1 which worked much better.As it went along i just started adding or removing K1 until it seemed to work the best and its surprising you don't need 100lts to work i reckon i have less than 50lts in my Geazy

When cleaning moist times if its fairly clean i just aerate and drop it a few times and then if needed i can hose it down with tap water if i think it needs a blast,i have also done it with a pressure washer when i had some B/W.

Yes this is the only Geazy i have and defiantly all i need to say it works very well would be an understatement as i spent lots of time playing with mechanical filtration and this wins hands down.I actually proved it worked by watching all my readings improve after it was installed and i could actually see a difference in the water

and i thought my pond was fairly clean before

I will try to sort out some pictures for you later on if that OK

TerryKoi · Post by **TerryKoi** » Tue Nov 07, 2006 9:03 pm

Thanks Gazza
that sounds very promising and some pics if you find some would be appreciated , I've heard it said so many times one of the problem with K1 is keeping it in the right place, did you make your own grid or what did you use.

Gazza · Post by **Gazza** » Tue Nov 07, 2006 9:13 pm

Hi Terry,

Yes K1 can be a big problem as it gets everywhere hopefully one day you will come over and i bet you will find some K1 somewhere

I will sort out some pictures of the mods for you in a short while as i am multi tasking at the moment and am bound to cock something up if i don't concentrate

Gazza · Post by **Gazza** » Tue Nov 07, 2006 9:40 pm

OK here we go some pictures of the modifications it was just a simple vortex but i never had the water entering at an angle just straight through as it would never settle out in this flow.All the vortex units are connected together with twin 4" transfer pipes to allow a nice flow through with no head loss.

Any questions ask away and ill do my best to answer

This is when i tried matting and foam:

[img]http://www.koipix.com/gallery/albums/userpi ... G_1483.JPG[/img]

This is the rip out as you can see i have one 4" inlet and twin 4" to the next vortex:

[img]http://www.koipix.com/gallery/albums/userpi ... rmal_2.jpg[/img]

Making up the bottom plate for the reservoir and the transfer pipes:

[img]http://www.koipix.com/gallery/albums/userpi ... rmal_4.jpg[/img]

[img]http://www.koipix.com/gallery/albums/userpi ... rmal_5.jpg[/img]

[img]http://www.koipix.com/gallery/albums/userpi ... rmal_6.jpg[/img]

[img]http://www.koipix.com/gallery/albums/userpi ... rmal_7.jpg[/img]

We then made a section to cover the reservoir but let the water through and keep the K1 in the chamber this has been modified a few times in the bigging it was a load of holes and now is a pre-made grid:

[img]http://www.koipix.com/gallery/albums/userpi ... rmal_8.jpg[/img]

[img]http://www.koipix.com/gallery/albums/userpi ... mal_18.jpg[/img]

I then modifies the inside of the vortex to have a bottom grid which sat above the cone of the vortex and installed the bottom drain pipe work to go below this grid so now the K 1 was contained in it own part of the vortex and waste could settle at the bottom away from the K1.I then made a new air ring so the K1 can be aerated to clean it before a flush.

[img]http://www.koipix.com/gallery/albums/userpi ... mal_40.jpg[/img]

[img]http://www.koipix.com/gallery/albums/userpi ... mal_41.jpg[/img]

Then it was filled with K1 and off it went and to be honest Ive never looked back since as you can see from the last picture the reservoir the water that comes from the K1 is normally fairly clean

[img]http://www.koipix.com/gallery/albums/userpi ... mal_15.jpg[/img]

[img]http://www.koipix.com/gallery/albums/userpi ... mal_18.jpg[/img]

TerryKoi · Post by **TerryKoi** » Thu Nov 09, 2006 9:41 pm

Hi mate

Thanks for putting the pics up they are great , I have tried to find a supply of grid sheet in fibreglass or pvc plastic or some other fish safe material, when I built my filters but gave up in the end , trouble is I need large sheets for my humongous bays . don't suppose you've found such a supplier at a reasonable price

Gazza · Post by **Gazza** » Thu Nov 09, 2006 9:53 pm

Hi Terry,

You are welcome mate i just hope it helps you in some way,are you thinking of changing your filters around and if so why

How big does the sheets need to be