Simply Koi and More Koi

I'm thinking of getting a Eazy Pod which will be for a pond 2500gallons or more, would this be fine as the only source of filtration? of course with UV's etc though.

I believe some are saying that the Easy pod is not as good as a sole filtration on a pond but i am sure someone who has used one will comment.

Goldfish pond ......... Yes!!
Moderately stocked koi pond main filter ...... NO!!
As a pre-filter or skimmer line addtional filter ..... Yes!!

Ok, guess thats sorted then.

Thanks

Hi,
would say it would work fine as your mechanical filtration but as the bio stage im not so sure. if you is on a tight budget why not fork out for a fluid bed filter to go after the pod, think you can get them for around 70 squid plus they have a very small footprint also
Ian

What would you all say was a good filter, the pond will be 2500-2800 gallons, I am looking to spend 300 and below on the filer, I know its not much but I'm sure I can get a good filter for that price.

Thanks

You can buy a second hand filter and then convert it to K1 media and save money just have a look around and you may find a bargain

Here are a couple of ideas:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Kockney-Koi-Fibreglas ... dZViewItem

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/CLOVERLEAF-GENESIS-45 ... m153.l1262

Hi there Koine

As a mechanical filter then it is OK but really needs to be followed by an aerated K1 chamber. Even in 1000 gallons I supplement a Pod with a bin containing 50L of aerated k1.

for 2500 to 3000 gallons with Koi in it I would be thinking of a Nexus 200 if you want an off the shelf product but they are silly prices but it is not that difficult to make a system that is as good as the 200 within your budget, In the bits and pieces section you will find various examples. Starting point is to try and get hold of a couple of second hand vortex units as cheaply as you can.

Is space for the filter an issue, how much space have you got earmarked for it?

When looking at filters the "suitable for pond size" that the manufacturers suggest is always rather optimistic, halving their figures is probably not that far out!

Regards

Dave

Space isn't an issue, I have around 8ftx5ft area for the filter

How about looking out for some second hand vortexes and then converting them to K1

I'll keep my eye open then, is K1 good as the only source of filtration?

Yes it works a treat and is very good filter media as it has a good surface area for the bacteria to thrive and if you couple a few vortex units together you can make a good system.My own main pond runs on four vortex units coupled together as you will see in the picture below and all it uses is K1

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

Ah, great. Thanks for the help

I just had a thought, instead of buying 2 vortex. I have an tank which I was going to use for a filter anyway so if I got 2 round bins and linked the bins and the tank together would this work? Here is a diagram.
[img]http://i260.photobucket.com/albums/ii37/kan ... ration.jpg[/img]

There are many ways to make a filter and all you need are the containers to hold the media.These containers must be fish safe as some plastics are not and also they must be strong enough to hold the media and water as once you start filling things with water its surprising how heavy the become.Some have tried bins but they have split later on so make sure its strong enough for the job.

You then also have to make sure you can flush the waste out of them when carrying out you cleaning and water changes as otherwise this will build up and cause problems.This is why you get a vortex which has a cone shape in the bottom so all the waste will drop to the bottom and directly at the base you have a waste pipe with a valve so when you need to you open the valve and flush out any waste.Waste is a big thing in a koi pond as they can and do make a fair bit of mess especially when you start to feed them in the warm weather

Hopefully these pictures may help so you can see the base of a vortex and the waste pipes:

Here you can see the shape at the bottom of the vortex:

[img]http://www.koipix.com/gallery/albums/userpi ... 3_1315.jpg[/img]

You can see all the Grey pipes coming out from the bottom of the vortex units with valves on this it to flush the waste out of any vortex if needed:

[img]http://www.koipix.com/gallery/albums/userpi ... 3_1349.jpg[/img]

[img]http://www.koipix.com/gallery/albums/userpi ... 3_1355.jpg[/img]

Here is a view down the center of the vortex with the waste pipe in the center at the bottom so it can flush all of the water out when needed:

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

I hope this gives you a few more ideas on how things need to work as you seem to be getting there and i am sure we will be able to crack something as its not all about fancy filters that look nice its basically about the media and getting flow rates and a good container that will hold the media and be able to be flushed to waste.

There are basically two parts to the filtration which need to function correctly to make the system work and this is the most important things as this is the most important part of the pond. You have a pump to pump the water round and a filter system which looks after the water and takes out any pollutants made by the fish Duncan would call the pump the heart and the filters the lungs

First stage of the filter is where the pond water enters from the bottom drain or whatever you are using this will enter what we call a Mechanical stage.This is the part of the filter which removes and debris,waste material,poo leaves so basically and big stuff that we don't want going onto the next stage of our filters.This is normally where you would have Brushes,Matting,Settlement chambers and Static K1

Second Stage of the filter is the Biological Stage, this is where the remove any pollutants from the water which the fish produce as they are eating and swimming away in the water.This is a very important part of the filtration as if we get this wrong we can end up with fish in all sorts of trouble This is basically where a process called the Nitrogen Cycle which changes out the Ammonia to Nitrite and both of these are harmful to the fish but in a functioning filter system this then gets changed to Nitrate which in not a problem for the fish. This stage is where you would have the filter media such as K1,K2,Bio Chips,Matting and many other types of media.

I hope this gives you a little insight which may help you come up with a few more ideas and depending where you are or what you are doing there is the BKKS Koi Show on next weekend so you could go along and see loads of filters and medias on the stalls where the dealers will be and you never know you may even be able to pick up a deal on something