Filter media

[Esther]

I have been buying my filter media from this place for several years. They have different types and sizes + some other stuff. Give them a look. They ship quickly and the media lasts and lasts.  http://krewkut.zoovy.com/s=krewkut.zoovy.com/  Just thought I'd mention that I am just a customer, not a salesman.

[landey1230]

Don't you have a skippy?  How often do you clean the media in it? 

[Esther]

Yes I have a Skippy. There are about 15 floor scrubber pads, the green ones, in it. I powerwash them once a year because I have to shut it down for winter but I suspect I wouldn't clean them much at all if I didn't have to stop the waterfall. People in a warmer climate will be able to tell us what they do.

The water comes into my skimmer/filter box and first goes through 8 Black Knight brushes that that catch the big floater stuff like leaves and flower petals. Then it goes through a sheet of coarse Matala type media and then goes through the stuff pictured here. It has two layers. One layer is like quilt batting and the blue/green layer is quite fine. Right now, my pond has only been going about a week and a half after being shut down for 5 months. All I've done is scoop the bottom of the pond, clean the Skippy and media, and wind up the pump. Because it isn't clearing up as quickly as I'd like, I put two curved mesh baskets with the green and white media in them and stuck them under the drops of the waterfall. Over night I can see a deffinate difference.

[landey1230]

I'm in the warmer area (9a) and have a bio filter and 55 watt UV clarifier.  I clean the filter media twice a week during the summer.  If I don't clean it, I notice the water clarity affected.  I have to wait for the lilies to send out more pads as my pond is in full sun. 

[PondmaninAL]

Alfonso, you need a back up plan. You need a smaller pond that runs into your main pond with nothing but marginals. They usually start leafing out before water lilies and the more plants you have, the shorter you cycling period will be. Now, go hit the trade forum.

[landey1230]

hmmm. 

[Julles]

I bought that KrewKut media, and have not been happy.  I do not think it holds up, not to multiple washings.  I am much more pleased with the Laguna brand.  Expensive, but really lasts.

Alphonso, my pond is so overstocked, I have a lot of "suspended matter" in the water.... it's not cloudy, but there is a lot of teeeeny stuff (mostly fish waste)floating  around.  I, also, clean the media twice or even three times a week, in an effort to remove this stuff.  Once the media gets full, it won't hold any more waste, and it simply washes out of the filter and back into the pond.  I'm also switching from catfish chow to koi food  , in hopes that the better quality food with less filler will produce less poop / waste. 

[tranquility]

just sooo you remember that clear water doesn't mean healthy water....My water stays very clear and clean in my koi pond and it doesn't have a single plant in it nor UV light.....however, this last week after two of my large females spawned--and even though I was doing what I thought was enough water changes--the fish stopped eating...stumped but, knowing something was wrong and my water kit was old I headed out to buy a new one...all of my water parimeters were high--my ammonia was 1.0....and guess what--my water was still just a clear as it could be...I've also seen pea soup green water that the parimeters were square on...So what I'm saying is although we all LOVE to have clear water--and since its spring---let us not forget to check those parimeters whether you have clear water or green water...
Lawanna

[Esther]

I only have tested my water once and found the PH was sky high and immediately panicked. I flew in and began throwing questions at the members here, well on AWGS, and people told me to leave it alone. That it was better to be consistant than getting a bounce going. So the test kit is still in the cupboard, never to see the light of day again. But I suspect what helps me in one way but drives me nuts in another----I have a leak and have to add water every other day so there's no way the ammonia would get out of hand here. And we have well water that is excellent.

HMMM, that's odd that the crud floats away Julles. Mine gets so full it shuts down the pump because it can't pull enough water through it.  Well I have a shutoff valve on the pump. But even when that happens, the crud doesn't float out. I keep two sets of media going for the skimmer/filter. So after I clean the one set, I put in the dry set. That double set lasts the season.  Right now after the pond not being touched for 5 months, I'm cleaning the filter about every other day. But I've also had two curved mesh baskets with Krewkut in it in the waterfall steps for maybe a week as extra filtration----besides what goes on in the Skippy.

[tranquility]

just by knowing your fish and knowing what is normal and what isn't can tell you alot....I go by the way my fish are acting most of the time..Im not a test fanatic--in fact my testing kit had expired..that is why I had to go buy another--but, we are in spring--most of your pond problems are going to be early spring or summer.....I've had my fish long enough to know when something just isn't right...and the particular pond I'm talking about is Fred and Gingers--Not only do I adore them but, they aren't the easiest koi I've ever kept--in fact they have been the hardest....so when I'm seeing something not quite right--the first thing I do is check that water...by them not eating--I knew something was wrong--first order is to check that water--If I left it unchecked and not corrected it--I would have a pond full of very sick or dead fish...I was already having to administer shots--so Yes --water testing kits when in doubt are extremely valuable....Have I been a nervous wreck since then...Yes-I've worried alot,cried some, and have had a few restless nights--there is no amount of money that can ever replace those fish in that pond...But, because of the testing kit I was able to correct it before it killed them--last night I slept well knowing my ammonia,nitrate, and nitrite levels were normal.....Ph--nope I never would mess with adjusting it...mine is always on the high side---I know that--and it has never had any effect on the fish...so I leave it...I do test it and everything else when I see the fish not acting quite right...I'm a firm believer in Knowledge is power...If I know what I'm fighting--I can gather the knowledge and equipment to correct the problem..If I don't then I'm wasting valuable tim and alot of times money and not knowing what the problem was to begin with and if I'm doing the correct treatment...

Lawanna

[landey1230]

It's very frustrating and I know it takes patience, but I've never had clear water in the summer.  I've been ponding for 4 years now.  This is the second year with the newly constructed pond.  I've used bio filters purchased from hardware stores and clean the heck out them twice a week.  I notice a difference in the clarity, but not where I can see the bottom.

I just purchased a rubbermaid tank and plan to make it into a skippy.  That's why I asked about the type of media.  I remember what Esther's skippy looks like and I want to imitate it.  I've also research how to construct a skippy.  My biggest concern is, how often do you clean it?  Everyone has different thoughts about cleaning the media, so it's kind of confusing.

[Julles]

Clean it when the media STARTS getting full / covered with gunk.  BEFORE it gets clogged and stops catching debris. 

For me, during the summer, this is at least twice a week. 

I remove the media and hose it off, sometimes collecting the waste water full of fish poop to water the garden.  I don't worry about chlorine when I hose off the media; I figure there's enough bacteria still left in the filter unit to restart the "good bacteria" process again. 

[Esther]

According to the Skippy site, they don't advocate cleaning it at all if you are in a warmer weather than Michigan where it can go all the time.  If we didn't have to shut it down in the winter, I don't know if mine would get cleaned much at all. I also have a well so don't have to worry about Chlorine.  My skimmer/filter at the other end of the pond is designed to sort out the particles in the water (mechanical filter) and I have NEVER had water that wasn't near to being clear to the bottom in maybe 3-4 days. Honest!! Sometimes, though it was because I had a terrible growth of string algae. I filter, filter, filter with the media----clean, clean, clean the first few days and then after that the bio filter must kick in and help so after that, I just have the layers in the skimmer/filter. WARNING!!!! NEVER put filter media in front of your exit from the Skippy. DUH!! Don't ask me how I know that. Twice it got gunked up enough to block the outflow and the Skippy began overflowing. Both times, luckily we caught it before disaster. So now I set the mesh baskets in the waterfall steps.  Again, I do have a leak somewhere AGAIN---GRRR, so have to put in fresh water every other day and that must help I would think. Don't know if I would use floor scrubber pads in my Skippy again or not. They don't fit to the sides well but don't know if that is important. They are easy to handle and clean, where a huge sheet of media wouldn't be so easy. I don't know. At one point, I was using mesh bags of dollar store kitchen scrubbers. They did work but didn't hold up to cleaning and handling where the floor scrubber pads do. I am glad I put the Black Knight brushes in my skimmer/filter though. They catch the leaves, flower petals, stringy gunk well and are easy to clean out. That leaves the finer media to get the smaller stuff. Did you look at the Skippy site? If I remember right, they have full instructions about using a Rubbermaid stock tank. Also if you use one, follow the instructions about where to place the spillway and where to put the cleanout and valve. Again don't ask me why I warn you......We did ours backwards but it still works, just was harder to do that way.  I used a stainless steel spillway. They were about $40 and are made to fit the tanks. Also there are grids that fit the tanks that hold up better than using Home Depot recessed light grids. I'll dig out those two websites in a minute. And be sure than the surface you are going to sit it on is well packed down and maybe has a cement slab----a thick one. You want your Skippy to stay nice and level. Another thought. Some advocate using the Skippy for a veggie filter. UM, having put various plants in mesh pots and set them in the Skippy one summer-----will never do that again. The roots left the mesh pots, grew all over the place in the filter media and made a horrendous mess. Since, I have set  regular pots of plants in the Skippy and that works fine. Remember that what I say works for me may not work for someone else or you. I've been veeeeery lucky and most of what I've tried has worked the first time but we have had things that we've had to tweak and then tweak again as we have three different types of ponds going.

http://www.skippysstuff.com/biofiltr.htm

http://www.blackknight.co.uk/brushes.html  But this is a UK site. Google Black Knight brushes, maybe your fish place will have them.

http://www.mikebentley.com/ponds/homemadefilters.htm  LOTS and lots of ideas on DIY filters.

http://www.epond4u.com/ Just talked to these guys and they have a couple of the stainless steel spillways designed for the Rubbermaid tanks but he doesn't think  he'll be able to get them when they are gone. They also carry the 2 x 4 thicker rubber grids but will no longer cut them to fit your tank. You would have to do it yourself.

[landey1230]

Thanks Esther.  I went through the list of websites. Most of the folks use lava rocks as bio.  I'm not sure if I should go that route.  Would you copy and past a pic of floor scrubber pads?  Did you just lay them in the skippy and hold them down with a crate or a florescent light cover?  Do you have pics of the inside of you skippy?  I read the official skippy site, but I really don't want to spend all that money on their supplies. 

[Esther]

And no I wasn't bright enough to photo the inside but hey, I could shut off the pump and let the water gravity back and see if I could get some when the water is out. Here's a picture of the frame and the grids. I made the frame to fit the inside of the skippy out of PVC, what else. LOL. The grids are those recessed ceiling light doodads from Home Depot/big box stores. They are crispy firm plastic. I cut mine with a cutoff wheel on my Dremel. It was quite a job and messy. White powder flying all over and bits of plastic but we've been using them for what, maybe 6-7 years.  The pipe comes into the tank and splits in kind of an elongated Y so the gush of incoming water circles around opposite ways, each end. Then some gunk settles on the bottom that can be rinsed out the exit drain whenever you want. We catch it in a bucket and dump it on landscaping plants. Then the first grid with layers of Matala or floor scrubber pads or whatever, are put on the first rack that lines up with the bottom ridge of the inside of the Skippy. That way the bottom grid also is supported all the way around by the tub and then inside by the PVC. I have two sizes of pads by mistake but in the end worked out OK as I use two large pads and then a small one in the middle so they stack better. If you want them to butt up better, cut away what you don't want with a hefty pair of scissors. Better wear gloves if you're doing many as you may get blisters. Again, ask me how I know. LOL. I started out with 2-3 layers but have added to it a couple of times as I realized, the more, the better and have as many as I can get between the two grids. As the pads are round, it allows an easy flow of water at the spillway so even if the pads got crudded up badly the water doesn't push the pads up in front of the exit. It just worked out that way. If I had used a sheet of Matala, my instinct would have been to cut the pieces to fit exactly the whole surface so don't know if that would have been bad or not. I have used lava rock a few times in various things. Yes, it works but doesn't clean easily, and isn't as easy to handle. If you use it in your Skippy, put it in mesh bags like you would do with any small things, bits of sponge, kitchen scrubbers, plastic stringy things, it all works but some end up being easier to handle and clean and hold up better and so I've ended up with the floor scrubber pads.

[landey1230]

Thank you for the details.  I have a skill saw.  Maybe that will cut the grid a little faster.  Also, I wasn't intending to install a drain and now I know I should.  Scrubber pads it is.  Lava rock would be difficult to handle.  Even in a mesh bag.  I'll post pics as I go.  Thanks again, Esther.   

[Esther]

NOOO skill saw. Too much power for tiny work. UM, metal cutters might work like what you use on roof flashing or sheet aluminum. Try a hack saw. The problem is that the tub has rounded sides and the grid has straight sides so I was trying to shape at least the bottom one to rest on the ridges that are on the insides of the tub. I did a lot of running back and forth from the tub to the driveway as I didn't want the plastic bits in the grass. Hey, jig saw maybe, or heated knife, or Sawzall. I don't know, something with that much power may be over kill. Also, I wanted the cut edges to not leave a projecting piece of rough plastic. The algae will build up on it badly enough anyway without lots of stringers dangling from it. 

Drill a couple of holes in your PVC at the top to let the air out, otherwise it will tend to want to float.

As for the drain, now is the time to put it in the side low near the bottom farthest from the pond. Guess there's no real reason  you couldn't put it on the short sides too. We put ours in later.. Worked but a pain to do afterwards. We put a T valve or maybe it was a ball valve--don't remember close to the tub and piped out underground to where there is a retaining wall and out through the wall. Made it easy to catch the sludge in a bucket. But I don't know how peole do it when their Skippy isn't raised enough to do that. To be honest, we cleaned ours with a power washer and shop vac for years and other than being a bit of a pain, it wasn't so bad. But come to think of it, the reason it wasn't so bad was that my DH did it, not me. LOL.

[landey1230]

No skill saw.  Thanks.  The skippy will be raised, so the drain will run down toward my lawn.  I feel better now that I have plans on how to attack this.  You're awesome, Esther.