Quote:
Originally Posted by spidy
1. Make sure you have an aerated bottom drain put in your FGT...
Noted. But since it is not a large pond with the air bubble coming to the surface the visibility of the fishes will be impacted. Is it ok to connect timer so that the aeration will be on only say mid-night to 6am ?
2. Tangential returns....
Tangential return. My current pond has a tangential return and it is position at the middle of the length of the pond. You mentioned 4 corner, would it introduce too much current ? Where is the best position for this ? Few inches below the water surface or from the bottom of the pond ?
3. Surface skimmer.
Thinking of a floating type surface skimmer as it will be easier to "stop" it during feeding. Something like boyu SCL-2500
4. Compact filtration is very possible!...
As for pressurise filter, I am thinking of getting what is available in Singapore store just in case I need warranty claim or support.
Am looking at 2 brand "Laguna pressure flo 8000" or "SICCE Green reset 40"
The other system that I liked alot based on what I see on the internet is "Aqua Ultima" but it seems like nobody carry this locally.
May consider importing the zakki shower since there is no motor or any complex parts. Can you share the contacts of the supplier you customise yours from ?
So my thinking is bottom drain -> "laguna" -> pump -> zakki shower.
Has anyone uses any of the products I mentioned above ? Any feedback most appreciated.
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1. You can certainly do so. If you are going with a waterfall/bakki style filter, that should aerate water pretty well if the flow rate is high enough.
I run mine 24 hours a day, but do turn it off for viewing the fish and checking for injuries. I need to change out the valve I use for the air to a needle valve as the ball valves in place now are too inaccurate for fine adjustments.
2. Tangential returns are best placed near the bottom. Some folk say that for regular shaped ponds as small as ours, they may not entirely be necessary. The returns are mainly to stop dead areas from forming in the corners that can collect debris and form pockets of very low oxygen water. I have 2 installed in my pond. I suggested 4 as I find 2 to be lacking when dealing with heavier debris. 2 should still work ok tho. Koi are powerful riverine fish. There should not be a problem with too much current unless you plan on running 1000W pumps entirely through the returns. Most of the flow comes in via the waterfall in any case.
3. Powered floating skimmer should work ok. Upside is ease of installation and flexibility. Downside is that they don't actually move water into the pond filter for treatment. I don't have practical experience with them to comment more
I use a stainless steel wash basket to cover my fixed skimmer up when feeding. I wish I'd installed an extra one as I have a dead spot in one corner that gathers foam - a regular issue with square cornered ponds.
4. That Laguna is definitely not a good choice for koi. You will either be very unhappy with the amount of maintenance you have to do, or have very unhappy fish. These canister type enclosed filters trap all the crap in the water stream. What doesn't dissolve eventually clogs the system. If you do go with them, I'd install at least 2 units that are each specced for a pond half the size of what they state on the box. I.e if your pond is 10000l, you need 2x canister filters rated for 20000l or better each. Dual units are needed to guard against failure, and also to keep water moving when you take one down for maintenance.
Laquna filters are great for landscape type decorative ponds with very low bioload. For koi, you need something more akin to an industrial waste treatment system
If the Zakki sieve looks too complicated for you, a simpler unit you can look at is the Ultrasieve III. This will need to be installed in a small filter chamber on one side of your pond as it needs to be gravity fed.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AoidiJxj5W4
It will probably need to be modified a little to function best in a compact situation. I will post an image later with some thoughts on how it should be set up for least space usage. You should probably also consider getting the 200 micron screen option for better water clarity.
The final setup would be Bottom drain -> Ultrasieve III (gravity fed) -> 2x tsurumi PU215s (readily available locally) -> Zakki shower.
Speaking of the Zakki shower, you can contact Zac using his email which you can get over at
http://www.deepwaterkoi.com. He sells a very good aerated bottom drain unit as well that will easily bolt onto the bottom of a prefabricated FGT. If you'd rather not have piping going through the bottom, there is also a retro unit that can be put on the floor of the pond. You will have pipe visible in the water though in that case.