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  1. #1

    Need for trickle with adequate filtration?

    Hi guys,

    As per the title do people feel a trickle s needed for a well/over filtered pond? With adequate filtration ammonia and nitrite won't be a problem but I'm wondering if nitrate would eventually become an issue with no water exchange?

    Apart from nitrate are there any other concerns in the absence of a trickle system?

    James.



  2. #2
    Extreme Koi Member Rank = Mature Champion pip895's Avatar
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    My drum ensures I do at least a 10% water change a week, which a lot of people consider the minimum requirement. Doesn't matter if it's a trickle in/out or just replacing lost water both count. I think it's not just nitrates that you have to be concerned about other waste products can build up.
    6000g in ground koi pond
    +3000g lily/Anoxic pond attached
    29 koi (40 to 65cm)
    Bottom drain, Mid water & Skimmer to Drum
    JBR boichamber->Blue eco 500 pump ->below surface return.
    Blue Eco 240 -> Large MB -> Waterfall -> Planted Anoxic pond (25 baskets)

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    Senior Member Rank = Grand Champion Doghouse Riley's Avatar
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    With any system, particularly if you aren't on a water meter, or you don't mind the bills, a 24/7 trickle change is advisable, it helps to make sure any spikes in water quality changes arre flattened out.

    i've always advised people to set this up as you build a pool.
    I have a 40 gall pump sump, where after purging the waste can be pumped by a second pump, via a 1.5" pipe from the sump, under the concrete collar of the pool and the patio, to a house drain. I can trickle change the pool via the waste pump body whilst it isn't running, or by the overflow in the side of the pool which shares the same pipe. This has a valve in it which I close during purging and emptying of the sump, so that the detritus doesn't get pumped back into the pool via the overflow. By slightly raising or lowering the overflow in the side of the pool by an inch, I can choose to trickle out either, "top or bottom water."

    I've a dedicated water supply through a dechlorinator which feeds water into the filter return through a clear funnel, so with the tap which controls it I can see the rate of the water that is being fed into the pool. It's a very simple but effective system.

    In fact it's a "set and forget system."

    To be honest I don't give it a lot of thought. Just have to remember to close the valve before purging each week!"
    "The information's out there,
    You only have to let it in." (Jesse Stone)

  5. #4
    Senior Member Rank = Yonsai Liam77's Avatar
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    So with a drum and the amount of water it uses to clean the mesh which goes to waste, if you also had a trickle in through a declorinator, do you think that would be enough to cover the 10% water change?

  6. #5
    Extreme Koi Member Rank = Mature Champion pip895's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Liam77 View Post
    So with a drum and the amount of water it uses to clean the mesh which goes to waste, if you also had a trickle in through a declorinator, do you think that would be enough to cover the 10% water change?
    Over the summer it seems to have been (I have a water meter on the pond supply) I am changing over 10% a week via the auto top up. This covers a weekly purge of the bottom drain too + a bit for evaporation etc.
    6000g in ground koi pond
    +3000g lily/Anoxic pond attached
    29 koi (40 to 65cm)
    Bottom drain, Mid water & Skimmer to Drum
    JBR boichamber->Blue eco 500 pump ->below surface return.
    Blue Eco 240 -> Large MB -> Waterfall -> Planted Anoxic pond (25 baskets)

  7. #6
    Senior Member Rank = Yonsai Liam77's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by pip895 View Post
    Over the summer it seems to have been (I have a water meter on the pond supply) I am changing over 10% a week via the auto top up. This covers a weekly purge of the bottom drain too + a bit for evaporation etc.
    Ok, so over winter do you not need to do as high a percentage off a water change due to lack of feeding? Or do you still aim for 10% minimum. I’m just trying to decide if I need to put an independent line in like an overflow or something to move more than the drum will allow me.

    oh and sorry not trying to high jack this thread but it kind of all ties in

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  9. #7
    Extreme Koi Member Rank = Mature Champion pip895's Avatar
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    In winter the percentage of water changed via the feed in will be lower for me but rain will usually provide he rest - you will need to provide an overflow aneyway to get rid of excess water, unles your pond is covered.
    6000g in ground koi pond
    +3000g lily/Anoxic pond attached
    29 koi (40 to 65cm)
    Bottom drain, Mid water & Skimmer to Drum
    JBR boichamber->Blue eco 500 pump ->below surface return.
    Blue Eco 240 -> Large MB -> Waterfall -> Planted Anoxic pond (25 baskets)

  10. Thanks freddyboy Thanked / Liked this Post
  11. #8
    Senior Member Rank = Grand Champion Doghouse Riley's Avatar
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    As long as the water parameters are acceptable it doesn't matter whether you change ten or twenty percent or more each week.
    What does matter, is that you do it as a trickle, rather than as a bulk change.
    Koi don't like sudden changes, in....anything.
    "The information's out there,
    You only have to let it in." (Jesse Stone)

  12. #9
    i would say always have a trickle in and out going, 10 % water change a week is a minimum in winter for me, currently doing 30 % per week through the growth season.
    Its easy to control ammonia and nitrite with no water changes on a mature system, but theres so much more to fresh water than that.

 

 

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