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  1. #21
    Senior Member Rank = Supreme Champion freddyboy's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by john1 View Post
    Bet your wife got a shock when you carried the ibc in
    Sounds like heaven with the sofa in there.
    Brill hey john. Few beers. And a sofa to sllep the hangover off. Haha
    Bliss

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  3. #22
    Extreme Koi Member Rank = Supreme Champion john1's Avatar
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    And the heating full blast Fred.
    John

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  5. #23
    Senior Member Rank = Yonsai Dudley's Avatar
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    IMG_1547.jpgIMG_1550.jpg I tried to get photos at the right aspect but they load in landscape for some reason. Anyway, as you may see I installed a 27" immersion heater in the bottom protected by a length of perforated underground land drain pipe. I think now a 3KW heater is a bit OTT even with the internal thermostat being bypassed and a micro controller digital thermostat fitted. The room appears to heat the water plenty.
    Attached Images Attached Images
    Last edited by Dudley; 10-11-2018 at 03:09 PM. Reason: adding text

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  7. #24
    Senior Member Rank = Yonsai Dudley's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by john1 View Post
    Bet your wife got a shock when you carried the ibc in
    Sounds like heaven with the sofa in there.
    To be honest she wasn't about when it went in. LOL And it was 2 days before she ventured down there to look.
    The building was originally my pig farrowing house. Back in the day when pigs were kept in stalls and crates, this building was built in the 50s well before my time and we never used it that way, it was always just a building junk was storred in. But my wife ventured into making Victorian boned wedding dresses, so I adapted it for her use. She did that for a number of years but now only sews for fun at home really, so again this building/room is unused. Its about 2.8 m wide and 6m long but still has a lot of her work tables down the walls, where sewing machines were used, and a 2.4 x 1.5 m cutting table in the middle, so I will have to have a word with her about clearing out all her 'junk' if i'm getting into this fish lark properly, lol.

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  9. #25
    Senior Member Rank = Yonsai Dudley's Avatar
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    On the ammonia front, prior to any water change today it was down a bit when I tested just now. Its dropped back to about 0.6 and nitrate was up again from yesterdays 8 to 12 today. KH was down just a tiny bit and GH and pH unchanged on yesterday. Water temp stable.
    I like John1 's suggestion of trickle water changes. I will have to look at a way of doing that. An overflow from the IBC is simple to do but not having an inline de-chlorinater means setting up a header tank where I can gravity feed treated stored tap water.
    Looks like I may have to start ripping out some of the wife's shelving and sewing tables sooner rather than later.
    Last edited by Dudley; 11-11-2018 at 03:33 PM.

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  11. #26
    Extreme Koi Member Rank = Supreme Champion john1's Avatar
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    Like it Dudley,how did you do the electrics on the immersion heater?
    How are you dechlorinating the water?
    A header tank would work if you had a ball valve of some sort.
    Sodium thiosulphate is what most use
    https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Sodium-Th...oPgf:rk:4:pf:0
    like this and its cheap.
    John

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  13. #27
    Senior Member Rank = Yonsai Dudley's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by john1 View Post
    Like it Dudley,how did you do the electrics on the immersion heater?
    How are you dechlorinating the water?
    A header tank would work if you had a ball valve of some sort.
    Sodium thiosulphate is what most use
    https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Sodium-Th...oPgf:rk:4:pf:0


    like this and its cheap.
    controller.jpg My stepson gave me this little gadget. The immersion heater is not plugged into the mains, its plugged into the back of this gadget, which is mains powered. So it isolates the power to the immersion rather than the immersion thermostat controlling it. The marvelous thing is that it learns the water habit, that is to say, if the stat is set at say 21 and the water temp drops it turns on the heater as you would expect, but unlike any other stat that will only turn off heat again when the stat senses 21, this learns how long it takes to warm the water and knows to turn off the power in advance of the stat sensing 21, knowing that there will be residual heat coming through, thus no overheat.
    But although its ready to go, I have yet to switch it on as tho room is warm enough.
    I purchased a small bottle of Blagdon fresh start to de-clorinate. So I will look into Sodium thiosulphate or something as I can see the £££s will add up long term. But I like the idea of a trickle feed from a mains with inline declorinater.
    I have a tap and drain conveniently located. I will just need to work out a good way of restricting the flow rate.
    Steve.

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  15. #28
    Extreme Koi Member Rank = Supreme Champion john1's Avatar
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    Thanks for that Steve,i was more wondering how you got the electrics on the heater water tight,did you drill a hole in the tank for the heater to go through?
    The sodium thio is so cheap and it will last a couple of years,there is a formula to mix it to make a solution but we can save that to when you get some.
    I wouldnt use an in line 10ins de-chlorinater as they are rubbish and let chlorine through,though the big blue is supposed to be ok but costs a lot.
    You can get dpd4 tablets to check for chlorine,but if you go on Manky Sankys site he is the water genius
    Ammonia
    Have a good read you will learn a lot Steve.
    John

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  17. #29
    Senior Member Rank = Yonsai Dudley's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by john1 View Post
    Thanks for that Steve,i was more wondering how you got the electrics on the heater water tight,did you drill a hole in the tank for the heater to go through?
    The sodium thio is so cheap and it will last a couple of years,there is a formula to mix it to make a solution but we can save that to when you get some.
    I wouldnt use an in line 10ins de-chlorinater as they are rubbish and let chlorine through,though the big blue is supposed to be ok but costs a lot.
    You can get dpd4 tablets to check for chlorine,but if you go on Manky Sankys site he is the water genius
    Ammonia
    Have a good read you will learn a lot Steve.
    I have retro fitted an immersion heater in a copper cylinder before so fitting one in a plastic tank was easy. I drilled the correct hole in a nice flat area of the IBC side, reinforced it with an aluminium plate on the outside knowing the weight of the heater element may distort the plastic. I fitted a mechanical immersion heater flange with some Sikaflex 221, its a rubber rather than silicone. Screwed in the heater element before Sikaflex set and left overnight. Oh as you can see I used a length of underground drain pipe to cover the heater and that is simply held with 2 stainless screws to plastic angle stuck to the inside of the tank and supported with more angle on the floor. I can unscrew and remove the cover to clean any debris build up around the element.

    Just as well you said about the in line declorinators not being that good.

    I will look at Manky Sankys site. Thanks Steve.

    Updated 20.45.
    Just looked at the ammonia link for Manky Sankys site. Very interesting. With my Temp at 18 and PH at 8 I can tell with my ammonia today at 0.6 I am at the moment just under the maximum level of 0.61.
    So thanks again for that link John.
    Last edited by Dudley; 10-11-2018 at 09:50 PM.

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  19. #30
    Extreme Koi Member Rank = Supreme Champion john1's Avatar
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    Thanks Steve with you now,yes Mankys site is an eye opener and a great learning curve.
    John

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  21. #31
    Senior Member Rank = Yonsai Dudley's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by john1 View Post
    Thanks Steve with you now,yes Mankys site is an eye opener and a great learning curve.
    Hi John. I think I am possibly ready to take the Manky's exam . I have read right though his stuff.

    And I don't think my little fishes are doing too bad, where is that bit of wood to touch? Blast, I had hold of it just now.

    If my Mankys study is correct, the fact my pH (not PH as Manky say's, and as I was writing earlier) is stable at 8 is good, would be better if it were 7.5 but a stable 8 is better than a pH jumping about.
    My ammonia although crept up to 1.0 has dropped back a bit over the last few days to what looks like about a 0.6.
    The Nitrate has gone up steadily which if I am correct means the filter is now converting the ammonia to nitrite and then to nitrate.
    Had the 131 fish 2 weeks now, two days ago had two die, but they were about the smallest. Found one under the pump the other was simply swimming on its last legs.
    But other than the odd few flashing, which does bother me, although its not always the same fish, I think a lot are flashing but only occasionally the fish are looking/behaving great.
    As my ammonia is down a bit, and according to Manky's scale I am just on the limit for my PH and Temperature, I am not going to be changing quite so much water as I have, to see if its the water changing that is aggravating the flashing. I am wondering if it is the ammonia that is causing it or the de-chlorination additive. Maybe 15% water change per day is too much, especially as its done in one hit and not a trickle. I do stand my new water for 24hrs after treating and to allow it to get to tank temp before it goes into the fish.
    I have been feeding the 1mm pellet the breeder supplied, still have loads left, I only feed about 1/2 a teaspoon at a time and try to feed 3-4 times a day. Handy being semi retired and working from home a lot. But yesterday I bought some packs of frozen bloodworm, tubifex, Cyclops, Brine Shrimp, Daphnia and Mysis, whatever that is. My God do they love that stuff. Each frozen cube is smaller than an oxo cube, so one cube does a single feeding just fine I think, and unlike the 1mm pellet that sinks I am able to hold the cube in my fingers and they are already hand feeding now, it has really given them confidence. Before when I approached the tank they dropped to the bottom and stayed there, now even if I am not feeding they are swimming about all over the place. Obviously the rise in water temperature is helping, but even so they are really bold now.
    So I think it is a matter of carry on as is, unless you or anyone members can give me any other suggestions or incidence.
    I am doing water tests daily so I can see day by day any change.
    Last edited by Dudley; 12-11-2018 at 08:44 PM.

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  23. #32
    Extreme Koi Member Rank = Supreme Champion john1's Avatar
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    Seems you are doing right Steve and yes Manky is a very knowledgeable guy on water.
    I would expect a few to die for one reason or another,have you any deformed? as they should be sorted.
    Feeding sounds good mate,little and often is the key and yes handfeeding adds to the fun of it.
    I would maybe keep the water changes going if only slightly but a tricle in/out would be good if only a slow one as it is surprising how much they poo..
    All that Brine shrimp etc is good for them as they need high protein,keep at it Steve and if you can do a tricle in/out so much the better,doesnt have to be too fast but it can keep the temp constant.
    I am retired now for nearly five years so plenty of time for the koi.
    John

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  25. #33
    Senior Member Rank = Yonsai Dudley's Avatar
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    I really did not expect all this science to be involved.
    It started by digging a garden pond, thought it was too late to get fish now to stock it this year, but then thought maybe I can buy some little ones, stick then in a tank and pop them in the pond in the spring, I will save myself loads of money and have a great choice of fish to put in the pond. Well wasn't that a naive thought? LOL
    Anyway, the tank took precedence over the pond and although I have all the materials, liner, underlay, and a huge hole in the ground, that's about it. It is filling up with water nicely though, shame the liner is still in the shed. We have clay soil and my other farm ponds are not lined, so i will need to pump this one out when I get a dry day or two to put in the liner in etc.
    I know this is a Koi forum, but Koi wasn't really the intention, my wife wanted a summer house and we agreed, I would do a summer house build if i could have a pond in the garden with fish (fish non specific), deal struck if the pond could be like one of those american ponds 'The Pond Digger' builds, all rocked out, loads of plants, wife loves greenery, waterfalls, you know the type, nothing like I see being built on here. Anyway work started. I must have got 30 tonne of rock brought in one way or another. I traveled as far as Leicester for 6 rocks that I bought on eBay, big bugger though, most rock was local in Kent, sometimes free to collect.
    Anyway one day I got my 7.5 tonne digger out, and the hole was done in a few hours, a day or two later the area around it was landscaped. Started building the filter wetland area, and all going swimmingly, well that was until I got involved with fish. Oh well at least I have fish.

    And re my fish, I cannot see any deformed, all look to have nice straight bodies and swimming very good. There are some out growing others, but that is expected. I have my favorites already.
    All the best
    Steve.

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  27. #34
    Keeping fish is quite addictive. I myself inherited a 2000 gallon pond with 15 mid-sized koi in it, now 8 months later I've got a 4500 gallon pond with 32 fish and expect to get more next year lol.

    Keep going it will be great feeling knowing you brought your fish on from fry.

    John

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  29. #35
    Extreme Koi Member Rank = Supreme Champion john1's Avatar
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    You are very fortunate to have your own digger Steve,do you have a working farm still?
    How are they getting on? They will start to grow fast and choosing which to keep is a hard task and probably grow out of the ibc that is why i said it would be better with tricle in out Steve,keep the water nice.
    John

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  31. #36
    Senior Member Rank = Yonsai Dudley's Avatar
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    Hi John
    I had a pig in the back garden, ok it was a big garden, but like everything else I don’t like doing half a job, so I bought the farm. The film ‘We bought a zoo’ comes to mind’. I joined my local neighbourhood watch, that wasn’t enough so joined Kent Police, 14 years service as a Special Constable. My wife wanted to move to a new house, so I built one. I wanted a couple of koi, oh you know the rest of that story.
    Anyway back to the farm.
    We had 50 sows producing about 1100 pigs a year on a Sainsbury contract and my local butcher. But also had a small herd of Dexter cattle and saanan goats. A few chicken and geese. My stepson has now set up a free range pig farm so no point me having pigs, so my stock went over there, we still have a few cows, goats and sheep, and the chicken and geese. Do nothing much with them really, I just put one in the freezer for us now and again, don’t sell anything.
    I’m 63 so not breeding anything anymore, as I cull the numbers fall.
    At the moment it’s 4 cows, 20 goats, 1 hogget, 19 geese and 6 hens.
    Oh and 6 dogs, 5 cats and 129 koi, oh you know that. 😃
    My tractor DUD 191C (Dudley) was bought new for this farm in 1965, also have Jake my 7.5 T digger, but I bought that only a couple of years ago for ditching etc, a dumper and various trailers.
    Also big into Scuba diving and boats, we have a sport cruiser at a marina in Gillingham Kent.
    So I am a busy bee. Oh yeah, forgot, I also keep honey bees, I have 5 hives.
    My trade however, since I left school is carpentry and joinery, and setting up a building company is how the bills get paid.
    Jesus, reading this back, no wonder I had a heart attack in May, don’t show this to my doctor please.
    Steve.
    Last edited by Dudley; 14-11-2018 at 10:31 AM.

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  33. #37
    Extreme Koi Member Rank = Supreme Champion john1's Avatar
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    Well we have had your life story Steve and a busy one at that.
    Came from a bit of a farming background myself in N.Ireland when i spent most of my early years on my uncles farm with dairy cows and pigs still think of it now 55 yrs later.
    All i do now is look after the koi and a bit of gardening and diy.
    Been looking at cruisers myself for the river but as my wife doesnt like them maybe i am just dreaming.
    John

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  35. #38
    Extreme Koi Member Rank = Supreme Champion john1's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by JohnS View Post
    Keeping fish is quite addictive. I myself inherited a 2000 gallon pond with 15 mid-sized koi in it, now 8 months later I've got a 4500 gallon pond with 32 fish and expect to get more next year lol.

    Keep going it will be great feeling knowing you brought your fish on from fry.

    John


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    You have a pond full there John with 32 in,mind you i have about 35 in 3000 gals,far too many so have to get rid of some in the spring.
    John

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  37. #39
    Quote Originally Posted by john1 View Post
    You have a pond full there John with 32 in,mind you i have about 35 in 3000 gals,far too many so have to get rid of some in the spring.
    What exactly says a pond is full, I see ponds with loads more fish than I have and half the time I have to search for mine when it's cold lol starting a new filter

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  39. #40
    Senior Member Rank = Yonsai Dudley's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by JohnS View Post
    What exactly says a pond is full, I see ponds with loads more fish than I have and half the time I have to search for mine when it's cold lol starting a new filter

    Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk
    Talking of pond size, you know you can get a bit carried away with pond size if you have the room and a digger. I had an idea of size and where it was going to go but didn’t really set it out much.
    I just got up in the cab, put the bucket in the ground and started pulling away. And when you are that far away from the dirt and it’s no physical effort the hole looked a lot bigger than I planned.
    It’s not too massive, but I then had to go and buy a 12x10 m EPDM liner.
    I only went down 1.2m so I think I will put the bucket back in hole and go down to 1.5m
    On paper I have calculated 7000 gallons but that’s not including the wetland filter area, that’s another large volume of water. And the two waterfalls will have rock pool areas on the way down to the pond.
    I will invest in a meter so I shall know exactly how much water it takes to fill. Allowing for pond, wetland and waterfalls, I’m guessing 10000 gal.
    I don’t intend to stock it heavy so hoping I’ll get away with 4000 g/hr pump. But I’ve not really got into that yet.
    I wasn’t at first going to fit a bottom drain either, but my crash course in Kio keeping makes me now think I will need one otherwise it will mean a full pump out every spring and a good pond bottom clean out. And I know I won’t get around to doing that every year.


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