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  1. #1

    Reducing Phosphate in koi pond.

    Hi can anyone share what other ways there are apart from adding chemicals to my pond to reduce Phosphate in my water please?

    My parameters aren’t too bad but my Phosphate reading is concerning and want to reduce this before we get an increase in sun/uva/uvb on the pond throughout the day time as my pond is uncovered.

    My filter system is an Easypod & 18Watt UV, moving bed filter and Bakki shower.




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  3. #2
    Senior Member Rank = Yonsai stewyash's Avatar
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    I’m in the same boat as you fella, everything else is fine just got slightly raised phos, was gunna post but I think I’ll hitch a ride on yours if that’s ok Reducing Phosphate in koi pond.


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  5. #3
    Senior Member Rank = Grand Champion andikoi's Avatar
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    over feeding,not cleaning filter enough and not changing enough water,phosphates are in koi food,in your water supply and also come from water run off from surrounding soil,so what are you feeding,how many times do you clean filter and are you running tap water through a dechlorinator,also is your pond at ground level,any of these can be the problem,,,,,andi

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    Senior Member Rank = Yonsai stewyash's Avatar
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    Cheers andi looking at your list I don’t think I’m doing the first two enough so might need to up the regime a bit, testing the water coming from dechlorinator unit it’s the same that’s in the pond so might be stuck with it meh


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    Senior Member Rank = Grand Champion andikoi's Avatar
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    if its coming in high through tap water then a bigger carbon filter and slower top ups may waork,,,andi

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  11. #6
    Extreme Koi Member Rank = Mature Champion AdamKoi78's Avatar
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    Aquatic plants can reduce phosphates as well as nitrogen compounds like ammonia, nitrite and nitrates. The trick is how to add plant's without themselves becoming a source of problems.

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  13. #7
    Senior Member Rank = Supreme Champion RS2OOO's Avatar
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    Always interesting to see other peoples test results.

    I find with mine, and therefore assumed the same for everyone, that phosphates tend to increase along with nitrates, yet your nitrates are zero.

    As Andi says, keeping things clean and removing any built up sediment is probably your best course of action.

    At least you have an unlimited supply of plant food for your garden!

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  15. #8
    Quote Originally Posted by andikoi View Post
    over feeding,not cleaning filter enough and not changing enough water,phosphates are in koi food,in your water supply and also come from water run off from surrounding soil,so what are you feeding,how many times do you clean filter and are you running tap water through a dechlorinator,also is your pond at ground level,any of these can be the problem,,,,,andi
    Hi Andi,

    I clean Easypod once per week by boiling over my k1 approximately 2-3 times with each flush through.

    Currently feeding aquasource all season in small quantity Wednesday and Saturday each week. Around 30 pellets in each feed.

    I change 10% water per filter clean.

    Trickle water in via dechlorinator for approx 10 hours to top back up.

    Pond is raised up and coping stone so nothing running in from large surface area.


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  16. #9
    Here is my raised pond




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  18. #10
    Senior Member Rank = Grand Champion andikoi's Avatar
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    so the first thing ive noticed apart from being a nice looking pond is the size,is that about 10ft x 8ft and im guessing 4ft deep,thats 2000g,an easypod in my opinion is no good for a koi pond,what youve got is the centre part of a nexus,the mechanical removal stage,no bio stage,id say you need a bio stage somehow,even a shower filter would help,or sell the pod for £200 and spend another £100-£150 and find a used nexus 200,,,,,andi

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  20. #11
    Quote Originally Posted by andikoi View Post
    so the first thing ive noticed apart from being a nice looking pond is the size,is that about 10ft x 8ft and im guessing 4ft deep,thats 2000g,an easypod in my opinion is no good for a koi pond,what youve got is the centre part of a nexus,the mechanical removal stage,no bio stage,id say you need a bio stage somehow,even a shower filter would help,or sell the pod for £200 and spend another £100-£150 and find a used nexus 200,,,,,andi
    I have a 3 tier Bakki shower with pumice and a moving bed filter with 100 litres of Hel-x in so basically a Nexus just in a different format and not in one complete unit.


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  22. #12
    Quote Originally Posted by andikoi View Post
    so the first thing ive noticed apart from being a nice looking pond is the size,is that about 10ft x 8ft and im guessing 4ft deep,thats 2000g,an easypod in my opinion is no good for a koi pond,what youve got is the centre part of a nexus,the mechanical removal stage,no bio stage,id say you need a bio stage somehow,even a shower filter would help,or sell the pod for £200 and spend another £100-£150 and find a used nexus 200,,,,,andi
    Pond is 8 x 6 x 4 1/2 foot.
    Thanks for your help Andi


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  24. #13
    Senior Member Rank = Grand Champion andikoi's Avatar
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    well that wasnt on the other pictures lol,one thing in that photo is your dechlorinator only has 2 pods,i would add another carbon pod on if you could,that would help with phospahetes from tap,,,andi

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  26. #14
    Quote Originally Posted by andikoi View Post
    well that wasnt on the other pictures lol,one thing in that photo is your dechlorinator only has 2 pods,i would add another carbon pod on if you could,that would help with phospahetes from tap,,,andi
    Okay thanks I will look in to that.

    Will adding carbon to the filter help remove Phosphate?




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  27. #15
    Senior Member Rank = Grand Champion andikoi's Avatar
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    i dont think you can,ive never heard of putting carbon in a filter,you could try a bag of zeolite though,,,andi

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  29. #16
    Senior Member Rank = Supreme Champion RS2OOO's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by andikoi View Post
    well that wasnt on the other pictures lol,
    Lol.... Something suspicious going on here....

    Did he photoshop the shower out of the first picture or has he photoshopped it into the second picture

    I'm only kidding!


    Out of interest, how old/mature is your pond?

    My pond is new in the sense I recently rebuilt it, but the filter is mature. Haven't measured phosphates for a couple of weeks but my pond water has turned brown and I've suddenly had a huge increase in DOCs (Dissolved organic compounds) which has literally created an oil slick and heavy foam in one section of the pond where there's little water movement. I'll test phosphates (and nitrates) tomorrow to see how high they are, but my guess to the cause is probably some level of new pond syndrome as it commences the process of maturity. In my case I shall just leave it and it should all clear up over the next month or 2 as things begin to settle, so I wondered if yours could be going through a similar process?

    Another thing I might try is to turn the UV off and let the pond go through the pea soup algae stage for a couple of weeks which should eat up all the excess nutrients and I assume reduce phosphates, then turn UV back on to clear out the algae. Don't want to recommend this to anyone till I've tried it.... but I think it would work.

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  31. #17
    Quote Originally Posted by RS2OOO View Post
    Lol.... Something suspicious going on here....

    Did he photoshop the shower out of the first picture or has he photoshopped it into the second picture

    I'm only kidding!


    Out of interest, how old/mature is your pond?

    My pond is new in the sense I recently rebuilt it, but the filter is mature. Haven't measured phosphates for a couple of weeks but my pond water has turned brown and I've suddenly had a huge increase in DOCs (Dissolved organic compounds) which has literally created an oil slick and heavy foam in one section of the pond where there's little water movement. I'll test phosphates (and nitrates) tomorrow to see how high they are, but my guess to the cause is probably some level of new pond syndrome as it commences the process of maturity. In my case I shall just leave it and it should all clear up over the next month or 2 as things begin to settle, so I wondered if yours could be going through a similar process?

    Another thing I might try is to turn the UV off and let the pond go through the pea soup algae stage for a couple of weeks which should eat up all the excess nutrients and I assume reduce phosphates, then turn UV back on to clear out the algae. Don't want to recommend this to anyone till I've tried it.... but I think it would work.
    Hi RS2000

    My pond is now approximately 10 months old but have had Bakki shower on pond for 3 weeks.

    Only ever fed the koi twice per week on a very small amount and then ceased feeding altogether December January February and then reintroduced feeding slowly in March and continued this until now.

    I was considering using actives carbon to help reduce Phosphates but I have been advised this can also reduce other parameters so I need to be wary and monitor.

    I am open to views/experiences of others. Thanks


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  33. #18
    Senior Member Rank = Grand Champion andikoi's Avatar
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    if im honest i would leave it be,you could throw an aqua source balance ball in to help with the bio on the shower,whats in it out of interest,as it is it will probably sort itself out once it gets a bit more mature,,,,andi

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  35. #19
    Senior Member Rank = Supreme Champion RS2OOO's Avatar
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    Agree with Andi.

    I think activated carbon could actually increase phosphates.

    The balancing act is so complex its probably best to let it fix itself, the pond is still relatively immature at 10 months, the bakki shower might have affected something giving the knock on effect to phosphates (which in themselves don't harm the fish), maybe best to just leave it a couple of months and see how things go.

    Your UV should keep on top of algae blooms either way.

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  37. #20
    Quote Originally Posted by RS2OOO View Post
    Agree with Andi.

    I think activated carbon could actually increase phosphates.

    The balancing act is so complex its probably best to let it fix itself, the pond is still relatively immature at 10 months, the bakki shower might have affected something giving the knock on effect to phosphates (which in themselves don't harm the fish), maybe best to just leave it a couple of months and see how things go.

    Your UV should keep on top of algae blooms either way.
    I think my next addition to the filtration will be a 55w uv as the 18w Easypod one probably isn’t man enough to do 6500 litres of water in direct sunlight but I will keep an eye on it. This could also be impacted by Phosphate stimulating algae/weed growth which concerns me.

    The Bakki shower has pumice inside, it’s doing its job as I have a zero nitrates reading which is good.


    My concerns were for high Phosphate reading and my GH & KH both being 3.


    Appreciate all of your views thank you.



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