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  1. #1
    Junior Member Rank = Fry Dobbie's Avatar
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    Moved house and inherited an established pond- don’t want to hurt the fish!

    Hi everyone, I’m brand new and up until recently, never owned any fish.
    I moved house recently and the pond and fish came with it.
    if I can tell you some things about what I have been doing and then if possible could anyone help me make sure I’m doing it right please.
    pond itself is 15x6 and 5 feet deep one end and around 4 the other.
    lily pads are established as are the fish.
    I discovered there are a total of 10 large Koi or similar and 6 much smaller species.
    I have tested the water and all levels . The only ones of note are phosphate which is high as the water is hard here thePh is around 7.0.

    if I’m honest, I don’t know what I have and I can’t work out if they are Koi or massive Goldfish.
    I have taken some photos of the fish and the filter system. I’m not sure if the filter system needs a clean, as the first tub is filled half way with algae, uneaten food etc but otherwise looks clear at the top.
    Any help with the fish would also be greatly appreciated.

    there are also two very blue/grey ones too. Sorry no help I’m sure.
    Essentially, I don’t want to get rid of them as they are lovely and fun at feeding time.

    I can take more pictures if that helps.
    I apologise in advance as I know a lot of this is out there and on this forum, but honestly I am as new as can be and a lot of what I am searching for may not even be the right terminology.
    image.jpgimage.jpgimage.jpg8B5C6532-E0CA-4B96-9C70-7E209A9D2B57.jpgCB0C41D3-1F89-4D92-9CF4-9A72D1560655.jpgFBF0E6DA-6190-41EF-8878-C22BA69EEEB3.jpg86A4CFEE-888C-4D28-AF63-BE104927B9E1.jpg



  2. #2
    Certainly not an expert myself but some look like Koi and don't normally get goldfish that big.

    Fliterwise , looks fairly dated and will need work to keep it clean, probably brushes, "hair rollers" and matting in 3 different bays.

    Brushes need cleaning regularly, but with pond water not tap water. Fill up some buckets with pind water , put the Brushes in and rinse them out thoroughly. I'm not sure how much dirt there is in the other two sections but this is where the biological filtration takes place. It's important not to kill off the bacteria in here by cleaning with fresh water etc especially if the pond readings are good.

    It also looks like there is a double uv unit and I daresay the uv lights are well past there best.

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  4. #3
    Senior Member Rank = Nanasai Big nige's Avatar
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    Ok welcome to the forum.
    Yes definitely koi and yes that filter needs a clean lol, so it looks like matting in the first part of your filter. Remove it one sheet at a time and clean each one using buckets of water from your POND, DO NOT USE TAP WATER. just put each one in the bucket and rinse it ok. If as you say food is in there they have been overfed. Feed a couple of times a day for as much as they can eat in 5 mins then scoop out any remaining food. Food left in the pond will decompose and push up your ammonia/nitrite which you don't want. As the water temperature drops feeding should be reduced, plenty of info on line regarding this.
    There is a huge amount of information on line regarding koi care and it's worth reading to get a good basic understanding but any specific questions feel free to post here and you will get plenty of help and good advice.

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  6. #4
    Senior Member Rank = Nanasai Big nige's Avatar
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    see 2 of us posting at the same time

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  8. #5
    Senior Member Rank = Supreme Champion Ajm's Avatar
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    As a link to back up what big nige is saying ie information on the net start with this site and you'll not go far wrong

    https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&sour...VPrZ-YpZjJTVkI

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    Freddyboy the legend

    "we are water keepers first"

    Johnathan

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  10. #6
    Senior Member Rank = Gosai KyKoi's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Dobbie View Post
    Hi everyone, I’m brand new and up until recently, never owned any fish.
    I moved house recently and the pond and fish came with it.
    if I can tell you some things about what I have been doing and then if possible could anyone help me make sure I’m doing it right please.
    pond itself is 15x6 and 5 feet deep one end and around 4 the other.
    lily pads are established as are the fish.
    I discovered there are a total of 10 large Koi or similar and 6 much smaller species.
    I have tested the water and all levels . The only ones of note are phosphate which is high as the water is hard here thePh is around 7.0.

    if I’m honest, I don’t know what I have and I can’t work out if they are Koi or massive Goldfish.
    I have taken some photos of the fish and the filter system. I’m not sure if the filter system needs a clean, as the first tub is filled half way with algae, uneaten food etc but otherwise looks clear at the top.
    Any help with the fish would also be greatly appreciated.

    there are also two very blue/grey ones too. Sorry no help I’m sure.
    Essentially, I don’t want to get rid of them as they are lovely and fun at feeding time.

    I can take more pictures if that helps.
    I apologise in advance as I know a lot of this is out there and on this forum, but honestly I am as new as can be and a lot of what I am searching for may not even be the right terminology.
    image.jpgimage.jpgimage.jpg8B5C6532-E0CA-4B96-9C70-7E209A9D2B57.jpgCB0C41D3-1F89-4D92-9CF4-9A72D1560655.jpgFBF0E6DA-6190-41EF-8878-C22BA69EEEB3.jpg86A4CFEE-888C-4D28-AF63-BE104927B9E1.jpg
    Picture 3 is a Ghost carp. Not sure on the others atm

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  12. #7
    Senior Member Rank = Nanasai Big nige's Avatar
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    Dobbie where abouts are you?
    Blue grey ones might be asagis

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  14. #8
    Junior Member Rank = Fry Dobbie's Avatar
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    Hi, thanks everyone.
    I am usually the type that researches hobbies really well but usually, I have time to work out what I need etc.
    I will be doing a lot of research on this but I wanted to get some quick ideas in order to ensure I am making the right decisions now rather than trying to fix something that goes wrong!

    I have some better pictures of the fish, it would be nice to know what they are but not essential.
    Can I ask for more help please?
    Whilst the filtration system is dated the guts will have to stay for now really until I know what I’m doing but can I improve on what I have?

    The UV system seems to be discontinued.
    Is there an equivalent out there and what would be the good sites to visit rather than what Google ads brings up?

    I can find the online manual and replace the lamps in the meantime.

    In terms of the bays I have.
    From what I can see, the first bay appears to be divided by a spongy net and is empty except for a huge build up of green stuff! I would say it’s direct from the pond hence the excess food.
    Can I simply clear all of that out?
    The second half has numerous brushes that are 30cm long roughly. I take it these are in need of a rinse.
    Can I also clean the bay of loose material? It won’t damage any bacteria provided I don’t use tap water but scrape out the build up?

    The second bay, I will, as advised, rinse the sponges out but can I also remove the buildup in the bay?
    The bay with the odd round tubes, do I clean these as well or as I understand it, they are the biological filter, should be left alone?

    Finally, the T handle sections are for what exactly?

    I am based in Essex.

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  16. #9
    Senior Member Rank = Gosai KyKoi's Avatar
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    Orange koi is what we call a matsuba I believe

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  18. #10
    Senior Member Rank = Gosai KyKoi's Avatar
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    White koi is possibly called a platinum Ogon

    Black fish looks like a Mirror carp and the one at the surface is a ghost carp

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  20. #11
    Senior Member Rank = Gosai KyKoi's Avatar
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    Remove the brushes and anything in the first bay can be cleaned out completely but as others say use pond water.

    The round tubes your talking about seem to be a BHM type of product which you most certainly don’t want to clean. That’s your bio filtration

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  22. #12
    Senior Member Rank = Gosai KyKoi's Avatar
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    As for your UV I would take out the existing bulb and see what it says in the bulb itself mate. With a 25watt bulb I imagine it being a 25watt T8 UV bulb which can be found anywhere for around £10-£15. Best bet carefully take it out and see what’s said in the bulb mate

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  24. #13
    Senior Member Rank = Nanasai Big nige's Avatar
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    Agree with all kykoi has said, with regard to uv all that matters is the bulb so you won't need to replace the whole unit, just the bulb.
    What I find good is you care about the fish
    A very well respected former member ( who unfortunately I didn't get to know as well as I wished) said " first we are water keepers) so look after your water,. Keep it the best quality you can and the koi will be ok


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  26. #14
    Senior Member Rank = Mature Champion dbs's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Big nige View Post
    Agree with all kykoi has said, with regard to uv all that matters is the bulb so you won't need to replace the whole unit, just the bulb.
    What I find good is you care about the fish
    A very well respected former member ( who unfortunately I didn't get to know as well as I wished) said " first we are water keepers) so look after your water,. Keep it the best quality you can and the koi will be ok


    Sent from my moto e6 play using Tapatalk
    Never a truer thing said mate, and bless old Fred

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  28. #15
    Senior Member Rank = Hassai Mike Bass's Avatar
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    [QUOTE=

    Finally, the T handle sections are for what exactly?

    .[/QUOTE]
    I think you are talking about the gate valves, these will allow you to alter the amount of flow or shut off the pipe or section of the filter ( this is good when cleaning if you can stop the disturbed dirty water from returning into the pond until you have cleaned what you can.) A little bit of kit that I found helps when cleaning matting and brushes is an 18v battery portable power washer that uses a snorkel attachment to wash with pond water rather than mains
    1kGal BD/Skim RDF/UV/k1 2.3kGal 2windows 2airBD/skim Sieve/Eazypod RDFcombi+bakki 3xVP/UV,ASHP

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  30. #16
    Junior Member Rank = Fry Dobbie's Avatar
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    Hi,
    thanks for the help there. I have looked at everything that I can and am confident that the system is heavily outdated as mentioned before. The previous owner, who was getting on, struggled because his knees had gone, so I don’t think anything has been cleaned in a while.

    If I can say what I have done today I would be grateful for advice and criticism please.

    State of pond in general:
    PH level is around 7-7.5.
    Ammonia and nitrate is zero.
    Phosphate is very high to be honest as is the tap water.
    The side of the pond is covered in green algae with some string bits.
    The bottom of the pond from what I could make out is covered in debris.
    The pond is 15x6 feet and 5 feet deep end and 4 feet shallow end. About 12700 Litre capacity as an estimate.

    The filter system:
    We have inside wiring outside!
    There is a red pump that takes water from the biological media bin to an over the top of pond pipe to create some sort of agitation.
    There is a very small motor pack that says air on it. It has very flexible and narrow diameter pipe coming from it. I can’t see where it goes, so I assume it goes into the pond to push oxygen into the pond.
    There is another pump that says Gold 50 on it that pushes water through the Pond Clear UV25 system and the exiting pipe goes to another water agitation pipe above the main pond at the other end.

    State of motor etc:
    The small motor air pack is loud and I can’t work out if it is actually doing anything.
    The motor taking water from the bio bin has three flow levels on it. Currently it is on the middle one. Should this be upped?
    The Gold 50 pump is very quiet and does not appear to have a flow level.

    I opened up the UV box and and I turned it on to see if lit up and it did not.
    Am I right to assume it should actually light up?

    The bins:
    First one has no filter in it other than a slow overflow and under flow to the second half of the bin. It had algae in it and was literally full of sludge.

    The second half has 16 long brushes in rows, 2 long brushes underneath with a large pad of wire mesh. Plus two grey egg box sponges. There is a corked flow pipe to the next half bin.
    There are two larger pipes that lead into a half bin containing about 7 large wire mesh pads.
    The second half is the bio bin, the bottom has some sort of gravel in it as well as lots of small ribbed tubes. Looked quite clean to be honest. Two pipes leading out to the two pumps mentioned, these pipes are loosely covered by two household sieves.

    What I have done:
    Ordered a new Lamp!
    Ordered Algae remover/Sludge remover/Pond Equaliser/Pond Klear/Bacteria tablets.

    I cleaned out the agitation pipes and found lots of leeches, I removed these. Are these safe or is this a bigger problem?

    I removed as much of the sludge and algae as I could from the first two halves as well as rinsing the sponges and brushes in pond water. I couldn’t get it all, is this an issue for now or should it actually be near spotless?

    I cleaned the pads in the next bin but left the bio bin alone.

    Should I be doing more?
    I have found that there seems to be an all in filter lamp systems that is quite a small box in comparison to what I have it’s about 300 and says it can deal with the water turnover of such a large pond. What do you guys recommend in terms of upgrading?

    Do I need to drain the pond to clean it thoroughly?

    Apologies for all of the questions again, I’m getting more knowledgable as I go along.
    thanks in advance.
    Last edited by Dobbie; 18-07-2021 at 12:35 PM.

  31. #17
    Senior Member Rank = Hassai Mike Bass's Avatar
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    Most UV lamps have a clear lens somewhere to check if the UV lamp is working DO NOT LOOK DIRECTLY AT THE LIGHT, Also the fact it lights up doesn’t mean the UV is effective as they loose strength and at least annually replace the lamp.(Some UVs have a trip light that switches them off if no water is running past or the case is opened)

    It is normal practice to pump air not only into the pond for the fish to breath but also into the bio chamber to supply the good bacteria with oxygen.

    Leeches naturally help in breaking down some of the solids as do worms snails and fly larvae but mozzies are a pain near the pond when relaxing with a drink.

    I would be tempted to leave the pond alone unless there are heavy sludge deposits of leaves, and fish waste etc. At the moment as disturbing the bottom will release toxic waste into the pond water. Do one job at a time little by little to maintain the balanced water parameters

    Maybe someone from the Essex area close by could drop round & give some general guidance
    1kGal BD/Skim RDF/UV/k1 2.3kGal 2windows 2airBD/skim Sieve/Eazypod RDFcombi+bakki 3xVP/UV,ASHP

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  33. #18
    Good advice from Mike.

    Where in Essex are you ?

    The way you describe the pumps after the filter implies it has a bottom drain , though I would have thought the bottom of the pond would have been cleaner if that was the case.

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  34. #19
    Junior Member Rank = Fry Dobbie's Avatar
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    I’m located in Burnham on Crouch Graeme. I can’t see to the bottom but I’m sure there is a bottom drain.

 

 

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