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  1. #1

    DIY Bio Ball Issues

    Hi. I built x2 220L filters for my 3600 L koi pond in the autumn last year. I’m getting old and cleaning my dustbin with filter medias was proving too hard for me. Too be fair that dustbin served me well and I seldom had issues with water quality for over 10 years. Anyway x1 barrel has approx 75L of K1 media to remove solids and the second approx 75 of micro K1.
    My issue is the pond keeps smelling of rotten eggs since spring begun and I keep getting foam around waterfall area. I have 5 koi approx 2ft long and 6 small shubunkins. I also have a 45L air pump working the micro and the pond.. There is NO sludge on the floor and I feed them a handful of food twice a day (premium koi sticks).
    I had really bad blanket weed in April so dosed with clover field which killed it all dead. I regular clean the sides of the dead algae and change approx 200L every 3-5 days and draining the K1 barrel - it stinks bad.
    Just a note I have a smaller pond heavily planted with aquatic plants between barrels and pond.
    Any ideas what’s wrong ? Genuinely stressed as some of my koi are 20 years old and often lethargic.
    The K1 does an incredible job of filtering out solids but tge micro perhaps not up the job?
    Regards



  2. #2
    Hmm, well a bad egg smell is typical of hydrogen sulphide, which is highly toxic for koi. It is normally formed by anaerobic bacterially activity in decaying "sludge". Sounds like the initial k1 barrel may be the issue, more frequent cleaning would help - the quicker you remove solid waste from the water column the better.
    What are the water parameters like?

  3. #3
    I don’t test too often but mostly they are good. Occasionally Ph goes up and ammonia a little high but not massive.
    The K1 barrel does an outstanding job of removing muck. When I clean it twice a week it’s filthy but the micro barrel has always been crystal clear from day 1.
    Looks like I’ll have to clean K1 3 times a week which is a lot of water to waste. Can’t believe my old dustbin filter was actually brilliant and that was a once Everett 7 day clean and never had foam

  4. #4
    Think I know now what the problem is. All night they have been going nuts and this morning it’s like a foam bath.
    They are chasing the one large koi around and around nudging it. I think she’s spawning. Going back a month I had loads of frog spawn so I think possibly this is where all my protein foam is coming from?

  5. #5
    Couple of other thoughts -
    More air in the pond won't do any harm.
    You could try changing food to one that produces less waste?
    A vortex on the front might be something to consider.

  6. #6
    Quote Originally Posted by RoyS View Post
    I don’t test too often but mostly they are good. Occasionally Ph goes up and ammonia a little high but not massive.
    The K1 barrel does an outstanding job of removing muck. When I clean it twice a week it’s filthy but the micro barrel has always been crystal clear from day 1.
    Looks like I’ll have to clean K1 3 times a week which is a lot of water to waste. Can’t believe my old dustbin filter was actually brilliant and that was a once Everett 7 day clean and never had foam

    Roy, I'm regularly asked to help diagnose pond problems but often only given vague references to the actual parameters that have been tested and the values. Since the first step with any pond problem is to test all essential parameters, it's far easier to give valid advice if these are given at the outset. Can you give the values of any tests you've done?

    As a recent example to show how important this is, the questioner said that the koi were acting strangely and obviously distressed but all parameters were "good with only a slightly high nitrite level". When the actual values were given, the "slightly high nitrite level" was actually five times the maximum tolerable level which was actually over half the lethal level. No wonder they were distressed.

    With that knowledge, the procedure was obvious - a few water changes to reduce the nitrite level immediately improved the koi behaviour and addressing the biofilter problem provided a permanent cure.

  7. Thanks Ajm, Maddog1, RS2OOO Thanked / Liked this Post
  8. #7
    Thanks guys.
    For about 3 hours this morning it was brutal watching them nudging her and I thought she was going to jump out the pool more than once.
    The water had gone grey / white and full of foam. Tonight I changed about 25% and the foams pretty much gone and there’s still a bit of murkiness to the colour of the water but all of them have settled down. Have added a further 30L air pump to little pool and main one. Will test water tomorrow and every day for a week and see what’s happening

  9. Thanks Manky Sanke Thanked / Liked this Post
 

 

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