Thread: New/ old pond installation

Originally Posted by JazzaM

Alburgler,

If you don't mind me asking, what made you go for the Anoxic filtration ? I've just been reading up on it via Manky Sanky.

I would have the room for the separate pond and I like the idea so what would you say are the added benefits, have you noticed improved health ?

Did you post a pond build so I can have a look to see if it would work for me ?

What made me do anoxic?
Same as everyone does anything really. A bit of forum reading, usually newbie misconceptions squashed by Sid (Manke Sanke) and his website, then reading about filtration etc pointed me at Kevin Nowak. Articles and YouTube channel.
I liked the idea but seemed too good to be true, so for me it was always going to be a bolt on experiment I tried later on. Then a school was being knocked down and suddenly I had a 1000 litre insulated water tank with a lid and that fit in well with me wanting to try airlifts. I was at the right point of building the pond and all seemed to be falling into place as Steve (RS2000) had an anoxic fail (it just stopped working for him). But he just wanted rid of a load of baskets already made, just minor TLC to recommission them. So I tarted them up and was very grateful for that. But I still had a moving bed mature from the holding pond and over winter the pump died, so all of a sudden I was anoxic only and watching my test results...
...and nothing happened. Literally nothing. Never a blip on any parameters test. Spring and summer...nothing.
I do have some mature pumice that sits on top of the baskets and as the anoxic sump level rises and falls with the drum, they are effectively wet/dry filtration like a shower.

Positives:
Maintenance free. (Sprayed off the mulm on the baskets once ever, so far)
The pond doesn't eat Kh like it used to. ( Must eat some but nothing that trickle in doesn't replenish it seems)

Negatives :
Paranoia (subsided now)
Totally on your own for trying new things, feeding heavy in Summer etc. it's all slowly slowly catchy monkey.

(I have nothing to back these opinions up!)
I reckon if you over stocked it would be a catastrophic fail. But I have way more than the recommended amount of 1 basket per fish.
I reckon that it wouldn't cope on a heavy stocked, heated grow for example. I have 10 fish in something like 3000g, I won't go more than 13 (adults) and I'll be strict on that. It will be one in, one out after that.
RS2000 did some data, which seemed really sensible to me, I figured out 13 for my pond initially and so I've stuck with that.

I love my big fish, all muts so far, but poxy ochiba must be 30lb+ chunk at 75-80cm and a longer ghostie with lot less bulk must be 25lb+ male. Despite having a pond of all sorts, so I'm aiming for a pond of big fish with plenty of space and minimal stress. ( For them and me!)
So far, Anoxic is good enough to support some big brutes, so it has a thumbs up from me.

Random scribblings of an idiot are posted here:

https://www.koiforum.uk/pond-constru...tml#post429078