I installed a pond a few years ago, installed by an acquarium shop.
The problem is that it used a typical acquariam filter. It never
really keeps the water clear even thoug i have a UV steralizer and a
fair amt of pond plants. My question- Can I simply buy bio balls or
other bio material and put it in my filter to creaet my own bio
filter?? this filter has the intake at the bottom of the drum and then
the water flows to the top where it exits to the pond?

It originallyc came with some large filter.. that ultimately got so
dirty and cracked that i replaced it with "horse hair" (you know,
those square fibrous spong like pieces that they cellat the pond
store_)..

will that work? can i just add bacteria to it...

or do i just scrap this and buy a real bio filter?

thanks!! it has been a bad week for ponds for me!

A biological filter takes fishy waste and turns into plant fertilizer. Algae
loves this stuff. A biological filter is good for fish, not to hot to get rid
of green water.
That is why we recommend adding a veggie filter or plant filter.
Basically this is a container through which the pond water circulates and is
filled with plants.
The plants take up a lot of the nutrients and the idea is to deprive the free
floating algae of lion's share of the nutrients that it was getting. The plant
roots will also catch the mulm and crud which can foul the pond.

A plant filter can be as simple as floating water hyacinth in a stock tank or
growing watercress in a rock waterfall (this is what I use) to the even better
filters that Ingrid, BV and Bonnie use. They will probably stop in and post
their sites to give you an idea of the contruction.

In addtion to the plant/veggie filter information I'll post the algae tips in
an additional post in case you are suffering addtional problems that lead to
green water.

kathy :-)
(still use ka30p for email
this acct. is for reading rec.ponds only)

Algae fighting tips
~ Nutrients for all forms of algae are sun, new water, fish waste, fertilized
run off, rotting plants, blown in dirt.
~ New ponds and spring ponds need time for plants to get established, algae is
quicker at getting going.
~ add plants, of any kind, in the pond. Especially underwater plants.
~ Shade is good - provided by lily pads, floating plants or artificial shade
for part of the day.
~ LOW fish stocking (20 gallons per goldfish, 100 per koi after starting with
1,000 gallons) and *not* overfeeding the fish. Too many fish and too much
feeding is probably responsible for most pea soup water, followed closely by
too much decaying plant matter, sludge and overall gunk in the water
~ adding a combination mechanical and biological filter to screen gunk and
convert fishy ammonia waste for fish health.
~ build a veggie filter, to run water through plants, as easy as floating water
hyacinth in your filter.
~ clean up dead plant matter and screen for falling leaves
in the fall.
~ water movement, occasional water changes of 10%
~ add a sludge consumer, concentrated bacteria.
many rec.ponders use http://www.united-tech.com/m-aq4u-toc.html
~ Check your pH, too high, over 8.8, or too low, under 6.4, and most higher
plant forms can't take up the nutrients.
~ building ponds with bottom drains and skimmers.
~ do not use algaecides, they only make lots of suddenly dead algae
and that will feed the next algae bloom.
~ do not worry about algae that grows on things (substrate algae) this is good
for a pond
~ gently remove string algae
~ UV lights work on suspended algae (green water) - does cost some $$.
~ patience and time ;-)



kathy :-)
(still use ka30p for email
this acct. is for reading rec.ponds only)

If water can go through it and plants can grow in it, it can be a veggie
filter.

However, a slow flow through it (like maybe 40 minutes) will let the junk
settle out. A shallow filter with a slow flow and with plant roots reaching
down into it will mechanically filter out a lot of the stuff.

Our system draws from the bottom of the pond into 55 gal barrels with
strapping tape to catch the big junk. The water then rises through the tape
and flows into 5' kiddie pools filled with plants of various sorts
(anacharis, parrots feather and water celery in sequence). Water celery has
VERY thick roots and grows like crazy. Not much muck makes it into the
third pool. We drain them once a year by 2" drains in the bottom. We also
have a separate veggie filter of water hyacinth. In the summer, we compost
a pickup truck full of plants...always thinking of them as converted fish
waste!

No filter pads to clear!

You can see the veggie filters at our pond site.

____________________________________________
See our pond at: home.bellsouth.net\p\pwp-jameshurley

Have fun.

jim


"Neil" wrote in message
m...
I installed a pond a few years ago, installed by an acquarium shop.
The problem is that it used a typical acquariam filter. It never
really keeps the water clear even thoug i have a UV steralizer and a
fair amt of pond plants. My question- Can I simply buy bio balls or
other bio material and put it in my filter to creaet my own bio
filter?? this filter has the intake at the bottom of the drum and then
the water flows to the top where it exits to the pond?

It originallyc came with some large filter.. that ultimately got so
dirty and cracked that i replaced it with "horse hair" (you know,
those square fibrous spong like pieces that they cellat the pond
store_)..

will that work? can i just add bacteria to it...

or do i just scrap this and buy a real bio filter?

thanks!! it has been a bad week for ponds for me!