Rick wrote:

So I put in that second pond this year and had problems with my water not
clearing up.

So I put in a bigger pump and a Skippy filter. The pump is a 3000GPH and
the Skippy a 100 stock tank. Of course I couldn't find that filter stuff
so I used lava rock. I can change it every year if need be till I find a
better filter material. Three days and my pond is clearer then bottle water
and maintenance free. I'm loving it.


"Courageous" wrote in message
.. .


Ooops, sorry. I took the word literally.
The originator did indicate " I also added a bog filter about 5 X 2 X 1.5
feet"


Sure. Note the upwell of water from the pond. This water will be
oxygenated:
aerobic bacteria, in other words.

C//







Check out scrubber pads here as a start. Google will yield additional
results.
http://www.cleaningstuff.net/Search....0Buffer%20Pads
Great filter media.
W. Dale

On Mon, 30 May 2005 20:55:48 -0700, Courageous wrote:

Quarries, of course, but forgetting that, as another poster
pointed out, Special Kitty cat litter, 100% pure bentonite clay.

Not all bentonite is the same. There is a sodium and a calicum type. It is
the latter one wants to use, most kitty litter is the former. I think there
is an article in the latest Water Gardening on this. ~ jan

~Power to the Porg, Flow On!~

Koi clay or clay used to help achieve clear water is calcium based
bentonite or commonly called Southern Bentonite.

The clay used to seal natural ponds is sodium bentonite, or commonly
called western bentonite.

Both are bentonite, but both are totally different in regards to how
they react when they are in water. Calcium bentonite will expand
somewhat, but not to any great degree.Sodium on the other hand will
swellup to 22 times its size and make a pretty slimey thick gooey mess
where ever it settles.


On Sun, 29 May 2005 22:19:15 -0700, ~ janj JJsPond.us
wrote:

===On Mon, 30 May 2005 20:55:48 -0700, Courageous wrote:
===
===Quarries, of course, but forgetting that, as another poster
===pointed out, Special Kitty cat litter, 100% pure bentonite clay.
===
===Not all bentonite is the same. There is a sodium and a calicum type. It is
===the latter one wants to use, most kitty litter is the former. I think there
===is an article in the latest Water Gardening on this. ~ jan
===
=== ~Power to the Porg, Flow On!~


==============================================
Put some color in your cheeks...garden naked!

~~~~ }((((o ~~~~~~ }{{{{o ~~~~~~~ }(((((o

"Courageous" wrote in message
...
Check out scrubber pads here as a start. [snip a sensible
alternative non specialized generic thing that works just
as well].

On this subject, I was amusing myself searching around about
bentonite clay. Okay, so I retract my prior sarcastic remark
about it, seems I was all washed up there.

But here's the funny part. So here I am, searching for bentonite
clay, and I discover that they sell it as a mineral supplement
to humans for like $20 a bottle.

Then I think, what's the cheapest way to get this stuff?

Quarries, of course, but forgetting that, as another poster
pointed out, Special Kitty cat litter, 100% pure bentonite clay.

So basically the marketeers are ingenious. They found a way
to feed kitty litter to human beings while increasing the price
by a good 50 times.

You have to give them credit!
==============================
Greed and nothing more! I just bought a bag of Kitty Litter last week at
Wally-World. It cost $1.97 for 25 lbs. I sprinkled it all over both ponds
and in a few days they started to clear up. The 800 gallon one is crystal
clear this morning. They were clear until the fish started to spawn. They
remained a bit cloudy afterward.
--
McKoi.... the frugal ponder...
EVERYONE: "Please check people's headers for forgeries
before flushing." NAMES ARE BEING FORGED.
Do not feed the trolls.
~~~ }((((o ~~~ }{{{{o ~~~ }(((((o

"Courageous" wrote in message
...

Quarries, of course, but forgetting that, as another poster
pointed out, Special Kitty cat litter, 100% pure bentonite clay.

Not all bentonite is the same. There is a sodium and a calicum type. It
is
the latter one wants to use, most kitty litter is the former. I think
there
is an article in the latest Water Gardening on this. ~ jan

The main difference between the two is one clumps, the other doesn't.
According to what I've read.

C//
==============================
I used the Kitty Litter and it worked! :-))) I bet the other "stuff" is
10 times the price.
--
McKoi.... the frugal ponder...
EVERYONE: "Please check people's headers for forgeries
before flushing." NAMES ARE BEING FORGED.
Do not feed the trolls.
~~~ }((((o ~~~ }{{{{o ~~~ }(((((o

Quarries, of course, but forgetting that, as another poster
pointed out, Special Kitty cat litter, 100% pure bentonite clay.

Not all bentonite is the same. There is a sodium and a calicum type. It is
the latter one wants to use, most kitty litter is the former. I think there
is an article in the latest Water Gardening on this. ~ jan

The main difference between the two is one clumps, the other doesn't.
According to what I've read.

C//

According to the article calicum bentonite is what improves the digestion
and colors of koi. The sodium adds nothing except extra stuff to plug up
your filter. Don't want that. ;o) ~ jan

~Power to the Porg, Flow On!~

Lava rock is used mainly for beneficial bacteria to form not to
mechanically filter. I little bit of both is preferred with the lava
rock being surrounded by filter pads.

This is what I have in my bio filter and the water looks clean enough to
drink !!

Rick wrote:
So I put in that second pond this year and had problems with my water not
clearing up.

So I put in a bigger pump and a Skippy filter. The pump is a 3000GPH and
the Skippy a 100 stock tank. Of course I couldn't find that filter stuff
so I used lava rock. I can change it every year if need be till I find a
better filter material. Three days and my pond is clearer then bottle water
and maintenance free. I'm loving it.


"Courageous" wrote in message
...

Ooops, sorry. I took the word literally.
The originator did indicate " I also added a bog filter about 5 X 2 X 1.5
feet"

Sure. Note the upwell of water from the pond. This water will be
oxygenated:
aerobic bacteria, in other words.

C//

So I put in a bigger pump and a Skippy filter. The pump is a 3000GPH and
the Skippy a 100 stock tank. Of course I couldn't find that filter stuff
so I used lava rock.

Should work like a champ. How fine is your lava rock?

Anyway, you don't need fancy filter material. Look up "fluidized bed
filter" to see how simple it can get. Ordinary coarse grain silica sand,
with enough under pressure to keep the whole bit of sand turbulent.

I suspect this would require quite a pump for a pond sized filter.

I'm a fan of filters integrated right into the pond system, myself.

C//

Check out scrubber pads here as a start. [snip a sensible
alternative non specialized generic thing that works just
as well].

On this subject, I was amusing myself searching around about
bentonite clay. Okay, so I retract my prior sarcastic remark
about it, seems I was all washed up there.

But here's the funny part. So here I am, searching for bentonite
clay, and I discover that they sell it as a mineral supplement
to humans for like $20 a bottle.

Then I think, what's the cheapest way to get this stuff?

Quarries, of course, but forgetting that, as another poster
pointed out, Special Kitty cat litter, 100% pure bentonite clay.

So basically the marketeers are ingenious. They found a way
to feed kitty litter to human beings while increasing the price
by a good 50 times.

You have to give them credit!

C//

Quarries, of course, but forgetting that, as another poster
pointed out, Special Kitty cat litter, 100% pure bentonite clay.

Not all bentonite is the same. There is a sodium and a calicum type. It is
the latter one wants to use, most kitty litter is the former. I think there
is an article in the latest Water Gardening on this. ~ jan

The main difference between the two is one clumps, the other doesn't.
According to what I've read.

C//