Well, now that I enlarged the pond it is murky. I have a 300 gallon filter but I guess the algie is too much for it. Will barley clear it up? Or can anyone suggest how to keep your water clear! I like being able to see my koi.
Thanks!
koi pond murky...will barley clear it up
UV light works best.
Yes, you need a UV light. I find the best prices on ebay.
Great - thanks!
We have had our pond for 20 years and finally this year put in a filter with a UV light and wow, what a difference it made. We can see the bottom of the pond and all the fish. It is a wonderful thing, wish it hadn't taken us so long to figure this out. We read about them on Daves and so glad we listened. Get a UV light and filter--you won't be sorry. Laverne
I bought a uv filter 3 years ago and DH had not connected it. Do I need a separate pump for it? How hard is it to connect?. It costs me a lot of $ and it is still in its huge box. Thnak you. Belle
i added a lot of floating plants ( hyacinth) and lillies to cover a lot of the surface as well as a small bog. I also had to adjust the location of the pump outlet because it kept stirring up the bottom and nothing could settle for me to vacuum out.. This has been successful for me.. my first year took time to clear but by fall and spring the next year it was wonderful and been great ever since.
many people swear by u.v. - I understand it is your best guarentee along with a pleated canister filter. ( you have to buy new u.v. bulbs and change or clean pleated filters often)..
i guess it depends if you want to experiment or just get the u.v. and be done with it.
good luck
-joe-
Belle, I don't know if your filter came with a pump but we used our original pump and the connecting was easy. Would have been easier if we had some instructions. We bought the uv filter on sale. You just need to look in your box and see what it has. Your instructions will tell you what size pump to buy if you need to. Laverne
i thank you for your answer. Actually My pond is trouble free this year. No algae and the fish appears happy!! DH cleans the filter once a week with out fail and I think I added salt , baking soda and peroxide twice this summer.All is well!! Belle
Usually you just put the UV inline in your tubing. My flow is 1) water in through a submersible pump 2) water continues to the filter 3) water continues down the tube through the UV light...and 4) out the other end of the UV light with a small peice of tube dropping the clean water back into the pond.
There are also filters (above ground) that have a UV light built in, so you just plug one more cord. The filter and uv are all in one piece of equipment.
ooohhh boy. I just bought a filter, pump and uv light in one. Haven't got it yet and I can return it if it doesn't work right but it all sounds pretty scary. I just found out by asking the guy at the pet shop that does ponds that my pond is at least 1000 gallons!! I was shocked! I put the pond in but I didn't expect it to be that many gallons. I've had a pond before - but it was already installed when I moved into the house. So the system I bought is for a 2000 gallon pond cause I am putting in a waterfall. The company I bought it from is figuring out what size my waterfall and spillway should be to make the jump from 1000 gallons to 2000 gallons....a little nervous here! For now I'll just double the barley I have in the pond already.
I have two seperate pumps. I have one that runs the filter/uv and one that runs the waterfall. I like some force and speed with my waterfall (as opposed to a trickle) and so I seperated the two years ago.
I think i will have 2 pumps also one for waterfall and filter and one for UV. Do you think the uV will be efficient? Belle
If you ordered a canister filter, with the uv light inside, you should be pretty much set with a 1,000 gal pond. If the tubing used is smaller than 3/4 inch though, you may have on that will clog easily. Give it a try, staying on top of things is half the battle (debri like leaves and twigs....no rocks on the bottom...etc) I also separated my filter/uv/pump from my water fall 2nd pump, so more air was going into the water. The uv light will require and extra outlet, so it depends what you have available. Pump and uv for one is 2 outlets....with a 2nd pump for the waterfall is the 3rd outlet.
If the water goes through the UV too fast, you have lost the benefit of the UV. You should verify the flow rate that is recommended with your UV. My filter and UV would slow down my water too much for my waterfall. That is why I have two pumps.
Before I changed to a uv/pump system with the bottom drain I used a Fish mate pump and uv that did a good job on my pond even though it was for the previous pond size of 2500 gallons and not the 5000 gallons it is now. Even alone this little fishmate/uv does a great job on my pond-clear water. This pump is now used on my hospital tank/quaranteen tank. I haven't had any sick fish since the bottom drain was installed (those of you who remember my cries of sick and dead koi from last year know that this is a huge difference).