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Home: KOI Talk: Pond Water Quality:
Dirt in water

 





 


paul_ckk
Koi Lover

Oct 19, 2001, 12:50 AM

Post #1 of 11 (1952 views)
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Hi All!
I am new in this discussion board. In fact, I had been following and readin gall the postings here.
Well, I have a 6'x3'x2' fiber tank with 19 Kois. The water is crystal clear and the fishes are all very friendly and active. I am using an external fiber tank filter.
My problem is that I can see lots of dirt floating around in the water. I think my pump may not be effective enough? Can anyone suggest or advise on this?
Thanks.

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Paul


SMW1
Koi Kichi

Oct 19, 2001, 6:09 AM

Post #2 of 11 (1952 views)
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Hi,
What filter media do you have n your filter.

Brushes and japenese matting will usually get rid of the dirt in the water.

If the dirt is floting on top of the water, you could always fit a surface skimmer.

Can you tell us what filter media you have, the power of the pump and how you have it set up.


Joshua Lee
Koi Lover

Oct 19, 2001, 8:29 AM

Post #3 of 11 (1952 views)
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Hi Paul

SMW1 is right. Check the filter media and your pump size. A good mechanical filter in the first chamber should trap your dirt before it gets a chance to sneak into the pond. Dirt accumulated in the first chamber can then be regularly washed to make sure it continues to do its "dirty" work of apprehending rubbish before it reaches the bio-filter (second chamber).

Your pump should circulate the water through the filter at least once every two hours to to recycle grubby water into refreshing bubbly crystal clear water which all good kois deserve.

Cheers to your 19 hearty kois!

[biggrin]

Josh


paul_ckk
Koi Lover

Oct 19, 2001, 11:08 AM

Post #4 of 11 (1952 views)
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Hi SMW1

I have a 5-compartment filter box. The first chamber (the water inlet), is filled with a layer of hard Japanese matting or better known as brushes I think? I also added in 20 bio-balls. I used to fill the whole chamber with bio-balls but soon decided against it as it gets clogged up with dirt very easily. 2nd chamber has another layer of hard Japanese matting laid at the bottom while the top is stacked with more hard Japanese matting laid diagonally. 3rd chamber again have a layer of hard Japanese matting laid at the bottom while the top is a layer of fine Japanese mat and cotton wool. 4th chamber is same as the 3rd. The last chamber (5th) is coral stone.

I have 2 pumps in my tank. They are both 3000L/Hr – 50Watts Power Head Pump placed at each end of the tank. I used one of them as a water jet plus aeration and at the same time to push the dirt towards the other end of the tank where my other pump sucks the water and dirt into the external filter box.

I used to have a second but smaller external filter box installed but took it off only about 2 days ago. But even with this second filtration, the floating dirt is still present!

So what am I doing wrong here? My water is very crystal clear and my only complain is the floating dirt particles. Should I use back my second filter box?


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Paul


SMW1
Koi Kichi

Oct 19, 2001, 4:38 PM

Post #5 of 11 (1952 views)
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Hi Paul,
I think you may need to change your filter around. you shoul dhave brushes in the first box (these are not the same as matting, to get an idea of the media and the terminology used I have included a URL which may help).
2nd box could contain more brushes or matting. 3rd box, matting or bio balls, 4th box bio balls and the last box coral stones.
I find this set up works well for me (I only have a 4 box which is set up the same (excluding box 3).

Some of the senior members have a little more experience and may be able to give you a better set-up.

If you have allot of muck in your pond at the bottom, the brushes as Joshua may have mentioned should be cleaned every couple of weeks and that tank should be cleaned (only use pond water, as the chloride in tap water will destroy the good bugs doing all of the work).

hope this helps a little
http://www.brecklandkoi.co.uk/acatalog/Online_Store_Filter_Media_92.html

Stuart


(This post was edited by SMW1 on Jul 10, 2002, 2:00 PM)


paul_ckk
Koi Lover

Oct 19, 2001, 11:08 PM

Post #6 of 11 (1952 views)
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Hi SMW1

Logging on to the site you have directed me does not help much – they do not have a picture of the brushes that you are mentioning here. Now you are making me very curious as to what brushes really are? Maybe if you can have a look at my filter setup, this may help in getting an idea of what I have in my filter box? I have posted the pictures on my site at: http://bicyclingmalaysia.com/jap-koi.htm

As of yesterday, I added in some rocks at the end corner of the tank, away from the water jet. I find this helps a little as the bigger dirt debris gets settled down here and I can remove it easily with a water change.

Okay, if I were to do some re-arrangement as what you suggest, this will mean a full reorganizing of the filter system. Now, will this upset my already matured tank? Does this means that I will have to start all over again as in a new tank?


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Paul


TonyG
Koi Lover

Oct 20, 2001, 1:26 AM

Post #7 of 11 (1952 views)
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Hi Paul

You can ask those establish aquariums about the brushes and i'm sure they can advise.

Those good ppl in the forum mentioned about the first chamber to be a mechnical chamber is correct. You may put sponges in your first chamber as a media but you will need frequent washing for it will clot easily.

You can re-struture your filter without going through all over again if you used back your old filter media. Judging by what you wrote, you can actually used everything back. Arrange it as what being advise by Joshua.

By the way, what are those floating particles that you mentioned? Is it leaves, dirt from the enviroment or is it fish waste? If it is a fish waste, try changing food or feed less in terms of quantity. Any also from your photos, i do see any difficulties if you will to scoop out the particles. Treat this as you daily pond maintenances ritual, you can do this will admiring your kois.

Tony Wink


dttk
Senior Member

Oct 20, 2001, 1:38 AM

Post #8 of 11 (1952 views)
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Hi, you have clear water but you still find dirt floating in the water? I take it to mean that you have fine particles suspended in the water. I used to keep koi in a FG tank too. I use aquarium gravel, abt 3in depth, as media in the 3rd chamber. I believe it is fine enough to trap such suspended solids. My water was always clear. Just remember to pack it in a net so that it is easy to remove for cleaning. Then I also learn something new from Eric Lim who advised against keeping the pump in the tank. His reason was that the waste sucked in will be broken up into fine particles and difficult to trap. This is logical and I agree with him. Go to Pond & Water Quality and search for the topic. There are some pictures there and you should be able to get some idea. Smile


paul_ckk
Koi Lover

Oct 20, 2001, 4:20 AM

Post #9 of 11 (1952 views)
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Hi TonyG & dttk

It is funny though cos' when I went to ask 2 different aquarium shop about the brushes, they just showed me the Japanese mat which I am already using. I thought this brushes meant something else?

In my first chamber, I think using Japanese mat (which is my current material) is much better than using sponges as the larger dirt also gets trapped and the mat can be washed much more easier. Sponges are much difficult to wash - I know cos' I had tried it before!

The floating materials are actually fish waste or fine particles suspended in the water as dttk mentioned. I think feeding less may be my solution. To change the food would be a problem as I have another 5kg of the current food left. Trying to scoop the dirt out using a net is not possible. The finer dirt escapes through the netting and this makes it worst! I think I rather watch my Koi rushing for the food instead of trying to scoop the almost impossible to scoop dirt.

As for aquarium gravel, dttk, do you mean those smaller stones or aquarium pebbles? I only wish that someone will post a picture of all the different filter material on the site so that we novice can get a better idea of what they are.

Thanks.


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Paul


Joshua Lee
Koi Lover

Oct 20, 2001, 10:15 AM

Post #10 of 11 (1952 views)
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Hi Paul

You have a nice garden and your kois look great from the photos in your website.

If you have one of those toilet brushes with the spikey stuff at the end to scrub your WC clean, that's how them brushes look like with the spikey stuff all along the length! You can see them at Kohaku at Taman Tun or at UCP around Kelana Jaya. But they may not be able to fit the first chamber of your filter box as they are quite big.

You can make use of Japanese mats which you have. Just put them in the 1st chamber horizontal to the flow of the water and it does a pretty good job of trapping wastes. Just need to wash them as often as you like. It's the bio-filter (where you place the mats parallel to the water flow) in the later chambers that you try not to touch to preserve the good bacteria. When they get clogged up, you could wash them with pond water as chlorine in tap water will kill the good bugs you try so hard to cultivate over the weeks and months.

Happy koi-ing! Those plants are nice.

Best regards


Smile

Josh


paul_ckk
Koi Lover

Oct 20, 2001, 12:23 PM

Post #11 of 11 (1952 views)
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Hi SMW1 & TonyG & Josh

I have decided to stick to my original plan of the way my filter box is set up. As the saying goes, if it ain't broken, why fix it? Only exception here is I have taken out all the bio-ball from the 1st chamber and only have hard jap-mat. Like what SMW1 advised, I have placed all the bio-ball in the 4th chamber on top of my existing hard jap matting, fine jap mat and cotton wool.

And Josh, you are not kidding when you describe to me what brushes are, are you? Well, I think I would prefer using my hard Japanese mat instead. At least I do not need to feel that I am having a toilet sanitary system in my tank! They are little darlings to me (my 19 kois) and to think of having a ****ty brush in the filter box …

For inside the tank, I have placed some bricks forming a corner box at the bottom of one end. And wonders of wonders! I noticed a lot of the fish dirt getting trapped behind the bricks! Now it looks like I have to follow what TonyG mentioned – that is perform a daily ritual ‘****’ remover! Wonder what will happen if I does it only once a week? Probably get a mini mount of fish **** I think?

The filter pump has also been repositioned. It is now placed in a corner of the tank and I can notice the larger **** is finally being trapped and sucked up into my filter box and media. Check my latest picture in my website and you will know what I mean.

One question here is whether it is necessary to have a water jet in the tank? I think this is also one of the causes of the irritating fine floating dirt. The force of the jet actually breaks up the fish **** and it becomes too fine for my filter media to trap.

Well, looks like I have more or less traced the cause of my fine floating dirt headache???

Thanks folks.


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Paul

 
 
 



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