Page 72 - Koi Net - On-Line Koi Magazine - Issue 36
P. 72
You don’t buy these kinds of filters and pumps for your filter every half hour, the concentration of ammonia
1 year so the amounts can add up quite a bit over time. in the pond will simply decrease faster than if you let
So it soon pays to really look at your design for your the water pass through your filter every 3 hours. If you
pond and filter for construction. Can it also be done start to calculate the ammonia content in a Koi pond,
with a little less or no head height? With an airlift you then you are going to see that on average taken at once
can’t bridge the head height, but with a few air pumps an hour it will actually always go well. I would like to
of 40 watts in 110mm airlifts, quite a bit of water is state that this is true if you provide feed according to
already being moved. There are also purchase prices to the amount recommended in the NVN app and divided
be considered because a 2 metre 315mm pipe that is over multiple portions per day. Because that’s what I
often used as a collector is not cheap. However, the THE SIZE OF hoped to make clear in the articles on nitrogen.
alternative 110mm pumps designed to reliably move a THE PUMP
lot of water without head height with ever lower watts The size of the pump and its connections to pond and
are also becoming more and more common. In AND ITS filter is so important as I’ve explained in this article.
addition, a trickle filter also has the advantage that the If there’s a narrow part somewhere in the system
water is also provided with a lot of fresh oxygen CONNECTIONS reducing the flow, it just doesn’t work optimally. Are you
because the water falls. So which type of filter you aware? And think before you build a pond about what
TO POND AND you want? How do you want it? And how can it work
choose is part of a choice with several factors.
FILTER IS properly? Discuss this planned construction with Koi
IT PAYS TO Well, we’ve almost had the basics. The most important IMPORTANT professionals, members of Koi associations and
aspect is that you strive to pump the water around
renowned Koi dealers. Don’t save on your filter, pump
REALLY LOOK once over your filter every hour. This is a directive, and pipes, because that’s the basics that should
AT THE because you can do this every 15 minutes, or every be right.
3 hours. There is a balance in this that is very
DESIGN OF important. If you let your entire pond content pass
YOUR POND through your filter every 5 minutes, you have a few
options. Either you have a pond of 1m³ and a filter of
BEFORE 5m³ with also a large pump on it, or vice versa but then
STARTING the water will flow through at a high velocity using a
huge pump creating like a vortex through your pond
THE WORK and pipes. Both are not real and desired for Koi. There
is a lot of discussion about the current in the pond and
whether you need to have a lot or little current. I
personally believe that a little flow is fine, but that there
should also be places in the pond with a slightly less
strong current because the Koi should also be able to
rest. If they have to swim hard permanently, it creates
too much stress for them, and they use energy that
they can’t use for growth. If the water is too still, all the
dirt quickly settles on the pond bottom again and it
does not reach your bottom drains and is too slowly
drained to your filter. Here comes the most important
point that appeals to my articles about nitrogen. The
Koi produce ammonia. If you let the water pass through
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