Pond Advice Please

[SLIM]

Hi all.

Im no stranger to fish keeping, at the moment I have a 600L freshwater tropical heavily planted co2 injected aqaurium.
In the next few weeks I plan to build my very first pond.
Iv never ever had a pond before so dont really know much about them so I have afew questions if you dont mind helping me out.

I dont know the size yet or what fish im going to keep but I do know know I am going to build it out the ground not in the ground. Probably gonna be rectangular and approx 6000L

Ok questions...

Cycling - Im guessing a fish in cycle is the only way? Can I use mature medua from my tropical tank to seed or will the extreme difference in temp kill the bacteria?

Filter - In the aqaurium world Fluval and Ehiem are the best of the best when it comes to filters imo.
What are the best in the pond world? Can you recommend a brand? Will I need a seperate pump to my filter? Is a UV absolutely necessary? Should the filter run through out the winter in freezing conditions? Anything else I should know about pond pumps/filters?

Nitrates and algae - How are nitrates controlled as iv never known anyone to perform water changes on a pond? Im guessing plants plants and more plants? Im also assuming avoid building a pond in direct sunlight to avoid green water?

Thats all I can think of for now. Im sure il have more questions. Any help with any of the above for now would be greatly appreciated

 

[techen]

Can I have your 600L if your getting a pond?

 

[SLIM]

Can I have your 600L if your getting a pond?

Lmao NO lol

 

[MBOU]

In a bit of a hurry atm will reply later... *but*... few points...
 
*if you want lots of plants... create a ledge for them to go on, most marginals dont ant more than 8-10"
*if using liner, *always* go with butyl or greenseal liner, not PVC as the lifetime difference and quality difference is huge.
*go as big and deep as you can! deep means fish can get away from cold and up the literage!
*Evolution Aqua Eazypod with an inline 55W UV is your best bet, pricey but you will see the difference, get a smaller filter and i'll guarantee in 1-2 years you'll only upgrade it. UV is *essential* to helping keep ponds clear.
 
Hozelock Revolution filters are next best

 

[SLIM]

In a bit of a hurry atm will reply later... *but*... few points...
 
*if you want lots of plants... create a ledge for them to go on, most marginals dont ant more than 8-10"
*if using liner, *always* go with butyl or greenseal liner, not PVC as the lifetime difference and quality difference is huge.
*go as big and deep as you can! deep means fish can get away from cold and up the literage!
*Evolution Aqua Eazypod with an inline 55W UV is your best bet, pricey but you will see the difference, get a smaller filter and i'll guarantee in 1-2 years you'll only upgrade it. UV is *essential* to helping keep ponds clear.
 
Hozelock Revolution filters are next best

Hi thanks for the good advice. I had no idea about the difference liners and which are better so thanks for that.

The Evolution Eazypod looks like a serious piece of kit! Looks massive too. You sure this wont be overkill for the size of pond im building?
My garden isnt massive so im kinda restricted to the size of pond I can build. Probably gona be something like 8ft L 4ft W 5ft D

Does the eazypod rely on a in-pond pump to function? If so does it come with this pump? Or does it have an in built motor like a aquarium external?
Remember, complete pond noob here lol

 

[MBOU]

It doesn't come with a pump unfortunately, you have the choice because you can run it off a normal solids handling pond pump (something like the Hozelock Aquaforce 10,000) or you can get external pumps as well but they are twice the money...
http/evolutionaqua.com/acatalog/Sequence_Pumps.html
 
You can't over filter a pond but you can definitely under filter it! It's not really like tanks... or at least... it is if you can imagine how green and dirty a glass tank full of monster fish would be if you kept it outside in bright light with lots of plant debris in it!
 
If you see a filter rated for 6000 litres, you need to assume it is suitable for 2000-3000L, the literage they recommend goes down when you include fish, plants and direct sunlight. That said, the Hozelock Revolutions are an exception to that, the 6000 does 6000 but personally I still think it would be a stretch after a year or so with that filter. 
 
You'll probably be just fine with a much smaller filter!! But.. that said.... most of my days are spent talking to customers who spend £400 getting equipment for their pond, stocked their pond with fish and plants only to discover that a year or two later (organic waste, phosphates and so on) build up and they end up with a constant struggle to battle blanketweed and green water. Then they end up paying out another £700 odd on getting bigger filter, would have been cheaper to have not spent that £400 in the first place!
 
The Eazyod is pretty bulky but like anything, easy to hide with trellis or bamboo screens etc and once in place, a water change consists of you turning off pump and closing valve to stop water flowing back out to the pond, changing the airflow to stir up the biomedia for a minute, switch air pump back, open waste valve (should have solid piping to a drain or unused area of garden or flexi hose that can be unreeled to waste area) and drain down the filter. Repeat 2-3 times until no dirty water is coming back out (its easy to see when you look in the eazypod) and then close waste valve, open valve back to the pump and turn pump back on. Top pond up with a hose
 
Not faffing about with sponges! That said, found pond stayed much cleaner also having a cheap gravity filter with sponges in it but that was years down line of running pond and was a personal choice.

Another thought, as herons are devil spawn and will take fish, net or scarers or not.. another thing we find is people have much better luck when creating a small platform over a section of pond out of wooden planks (sturdy ones at that!) and sitting the filter on top of it. This also means the fish have somewhere safe to go when the heron comes and are much more likely to survive!
 
We had a display pond that was only 18" (fish went into 7ft deep pond over winter!) that had an eazypod on a platform that was just as wide as the filter and we had the uv mounted on the platform too, was all pretty neat and despite heron visiting daily, he never once got a fish from that pond as they all disappeared under the platform when they saw him! He had more luck on the 7ft deep 23K litre pond as we couldn't cover the shallows and the fish kept coming up to sunbathe and getting caught by the heron.

 

[MBOU]

The Eazypod Complete includes the UV and airpump/airline/airstones etc and the valves needed for around £645 (have seen it for less if you look about or do a bit of haggling if you know the right people) and other than that, you would need the pump..
 
Aquaforce 12000 (they don't do a 10 I must be going mad!) is around the £200 mark (the 8k is barely £20 less but not sure if it will be enough as you want the pump as far away from filter as possible) and some places do deals like free hosing which is the only additional cost you would have...
 
http/www.pondkeeper.co.uk/hozelock-aquaforce-12000-pond-pump-free-hose-and-clips/p1214
 
If you went for a Revolution....
 
The Bioforce Revolution 9000 (will do a wildlife pond of about 12k, a goldfish pond of 9k or a mixed fish/koi pond of 4.5k) will be a bare minimum and will cost you £400 + accessories like hose and clips etc so maybe closer to £450 in all for a bare minimum (its a great filter but... meh... not when you want to do it properly lol)
 
http/www.pondpumpsdirect.com/Hozelock-Pond-Products/Hozelock-Pond-Filtration-Systems/Hozelock-Bioforce-Revolution-Set/p-335-339-1430/

 

[SLIM]

Thank you so much for taking the time to help me and explain it

Anychance you can sort me a link for a Hozelock Aquaforce 10,000? I can only find a Aquaforce 6,000.

How does the Easypod help against organic matter, phosphates and blanket weed. Im a little confused.
The biomedia will only break down ammonia and nitrite wont it? How does it lower phosphates?

And if the Easypod doesnt come with a motor, why is it so exspensive?
Essentually its jus a big empty plastic tub isnt it, which is filled with biomedia. Its the pump that does all the work correct?
Dont get me wrong I dont mind paying out for good equipment im just trying to get my head around it and get a better understanding of it

The Eazypod Complete includes the UV and airpump/airline/airstones etc and the valves needed for around £645 (have seen it for less if you look about or do a bit of haggling if you know the right people) and other than that, you would need the pump..
 
Aquaforce 12000 (they don't do a 10 I must be going mad!) is around the £200 mark (the 8k is barely £20 less but not sure if it will be enough as you want the pump as far away from filter as possible) and some places do deals like free hosing which is the only additional cost you would have...
 
http/www.pondkeeper.co.uk/hozelock-aquaforce-12000-pond-pump-free-hose-and-clips/p1214
 
If you went for a Revolution....
 
The Bioforce Revolution 9000 (will do a wildlife pond of about 12k, a goldfish pond of 9k or a mixed fish/koi pond of 4.5k) will be a bare minimum and will cost you £400 + accessories like hose and clips etc so maybe closer to £450 in all for a bare minimum (its a great filter but... meh... not when you want to do it properly lol)
 
http/www.pondpumpsdirect.com/Hozelock-Pond-Products/Hozelock-Pond-Filtration-Systems/Hozelock-Bioforce-Revolution-Set/p-335-339-1430/

Thank you so much for this. Like you said i think eazypod maybe the way forward

 
You'll probably be just fine with a much smaller filter!! But.. that said.... most of my days are spent talking to customers who spend £400 getting equipment for their pond, stocked their pond with fish and plants only to discover that a year or two later (organic waste, phosphates and so on) build up and they end up with a constant struggle to battle blanketweed and green water. Then they end up paying out another £700 odd on getting bigger filter, would have been cheaper to have not spent that £400 in the first place!

How does the Eazypod help against orangic waste, phosphates, green water and blanket weed?

 

[MBOU]

My mistake on the Aquaforce 10000, they used to make one, I assume the size became defunct and it jumpts from 8k to 12k and im not sure which would be best. Reading instructions it says 10k was maximum it would have wanted so the Aquaforce 8000 would do fine.
 
Its hard to describe the eazypod and tbh they aren't cheap but they are an utterly unique design. Their biomedia doubles up to collect all the dirt as well so when you clean out the filter, you are also removing a lot of organic waste and doing a water change which otherwise would be a bit of hassle to pump water out the pond, thus reducing nitrates and phosphate levels and keeping the ph and hardness steady. One problem that seems reoccurring is that people allow ponds to top up with rainwater not considering that it is generally much more acidic.
 
On our systems we have to do w/c twice a week not because of nitrats but because the ph will drop from 8.6 to 6.4 in 2-3 of rain

which just isn't good... the fish are much happier with the ph around 8-8.5 and also, most medications and blanketweed treatments etc are designed only to work in certain levels (between 7.8 and 8.8) so a lot of the time when treatments don't work, all people need to do is a big water change before treating.
 
Eazy Pod set up PDF - Will show you how it works

http/www.evolutionaqua.com/acatalog/Eazy_Pod_Installation_Brochure.pdf
 
I did think the £649 price was higher than I remembered... it is at £499 at MA as they price match which means its likely £499 in several places. But the MA website has easier pictures to give an idea of setup
 
http/fishkeeper.co.uk/site/product/evolution-aqua-eazypod-complete

 

[SLIM]

Again i cant thank you enough for all the advice. I think the eazypod is what im going to use.

Just a couple more questions

I had no idea ponds needed water changes. What you say makes sense.
How much % and how often is recommended to keep phosphates and nitrates under control? Same as an aqaurium? 20% a week?

Does the eazypod come with its bio media or is this another extra?

Earlier you said the pump and the filter need to be as far away from each other as possible.
Why is that?

Also like i said, i plan to build my pond out the ground. Would it be a problem if the eazypod was sat next to the pond but lower than the water line? Would this effect how it works?
The inlet from the pump would have to come up n over the edge of the pond then down to the filter. If that makes sense.

So you get a better idea of what im doing, i now plan to build a very big strong steardy box, approx 3/4 ft high. Fill it with shingle and dirt and place a pre moulded pond liner inside it. I dont want to drill any holes in the pond so all pipes will have to go up n over.
Also i plan to build a waterfall. I dont want a fountain. This will be the means of the filtered water back into the pond

 

[SLIM]

Ok so iv been doing a little research on the eazypod and i believe iv answered some of my own questions above.

Yes i believe the eazypod does come with all its biomedia.
And No the eazypod cant operate properly if its below the waterline as the outlet is gravity fed. This shouldnt be a problem

I still however would like to know why the pump needs to be as far away from the filter as possible? I would of thought, the closer it is the better and more effective the pump will perform? The way im setting up, the pump and filter will only be a couple of meters away from each other max. Will this be a problem?

And how much how often should i perform waters changes and flush put the eazypod?

SLIM

 

[MBOU]

Ahh well, you would need a decent pump to have it further away but its up to you

If its too close to the filter, you end up with it circulating just a small section of the pond. The further it draws the water from, when it feeds water back its in a different place so not just cycling round and round the same water. If you see?
 
I don't mean put the pump right on the pump right on the other side of the pond as such but give yourself as much leeway (in terms of pump rating and hose length) to be able to move pump around in the pond to stop dead spots of dirt etc.
 
I spoke to my colleague who actually has an Easypod (though also runs a green 2 clean Oase filter too because his pond is heavily stocked with huge koi) and he runs his off an Aquaforce 15,000 so apparently you can't over do it! The Aquaforce pumps have better lph ratings than models rated for the same size in other makes. Was comparing an AF 15000 with a Blagdon Hybrid 15000 today, the first runs at 15000 lph but drops to only 13400 at 1 meter, the Blagdon one only starts at just under 11000 lph for a 15000 rated pump which is a bit odd but there you go.
 
As for cleaning the Eazypod, only you'll be able to work that one out but it is easy when you look into the filter as you just lift the lid up for a peek in. The water level rises a bit the more it clogs up (though seen it filthy without over flowing) and you can see the dirt easily enough.
 
On initially setting up, probably worth checking every few weeks to see if much dirt is collecting and go from there will depend on plant life and algae and feeding regime as to how dirty it gets
 
One thing we did notice with the Easypods is they do take ages to really settle down in terms of maturing the biomedia (there is seriously a lot of it, 30L of tiny plastic K1 media. We have found a really good product but cant remember its name, shops use it for maturing systems in a hurry

I know its made by Superfish though... will look it up...
 
http/www.aquadistri.com/fbp/Bactoplus%20UK/HTML/

 

[SLIM]

Thank you very much for all your time and advice. I feel confident to start my pond now