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What is Water Quality
Water quality is a vague term, but generally speaking it means that:
The water is free from contaminants. You must ensure that pond water is not polluted by external agents, such as chlorine, chloramines, fertilizers, pesticides and weed killers.
Contaminants can be washed into the pond from adjacent ground, say weed killer from the lawn, or be carried in by rainfall. Many of these and other toxic chemicals can be found in the mains supply water at levels that are safe for people but potentially dangerous to koi. You can buy mains water 'purifies' with filter media to match the characteristics of the mains supply. Using this equipment will ensure that water used to top up the pond is safe.
The water contains all the necessary trace elements, vitamins and minerals required for health, growth and reproduction. Ironically, some of these elements may be removed by a mains supply water purifier. Check with us and use a montmorillionite clay-base product if necessary. Many of these have essential vitamins and minerals added during production.
The water is well oxygenated. Using air pumps in the hotter months of the year, will help to improve oxygen levels in the pond water. Do not let these fall below 5mg/litre.
The water is at a suitable temperature to ensure that the fishes' immune and metabolic systems are operating efficiently to keep infection at bay. A heating system helps to achieve and maintain a minimum acceptable temperature.
The water is clear. Koi are happy in green (not dirty) water. It helps to improve skin quality and colouration, but if it becomes too green, you cannot see the fish and may miss signs of developing health problems.
The water is adequately buffed to prevent large swings of pH.
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Mains water purifiers maybe required for filling and maintaining water levels from some supplies. The Filter should be 'matched' to a water quality report for your area. |
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The Role of Filtration
Efficient filtration keeps the water both clear and clean. It is a two-stage system; first stage separates out the solid matter by settlement so that it can be flushed to waste, and the second cleans the water biological and, occasionally, chemical action. If there is no mechanical separation there is no mechanical separation then the biological media will double up as a strainer and consequently become prone to blockage. they will require regular cleaning-something to be avoided if possible, because many beneficial bacteria will be lost during the process.
Koi pond filters can be placed either above the waterline or at the same water level as the pond. Some systems incorporate both elements.
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A Filter Above the Waterline
In an above-the-waterline system, a submersible pump is normally used in the pond to lift up the filter chambers. Sometimes it is a suction pump, but whatever the type of pump, the water flows through the filter media and returns to the pond by gravity, often via a waterfall.
This type of filter system can have several disadvantages in countries that experience cold winters. One is that the water cools down considerably when it is widely and thinly spread across the watercourse as it returns to the pond. This often leads to the fish keeper and water quality falls as a result. Many of the health problems that occur in spring can be attributed to poor water quality caused by an inoperative biological filter. When combined with the wide fluctuations in spring temperatures found in some parts of the world, it is not surprising that koi can become severely stressed, which reduces their resistance to disease.
An Efficient Filter.
Filters should function as efficiently as possible at all times. Because it is unlikely that all solid waste will be trapped in settlement, the biological part of a filter system must be well designed to minimize blockage of media. If a blockage occurs in a filter then it must be cleaned out, and much of the valuable bacterial bed that has built up over, maybe, a period of years will be lost in the cleaning process. When the filter is subsequently returned to duty, it will have a greatly reduced capability. Water quality will therefore fall and you must take some form of corrective action to avoid or minimize this potentially dangerous time for koi.
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Filter Maintenance
Whichever system of filtration you adopt, be sure to maintain it regularly. If maintenance is easy, you will be more likely to do it!
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The Waste Disposal System
The design of the water disposal system is crucial. Pond water first passes through a settlement chamber, where most of the free-floating waste, such as dead algae, uneaten food and faeces, is removed. This chamber will need to be flushed to waste at least once day at the height of the feeding season in summer.
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Types of filter media
Brushes make excellent solid separators, as well as biological media. They are available in a range of sizes to suit the filter
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How Filter media Work
Filter media may simple provide a large surface area on which bacteria can thrive or be very open, solely breaking up water flow so that suspended solids are settled out. . A sintered glass medium will have a large internal surface area. Because of oxygen depletion at its centre, it will help control levels of nitrate by the identification process.
An ideal biological medium should possess three qualities: a large, rough surface area for maximum Colonization by bacteria; an open construction to prevent blockage; and it should be light and easy to clean
Sand is and example of a medium employed for it’s blocking capabilities. It is used in a pressure filter to remove fine particles from the water. It requires regular cleaning to prevent water tracking through it and is best used at the end of filtration chain.
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Biological Filtration
Biological filtration can incorporate one or more media on which the bacteria will grow. Whichever media you choose, their function will be to colonize the aerobic (oxygen-loving) Nitrosamines bacteria that oxidize the ammonia to produce nitrite.
(NO2). The flow rate through the filter must be slow enough to allow the bacteria to do their work. Nitrite is also highly toxic and should be allowed to increase in level; it will damage blood cells and reduce oxygen levels in the body of the Koi, which can lead to internal organ damage. Even in extremely small concentrations, nitrite is still highly toxic to fish and must be closely monitored. You may register an increase an increase in nitrite level when a new filter is going through the maturation process or when a mature filter has to cope with an additional fish load.
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An Air pump suitable for a Koi pond
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Chemical Filtration
At these times, there are two other filter media products that can help to reduce pollution levels present in the water. Zeolite and activated carbon clean water by chemical than biological means. They are also useful in a new biological filter system while you wait for the colony of oxygenating bacteria to mature.
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Sand Filters
These pressures units have been in use in the swimming pool industry for many years. They can be included in Koi pond installation to provide a fine polish to the water after it leaves the filter. To prevent them from blocking, they will need a pressure pump for efficient cleansing. The sand they contain will also need changing from time to time.
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Aqua Master:
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Pond Clear:
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Aqua Supreme Food:
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Bio Vital:
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We import and manufacture pond clear; Efekto is our distributors
