V44 15/11/09 My Koi Pond Filtration System

[boogie8ball]

the best filtration on youtube,your fish must be happy

[masvidus]

good idea on adding jap-mats on top of the shower media. i just did my DIY bakki shower and had water splashing problems.will add the jap-mat soon.thx.

[poisonXvenom]

How do the mats filter all the water, if there is space under them? Wouldn't it be better if the mats extended all the way down? I just built my chamber and it will go from brushes to mats to fluid bed of k1 to oystershells similar to yours.

[hooinc]

@poisonXvenom Best not to think of the mats as mechanical filtration but as BIOfiltration. ie a media where good bacteria can colonize on their surface and convert ammonia to nitrites and subsequently nitrites to nitrates. Sieves and brushes in the first chamber do well as mechanical filtration before the water hits the J-mats.

[poisonXvenom]

@hooinc Oh, My biofiltration will all be based on my K1 media. I wanted the mats to be used as mechanical filtration.

[hooinc]

@poisonXvenom The reason why we tend not to hang our mats all the way down is that anything deeper than 4 feet is likely to attract anaerobic bacteria rather than beneficial bacteria. This is what I have been advised, whether right or wrong. The oxygen levels reduce as we get deeper.

[hooinc]

@poisonXvenom If I were to do my filter again, I would not lay my mats the way I did in this video. I would do them David Soon's style which he posted photos of in the old Malaysian forum. The photos are no longer there but he said he would post a video of them soon on Bito. Watch out for it. :-)

[chengaun]

how much did your resun LP 100 air blower cost??

[hooinc]

@chengaun It costs about RM350 if you call Desmond of Vinson at 016-3329910

[chengaun]

@hooinc Vinson Aquarium in Kajang?? i'm a regular there :)

[hooinc]

@chengaun Yes. Why do you go all the way there? Desmond can deliver to your house. I have never been to his shop.

[chengaun]

@hooinc i go there because my grandparents live there and when i go to visit them, i go to Desmonds shop

[chengaun]

is the constant trickling water really on for 24 hours?? does it harm beneficial bacteria? i believe you dont use a prefilter?

[hooinc]

@chengaun 24 hours. Bacteria seem to work fine, you've seen my water tests.

[chengaun]

@hooinc is it a must to add anti chlorice/chloramine everyday? with such a small trickle, will the chlorine/chloramine harm the fish and bacteria much?

[hooinc]

@chengaun Depends on how big your trickle is. Sodium thiosulphate is quite harmless and cheap, so why stinge on it?

[ace8063]

how wide is your filter??

[hooinc]

@ace8063 About 3 feet.

[wreckdiver61]

wow nice job

[yerfdogg]

how many watts does your filter system take?

[hooinc]

@yerfdogg Not really sure, maybe over 2,000W?

[IntegraGSR5]

damnnnnnnnnnnnnn mannnnnnnn. i think ur so mad crazzzyyyy. now the koi gonna live longer than u. whos gonna take care of them after that ? lol

[chengaun]

the filter is supposed to be at least 3/4 the size of the pond. am i right? So happy that ur not leaving the forum. :-)

[hooinc]

@chengaun Filter ideally should be 50% of the size of the pond itself. In other words 33% of the total pond+filter volume.

[chengaun]

@hooinc so is it rue that the koi keeper is supposed to change 25 - 30 % of the water every week to remove ammonia etc?

[hooinc]

@chengaun If you read my forum thread, you will know that I change 5-10% water DAILY. Read, don't be lazy!

[chengaun]

@hooinc haha lol. ya i read it and i know that u do that when u backfluch thr filters

[Mostlyfun]

Hi I was thinking about installing an external pump I have never used one before and i was wondering if a primer pot is nessisary if the pump is below the pond water level ???

I am going to put the pump in my basement 3 feet below the bottom of a 6 foot deep pond I am not woried about the skimmer basket in the pot as I have a skimmer then plenty of filtration before the pump. I want to change the pump section of my filter into a moving bed filter.

[chengaun]

is it better to have mechanical and biologigal filtration or best to have just bio?

[hooinc]

@chengaun If you have a very effective mechanical filter (say sieve based), and fish pooh can be removed in a much more timely fashion, then this would significantly reduce the workload of the biofilter. Overall your filter would be able to handle a much higher level of feeding.

[jorgeluiscordova]

Ammmmazing!

[stephenmartinmcey]

what uvs are they and where can i get them from

[hooinc]

@stephenmartinmcey You could check with any major koi dealer in th UK. I think over there they prefer UVs concealed within a tube though.

[jakoi945]

So how did you make the partitions, and did you use cement blocks for the filter it self?

[hooinc]

@jakoi945 The filter walls are made of poured concrete. The partitions I'm not sure. I'm not a DIY person, the pond contractor did everything for me. ;-D

[jakoi945]

@hooinc  Are the partitions made out of cement?

[hooinc]

@jakoi945 Yes they are. You must be re-doing your pond?

[jakoi945]

@hooinc Yep you guess it time to take my old koi pond and turn it into a 20 ton pond.And i want to have my own filter thats like yours.

[hooinc]

@jakoi945 Good luck and all best!! :-D

[jakoi945]

@hooinc I going to need some luck. One last question Does having more than one bottom drain on one filter effect the strength of the others. like one bottom drain will pull more water in than the other two.

[hooinc]

@jakoi945 You mean 2 bottom drains in one filter chamber? It is OK. David Soon has 2 BDs in EACH of his filter chambers since his chambers are flat bottomed rather than sloped. No more than 1 or 2 of the bottom drains are pulled at the same time, so effect on the rest is not that material, but yes there will be an effect the more that are pulled at the same time.

[chengaun]

I Clean My Filter Every 2-3 days but my Filter is Full of muck! =( is there a reccomandation of how to solve this problem? Can A Bakki/TT Solve This?? Please Answer. =)

[hooinc]

That is a good thing, means that your mechanical filtration is working. What you need are bottom drains in your filter since daily backflushing will flush the shit out. That is why we design our filters with BDs. Momotaro advises hobbyists to use the Bakki together with a chamber filter system anyway.

[chengaun]

But i use a Pump fed single chamber filter made of Stainless Steel.( See The Vid My Koi Pond On My Channel to see how my filter looks like.) So That Is a problem of drilling BDs. And when I say full of muck i mean after the mechanical stage. (The Bio Stage). Even Though I Have 3 layers of mats At the mechanical stage!!

[hooinc]

That's why we use multiple up-down chambers to prevent the shit from reaching subsequent chambers. One day....

[apauln]

the way you have this system is so thorough, you don't need to back wash it every day, and you definately don't need additional air whether for oxygen levels or water current. you can run this system for months without doing any maintenance...

[hooinc]

Koi are actually really dirty creatures and backwashing helps get rid of the daily pooh on a more immediate basis from the ambient water. Regular water changes (preferably daily) are an essential part of the routine of the more serious koi keepers. Otherwise coliform levels will build up, as will nitrates. The filter is emptied and washed every 2 weeks!

[apauln]

u seem 2 b very knowledgeable with everything ur doing, but ur missing the whole point of all that work ur putting in2 the"bio"logical part of the system. if ur washing the filter every2weeks, u have no "bio"logical filter. ur merely working a "mechanical" filtration system. and everything "poohs", that doesn't make them "really dirty creatures". u only have, what, 10 kio in there? how much waste r they really creating? the way u have ur system you can put 10 sharks in there without a problem.

[hooinc]

This is a hobby which can be enjoyed at many different levels. I know hobbyists who feed their koi very little and wash their filters once in a few years. I don't have a problem with that, the koi belong to him.

[apauln]

@hooinc

if you enjoy how you are doing it, then more power to you. i knew you had to of understood what you are doing. i'm not trying to criticize. i hope i haven't offended you. i just though you might have lost sight of the big picture of enjoying your pond and doing less maintenace.

i would only dream to have a system you have built...

[hooinc]

Our ponds are closed systems and far from natural. If we could mechanically remove ALL the fish waste, it would be perfect, and we wouldn't even need much biofiltration. Unfortunately it is almost impossible to mechanically remove all the waste before they degenerate into ammonia/nitrites/nitrates. Still, we try to mechanically remove as much as we can to reduce the load on the biofilter. We feed a lot here. Water quality degenerates very fast in closed systems.

[chengaun]

How Long Do J Mats Last Before They Need To Be Replaced? The Shop Says about 2 years. Is This true??

[hooinc]

I have heard of people using the same set of Jmats for over 20 years and they are still effective. Shops will of course tell you to change everything. Who do you want to believe?

[chengaun]

I think i Believe U. I Suppose Shops Always Says It will last shorter so w they get $ If We replace it. :-)

[dhoncave]

then @ 3:00 your pumps at it seems suddenly was located at the left too...help me out here

[hooinc]

Entirely correct. Not ideal, but it was the most economical way of renovating my pond. The filter flows from left to right. I used my old bakki shower sump as my new clean (pump) chamber, but this was located on the left. So I have 3 pipes running across from right to left connecting my 4th chamber to the clean chamber, gravity fed. It wouldn't have made economic sense to switch the flow to right->left since all the up-down partitions and bottom slopes would have had to be modified.

[dhoncave]

up-down partitions etc...yes paul very economical indeed i also went to our forum to check the photos...i see you run the pipes from the last chamber to the pump room under the floor of the pond...hehe.(that's what i miss) yes more economical spending on pipes than redoing entirely the filters up and down,slopes etc...thanks paul

[hooinc]

Always my pleasure, Don! Cheers.

[dhoncave]

hi paul...from the video it seems that your filter is going from left(1st chamber) to the right(the engine room) so left to right as seen @ 1:00.but then your bakki is in the left side...can you explain?i'm having a hard time visualizing the flow of your pump...:-)

[NDANG88]

what a great system...im gonna start up my koi hobby again with a 3x6x2 wood pond...dont know how i will go about the filtration system yet.

[chengaun]

What Is TDO Levels ??

[hooinc]

Total Dissolved Oxygen.

[chengaun]

Would You Reccommand Using Filter Foam Or Wool J Mats? I Am Currently Using Wool J Mats And Thinking Of Changing The Media So Which Is Better In Your opinion?

[hooinc]

I prefer J-mats (blue type)

[chengaun]

thanks! But I Think I Will Stick To Wool Mats. Japanese Mats Are To expensive In My Opinion. Over 200 RM For A 5 Feet Sheet.:( Whereas The Wool mats That I Buy are Only RM 15 For A 2 And A Half Feet Sheet. :-)

[hooinc]

There's a reason why they're more expensive, and that's because they are a lot more effective. Anyway, do whatever you're comfortable with, no worries :-)

[chengaun]

Well Since I Dont Use A Chamber Filter The J Mats Woul be less effective as the water only sprays from one pipe and there is ALOT Of Smaller Debris Which J mats cant Catch but Wool mats can so therefore i use Wool mats like the ones in V8 My Biofilter.

[chengaun]

i decided to get blue wool mats instead of blue J mats.

along with msm at the bottom. i also decided to add more bio rings. i also currently have oyster shells as a ph buffer. :-)

[chengaun]

Whats the difference between blue J mats or other colored J mats ???

[hooinc]

Density and thickness. The supplier would be able to tell you. You're a customer, don't be embarrassed to ask.

[hooinc]

Thanks, guys. :-) My filter is only about 25% of system volume. Ideally it should be at least 33%.

[sigmanagato]

awesome sistem of filtracion my frend thank you for this video men

[chengaun]

And Thats One big Filtration System. But I Suppose You Need It For All Those Big Beautiful Koi :-)

[chengaun]

How Deep is the filter?

[hooinc]

Originally the pond was 7 feet deep and the filter 6 feet deep. During the recent renovation, I reduced my pond depth to 4 feet but maintained the filter depth at 6 feet. As a result, the filter size, as a percentage of the entire system, rose to about 25% from the earlier 15% (estimated). But only the top 3 feet of the filter have filter media. The bottom 3 feet is mainly just a slope towards the bottom drain in each filter chamber.

[malaysia1971]

Happy Birthday Bro Paul. Thanks for the effort esp on your birthday... hahaha. Great video.

[hooinc]

Thanks, Captain. Cheers!

[hooinc]

Sorry if the video appeared a little disjointed or shaky in certain parts. I had accidentally deleted a big section of the video whilst I was editing/merging clips, and since I had already covered back my filter, it would have been too back breaking for me to remove all the timber covers again. They're heavy chengal wood!

[dhoncave]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY PAUL!...the renovation and the effort is worth-it!guess it's a birthday gift for yourself...:-)

[hooinc]

Thanks, Don. Didn't really understand your kois r us comment on the Malaysian forum this morning. Was it an inside joke or something?

[dhoncave]

oh it was my signature,more like the store Toys r Us...does it look bad?

[tounsanti]

that is great looking pond

[hooinc]

Thanks Tounsanti. :-)

[chengaun]

Its your B Day Today?? Happy Birthday!! My Dad Said You Should Have Told Him It was your b day Then He Would have Given you a free cake!

[hooinc]

Yup, it actually is. ;-)