Koyfam16

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I bought a house that came with a pond. I estimate it to be about 400-500 gallons.

In there is about 18 comets, some are quite large at about 5-6".

I am looking to restart this pond from scratch as its in bad shape with green water and lots of sludge. The biomate 800 filter gets clogged quickly and efforts so far have been futile.

I added barley yesterday and it's helping a bit but the little filter can't keep up.

My questions are these:

1. I think the bio load is too much and wanted to sell? Give away? the comets and start over

2. Upgrade the filter to a better one and continue trying to clear up the pond

Any advice is appreciated.

Thanks
 

Koyfam16

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Hicksville Long Island.

The pond last summer. It's a nice pond. I think I just need to get a better filter. The liner is all filled with gunk and prob needs a good scrubbing too.

e1a91b8898822621b7f38e7f388390ec.jpg
 
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Koyfam16

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Cool where are you located? Would love to get some tips.

Do you think I should scrub the liner with a hard bristle push broom or some type of brush or will barley help break that stuff down?

I need a home for the fish most likely.
 

reefiness

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Ok on the topic of ponds, I built one in my yard a few years ago, then about 3 years ago we redug it and expanded the pond to get down to about 3-4 feet that way I can keep the fish in there over winter. Before that it was only about 1/4 the size and peaked at about 18 inches depth. I dont have a filter on it, was hoping to get a "natural" filtration working by letting the crude sit at the bottom of the pond and I also put lots of plants in there. I have some lillys that took and come back every year. Then the past 2 years ive purchased floating plants in the beginning of the summer which die over the winter. Last year I also bought some underwater plant which im hoping comes back this year but we will see....

Am I doing this whole pond thing wrong? We have a 1200 gph pump feeding a "stream feature" that is about a 3ft rise/10ft run. that pump runs about 12-18 hours a day over the summer, other that that no filter.
 

Ponyboy

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You need a bigger and better filter
Look on koiphen.com there are used ones in NY for sale as well as uv
Drain pond get rid of most of the comets they breed to much
Power wash liner remove all gunk fill with new water use a decholranter add a few fish and good to go
A proper system won't need barley or other quick fixes to run properly
You are correct Lower your bio load maybe add an air stone on bottom also
Good luck
 
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Sorry been trying to respond to this all day,typing paragraphs and the damn app keeps force closing before it sends. Anyway 100000000% on a UV sterilizer for that size pond a 25 watt will be fine not just for algae but overall health,types of carp tend to be heavy on aeromonas and psuedomonas among other things. Personally I'd recommend an Aqua Ultraviolet no wiper and or an Emperor Aquatics. Get yourself at least a barrel filter better would be a sand filter,bead or bio filter. Cheap end but effective is a Tetra Pf filter(atleast the 2) the pressurized is better but like 5 times the $, a little more advanced is the aqua Ultraviolet bead filter Ultima II 1000 would be fine. There are others too but ideally you want that style I just mentioned those to give examples of what I personally have used for a bunch of ponds and I know work. Don't get the combo filter and UV, other than the effectiveness if a pump breaks or the unit now your left with nothing running as opposed to at least 1 of the 2 running.The combo is better than not having them though! Without a uv and getting sunlight the pond will be pea soup unless your insanely planted. No need to get rid of the comets unless you don't like them,they do breed prolifically usually bur if you have kids in the family they'll probably love it. You can absoulety, competely clean the pond and keep those fish at the same time. Is it a plastic pre formed or rubbermaid (firestone) liner? If it's not a concrete and or heavy rubbermaid preformed be careful when scrubbing, depending on natural location you can easily put too much pressure and possibly puncture the pond with rock in the ground. Again depends on what and if anything is laid below the pond but better safe then sorry. You should completely scrub,drain and fill the pond it will take multiple drain and fills and probably a lot of scrubbing. I always use algae pads, scrub brushes, I'd highly suggest having multiple tools to scrub and a few different styles,between wearing out,changing position and fitting in certain areas you'll be happy you did. In general unless something major happens,heavy rain,crazy parties lol you only change water twice a season, once to open and once to close so it makes sense to start out the season spotless. Be sure to get all the leaves and stuff out before it warms up,that stuff becomes a mess when it breaks down and that's when people normally loose fish. The equipment between pumps,filter and Uv going brand new going to be $1k plus but other than normal maintenance on the stuff if you take care of it it'll last as long as the pond does. Also I'm a huge fan of Supreme mag drive pumps for the pond,take a beating and last forever also can get the extra long plug. Feel free to pm me for details,depending when your looking to do it I'd come by and help for sure,miss the pond days! Get that pond brand new and sparkling in 1 day.
 

Koyfam16

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Long Island, NY
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Thanks everyone for such great advice.

So here is my plan before it gets too hot.

Drain some water
Remove fish temporarily
Drain all water
Scrub safely refilling and scrubbing multiple times.
Shop around for one of the mentioned filters and uv
Refill pond
De chlorinator
Add fish - give away most

The pond gets a lot of sun but not really directly. There are trees behind it in neighbors yard that shade it. It mostly gets afternoon sun.

Thanks everyone. I have to re read all the posts and jot down key points.
 

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