This Forum will close on Wednesday 27 March, 2024. Please refer to the announcement on the Discussions page for further detail.
Pond filter
midnightvelvet
Posts: 19
Hi eveeryone, I finally solved the problem with my pond pump/filter but buying a new one!
It has an integral filter and UV light so it was very straight forward for me to do myself.
What I would like to know is this: how long should I expect it to take before my water is clear? It's been a whole week now and whilst everything appears to be running smoothly, the water is still not as clear as I expected it to be. I did wonder whether I should check the filter to see if maybe it is all clogged up, but the fountain thing is running absolutely fine.
Would appreciate some advise please xxx
0
Posts
Not sure what sort of filter you're using, but I'm guessing it's a box filter filled with some sort of sponge or other surface that bacteria can live on, with a built in UV tube.
These filters take about 6-8 weeks to build up the bacteria colony so that they can start turning toxic chemicals into harmless chemicals.
The UV filter will kill the algae as it passes through.
But it all takes time to settle down. Don't be in a rush and don;t clean the filter too often. I clean mine once every 3-4 months.
When cleaning the filter, you should always do it in stages. You don't want to kill all the bactiria that have built-up, so clean the filter in stages over a couple of weeks using tap water. The chlorine in tap water will kill the bacteria, that's why you need to do it in stages.
If you choose to clean it all in pond water, you can do it all in one go.
If you have blanket weed, you need to use Cloverleaf or similar.
If I've got the type of filter wrong, please let us know.
Billericay - Essex
Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit.
Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
Pete8 has covered this post, all I would add, I wouldn't run the UV for a couple of weeks to let the bacteria build up, when you do wash out your filters I would use a bucket of pond water, this takes the waste away but leaves the bacteria, I'd also turn off the UV during the winter, the other thing you must rember not to over stock your pond for the size filter.
Thanks again for replies. All advice and suggestions welcome for a novice fishpond keeper LOL xxx
Hi everyone....an update on my pond issues. In the end, I decided to just buy a whole new filter set up and bought the Easiclear all in one pump/filter/UV setup. Wow! Did that clean up some stuff from the bottom of my pond!! After about 3 weeks, I checked the filters and they were Chokka with mud, so I cleaned it all out and put it back....and a week later (I couldn't resist) I checked it again and it was clogged again.
I ended up buying a Tornado Pondvac for £20 which took up some but not much...pay cheap get cheap!! THEN I saw another easiclear (the 3000 this time) figuring it would be worth running both to get the pond finally clear and healthy.
Yesterday, I decided to buy a good pond vacuum as I couldn't be doing with all this messing so I invested in the Oase classic one. The stuff is has taken out of my pond is phenominal! I spent an hour last night and over an hour today and the water still isn't properly clean, but I decided to go ahead and put the pumps back in and let them do some work. Will put the plants back in when the rain stops again and just wait and see what happens. A monthly chore of pond vacuuming is on my to do list from now. :G