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A Koi pond in the Sky
3 chambles Pump-feed Mechanical & Biological Filter system
4 chambles Gravity-feed Mechanical & Biological Filter system
1st & 2nd chamber - Settlement & Mechanical (Cotton wool) Filter
3rd & 4th chamber - Biological media (Japanese mat, coral chips, Lava rocks, Oster shells, etc) & pump
Ammonia or NH3 Test Kit
Nitrite or NO2 Test Kit
pH Test Kit
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Koi Pond Filtration System
Like many koi beginners, I started out with very little knowledge on water filtering system and how it affects the success of my koi hobby. I came to understand later that this is the single most important element in determining whether your koi keeping hobby will be a success or failure.
I had lost many of my koi due to the lack of understanding in this topic. I hope to write this short article to share my experience with all beginners so that they can benefit and prevent from the mistakes that I made in the beginning.
That's a saying in Koi circle - "Keeping Koi is about Keeping water". You take care of the water and the water will take care of your koi.
To make it simple to understand, I’ll breakdown into few topics and discuss them one by one.
1. What is the function or job of the filter system
The main function of the filter is to get rid of the waste product of our koi which if not removed will become toxic and threaten the health of the koi in the pond. There are two main waste products - the faeces that are the solid waste and Ammonia that is water soluble and invisible. Small concentration of Ammonia will have fetal effect on koi by destroying their gills and causing death. This is a main cause of losses for many koi beginners
2. Different types of filtrations: Mechanical, Chemical & Biological
There are basically 3 types of filtrations:
Mechanical Filter filters those solid wastes from the fish that we can see with our naked eyes. The most common type of Mechanical Filter is cotton filter media that most people use to filter the solid wastes.
Chemical Filter is media that can absorb Ammonia. The commonly use media are carbon and zeolite. The different between carbon and zeolite is the later can be recharged in saturated salt water solution for 24 hrs while carbon must be thrown away after some time.
Biological Filter is actually made up of so called good bacteria in the filter. Solid waste can be filtered by mechanical filter, but how do we filter Ammonia, Nitrite and Nitrate that are water soluble and invisioble? These are more harmful substance than the solid waste that we can see with our naked eyes. They can only be "filtered or consumed by the beneficial bacteria in the filter system.
In another words, 1st type of bacteria (Nitrosomonas) will convert Ammonia into Nitrite and 2nd type of good bacteria (Nitrobacteria) will convert Nitrite into Nitrate that is less harmful to our koi unless present in high quantity. Biological filter is by far the most important filter in our pond filter system
3. How big your filter should be and what media do you put in them?
Normally your filter compartment should be at least 1/5th of the total volume of your pond in order for it to work effectively. The pump should also circulate the whole volume of pond water 3 times every hour. You should leave your pump running 24 hrs everyday without turning it off.
There should be few compartments in the filter. I would recommend that you leave your first compartment empty to act as settlement compartment. The 2nd compartment will be your mechanical filter. I use cotton filter in this compartment to filter out the solid waste. No gap should be allowed for the waste to pass through. The 3rd compartment is where you put your Japanese mat, Bio-Ring, Bio-Ball, Bio-Home etc. These are the Biologically media that encourage good bacteria to grow. You can spread these Bio-Media into 4th or 5th if you have more compartment. Next, you need to put coral chips or Oyster shell to buffer the pH of your water. pH Cashing can cause high fatality rate. Last compartment is where you put your pump to pump back the filtered water into the pond.
4. How to measure the effectiveness of your filtering system?
To measure the effectiveness of your filter system, you need to get the Ammonia (NH3) test kits. This is the first test among the first things you should do if the koi seems 'sick' to you. Next is the Nitrite (NO2) test kit which test another toxic substance in your pond. Third - Nitrate (NO3) which is less toxic unless present is high concentration.
Take the measurement at least 2 hours after feeding to obtian accurate reading. This is to allow time for the good bacteria to digest the Amonnia and Nitrite.
As you can see this process using lots of O (Oxygen), so you need to test the dissolve Oxygen to maintain good filtration.
Another important test is pH. pH is a dynamic water quality parameter which can change overnight, especially in crowded ponds. Acid produce by fish waste can drain on pH causing it to "fall" or crash and result in many losses.
5. How long does a new filter takes to mature and what should you do in the mean time?
In normal condition, a new filter will take 4 to 8 weeks to mature or fully function. The good bacteria will populate the filter compartment and started to work efficiently. The is a important stage when you need to control the feeding tightly. This is also the most difficult part as your pets will come up now and then to beg for food. Most beginner will give into this temptation and the result is spike in Ammonia level and the koi started to flush and rub again the floor or wall of the pond. So remember, the best thing is to feed them sparingly
6. How often should you change water and clear your filter? What are the dos and don’ts during filter cleaning
It depends on how big your pond and the size of your filter. If you have a big pond of more than 5 tons, you will probably need to clean the filter once very 3 to 6 months. If you have smaller pond, you will probably need to clean them more often, say about 2 to 3 months interval. The rule of thumb is if your mechanical filter (Brushes or cotton wool) is 70~80% choked, it is time to get your hands dirty and do some cleaning.
During cleaning, drain the settlement compartment, throw away the cotton filter, rinse the Japanese mat, bio-ball, bio-home, bio-ring, coral chips etc with pond water, remember not to use tap water to rinse these as tap water contain chlorine which will wipe up your good bacteria. After finish rinsing, put back the filter material, replace the cotton filter with new one and you are done.
You need to control the feeding for 1 week after cleaning the filter. This is because some of the good bacteria is also removed during the cleaning process and the filtering capacity of your filter is also greatly reduced. Monitor your koi closely for the next few days. You may have to stop the feeding completely if you observe any stressful behavior such as listless, lying at the bottom or fleshing (rubbing the body against the bottom or the walls of the pond). If they start to look for food,after few days, it is the sign that your filter is back to it's normal function.
7. How often should you feed your koi?
If you have a big pond that support 1 koi per ton of water, you probably can feed many times even up to 6 times per day. But if you are like many of us who live in Singapore where land is expensive with our tank/pond heavily stock, you might want to limit the feeding to 2 times a day. Feed the amount that they can finish within 1 minute. I know most instruction on koi food packet suggest within 5 minutes but I find that it is too long and usually result in over feeding.
I hope you can benefit from this short article and enjoy your koi hobby for many years to come !!
Like many koi beginners, I started out with very little knowledge on water filtering system and how it affects the success of my koi hobby. I came to understand later that this is the single most important element in determining whether your koi keeping hobby will be a success or failure.
I had lost many of my koi due to the lack of understanding in this topic. I hope to write this short article to share my experience with all beginners so that they can benefit and prevent from the mistakes that I made in the beginning.
That's a saying in Koi circle - "Keeping Koi is about Keeping water". You take care of the water and the water will take care of your koi.
To make it simple to understand, I’ll breakdown into few topics and discuss them one by one.
1. What is the function or job of the filter system
The main function of the filter is to get rid of the waste product of our koi which if not removed will become toxic and threaten the health of the koi in the pond. There are two main waste products - the faeces that are the solid waste and Ammonia that is water soluble and invisible. Small concentration of Ammonia will have fetal effect on koi by destroying their gills and causing death. This is a main cause of losses for many koi beginners
There are basically 3 types of filtrations:
Mechanical Filter filters those solid wastes from the fish that we can see with our naked eyes. The most common type of Mechanical Filter is cotton filter media that most people use to filter the solid wastes.
Chemical Filter is media that can absorb Ammonia. The commonly use media are carbon and zeolite. The different between carbon and zeolite is the later can be recharged in saturated salt water solution for 24 hrs while carbon must be thrown away after some time.
Biological Filter is actually made up of so called good bacteria in the filter. Solid waste can be filtered by mechanical filter, but how do we filter Ammonia, Nitrite and Nitrate that are water soluble and invisioble? These are more harmful substance than the solid waste that we can see with our naked eyes. They can only be "filtered or consumed by the beneficial bacteria in the filter system.
In another words, 1st type of bacteria (Nitrosomonas) will convert Ammonia into Nitrite and 2nd type of good bacteria (Nitrobacteria) will convert Nitrite into Nitrate that is less harmful to our koi unless present in high quantity. Biological filter is by far the most important filter in our pond filter system
3. How big your filter should be and what media do you put in them?
Normally your filter compartment should be at least 1/5th of the total volume of your pond in order for it to work effectively. The pump should also circulate the whole volume of pond water 3 times every hour. You should leave your pump running 24 hrs everyday without turning it off.
There should be few compartments in the filter. I would recommend that you leave your first compartment empty to act as settlement compartment. The 2nd compartment will be your mechanical filter. I use cotton filter in this compartment to filter out the solid waste. No gap should be allowed for the waste to pass through. The 3rd compartment is where you put your Japanese mat, Bio-Ring, Bio-Ball, Bio-Home etc. These are the Biologically media that encourage good bacteria to grow. You can spread these Bio-Media into 4th or 5th if you have more compartment. Next, you need to put coral chips or Oyster shell to buffer the pH of your water. pH Cashing can cause high fatality rate. Last compartment is where you put your pump to pump back the filtered water into the pond.
To measure the effectiveness of your filter system, you need to get the Ammonia (NH3) test kits. This is the first test among the first things you should do if the koi seems 'sick' to you. Next is the Nitrite (NO2) test kit which test another toxic substance in your pond. Third - Nitrate (NO3) which is less toxic unless present is high concentration.
Take the measurement at least 2 hours after feeding to obtian accurate reading. This is to allow time for the good bacteria to digest the Amonnia and Nitrite.
As you can see this process using lots of O (Oxygen), so you need to test the dissolve Oxygen to maintain good filtration.
Another important test is pH. pH is a dynamic water quality parameter which can change overnight, especially in crowded ponds. Acid produce by fish waste can drain on pH causing it to "fall" or crash and result in many losses.
5. How long does a new filter takes to mature and what should you do in the mean time?
In normal condition, a new filter will take 4 to 8 weeks to mature or fully function. The good bacteria will populate the filter compartment and started to work efficiently. The is a important stage when you need to control the feeding tightly. This is also the most difficult part as your pets will come up now and then to beg for food. Most beginner will give into this temptation and the result is spike in Ammonia level and the koi started to flush and rub again the floor or wall of the pond. So remember, the best thing is to feed them sparingly
It depends on how big your pond and the size of your filter. If you have a big pond of more than 5 tons, you will probably need to clean the filter once very 3 to 6 months. If you have smaller pond, you will probably need to clean them more often, say about 2 to 3 months interval. The rule of thumb is if your mechanical filter (Brushes or cotton wool) is 70~80% choked, it is time to get your hands dirty and do some cleaning.
During cleaning, drain the settlement compartment, throw away the cotton filter, rinse the Japanese mat, bio-ball, bio-home, bio-ring, coral chips etc with pond water, remember not to use tap water to rinse these as tap water contain chlorine which will wipe up your good bacteria. After finish rinsing, put back the filter material, replace the cotton filter with new one and you are done.
You need to control the feeding for 1 week after cleaning the filter. This is because some of the good bacteria is also removed during the cleaning process and the filtering capacity of your filter is also greatly reduced. Monitor your koi closely for the next few days. You may have to stop the feeding completely if you observe any stressful behavior such as listless, lying at the bottom or fleshing (rubbing the body against the bottom or the walls of the pond). If they start to look for food,after few days, it is the sign that your filter is back to it's normal function.
7. How often should you feed your koi?
If you have a big pond that support 1 koi per ton of water, you probably can feed many times even up to 6 times per day. But if you are like many of us who live in Singapore where land is expensive with our tank/pond heavily stock, you might want to limit the feeding to 2 times a day. Feed the amount that they can finish within 1 minute. I know most instruction on koi food packet suggest within 5 minutes but I find that it is too long and usually result in over feeding.
I hope you can benefit from this short article and enjoy your koi hobby for many years to come !!
