Aquaponics Rafting System

Was looking through some old pictures and found an 2003 Aquaponics system we setup for Ted and his dad. This was a fun project and I learned a lot from doing it. Now remember this was a larger scale setup and can be made to suite your family's needs.

What they wanted to do was grow (Ocimum basilicum) basil for local organic stores, so we had to figure out how many basil was needed to be worth the build and keep production going week in and week out. They already had commitments for about 200 units a week, so with a Germination to final harvest it would be about 3-4 weeks. 

We figured out that we could do 128 plugs per 4 ft by 8 ft by 2 in thick foam insulation sheet which we bought at local Home depot. So a total of 12 rafts at 128 cups each for a total of 1536 units. That worked out to be around 256 units per week which meet there needs on production, and allowed for any that didn't mature. We also choose Talipa as the fish of choice as we could set up 3 tanks to rotate out fingerlings as they grew down the line to final tank for harvest every 3-4 months. Now if you don't want to use Talipa then you can do Koi as a source for feeding the plants of choice for harvest. 

Blue Tilapia (Oreochromis aureus), Nile Tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) and their hybrids are common in mixed-sex cultures since they will attain a marketable size before commencing spawning. Species such as Mozambique Tilapia (Oreochromis mossambicus) and Wami Tilapia (Oreochromis urolepis hornorum) are normally avoided since they will be too small when they reach sexual maturity. By choosing the right species or strains and providing the fish with a suitable environment and proper nutrition, it is possible to achieve a growth rate fast enough to allow fry produced in the spring to reach a marketable size by autumn in temperate regions. For a 4-5 month long culture period, we choose Nile Tilapia. So based on 1/2 pound per gallon we used 300 gallon tanks, starting with 125 fingerlings which will reach 1.0-1.5 which is within the balance of things. We moved them down to next tank about every two months, adding 125 more new fingerlings.

We also put a pre-filtration on the first tank before the fish to help trap heavy debris and various things like leaves, paticulents in water column.

We found a 3 local Vietnamese markets that wanted the live Talipa so the harvesting was covered, and provide a return for buying new fish and feed bill. So with the 256 units of basil at 2.50 per unit every week minus packing material of .05 per unit it wasn't to bad for a small setup (2500.00) per month and Talipa was a break even operation.

2" Net Cups

Ok so what did we use to do this project? 

15x50 45 mil EPDM

2- 2x14x8

8-2x14x12

1 4x8x5/8 ply-wood

6-bundles of 3/4"x3"x24" stakes

1 box of 1-3/4 screws

1 box 1-1/2 screws

4- tanks 300 gallons

1 Sequence 1/4 pump

1 Intake screen

75 ft of 2" pipe and assorted fittings

30ft of 4" pipe

7- 4" bulheads

5- 2" bulkheads

12- 4'x8'x2" foam insolation sheets (Rafts)

1- 100L air pump and air stones

1800 2" net cups

We will get into Germination in another artical, along with a "Purge Tank"  

We won't get into much detail as to how it all went together as the picture explains the basic setup. We will go into more detail on certain steps in another artical. As you can see we setup a raft table so you can pull out raft and pull cups for packaging, then empty's go to Germination room along with rafts to start over. At that time we loaded in new cups ready to make the trip down the river...... too start all over again.

www.koidepot.com

More to come in next post............... Until next time!

Mark "Koiman" Lawson

Halogen or LED? Which will you choose?

Since early 2002 there has been growing interest ECO-friendly solutions in USA as the cost of electricity have risen over 25%! There is a demand to find solutions that controls energy and is more GREEN for current lifestyles. With more and more turning to Solar for there homes and RAINWATER retention system. Many have not given thought or forgot about there yard lighting or the pond lighting, it's 12v system right? Well believe it or not you can also reduce electric consumption there as well. Predictions LED will replace incandescent systems, providing equal light output while using 75-90% less energy.

So what is a LED? First introduced back in the 60's, many of use have been using them for years as indicator lights on electronics and other devices. LED stands for "Light Emitting Diode" it is a semiconductor that converts electricity into light. It is a solid state device that does not contain a breakable filament. These lights stand out and provide an ideal mix of efficiency and output in landscape lighting and ponds. One of the draw backs of HALOGEN lamps is that they produce significant heat together with light output.

The bulbs are define as for example; MR16 is a coded designation in which MR stands for multifaceted reflector, and 16 is the diameter in eighths of an inch across the front face. An MR16 is sixteen eighths, or 2 inches in diameter and an MR11 is 11 eighths, or 1.375 inches in diameter.

So how efficient are LED light? That's a good question that many will ask. The simple answer is the LED will produce equivalent light output using 80% less energy, here is an example. Compare a 20 watt MR-16 lamp to 3-emitter LED array which will use 4.5 watts! What a difference as you can have FOUR LED lights to ONE MR-16. Lets take minute and think about that...... say you have a 150 watt transformer, you can have only 7 Halogen fixtures at 20 watts per light BUT with LED's you can have up to 33 fixtures at 4.5 watts!

With lower power consumption you can use a smaller transformer saving cost there and more fixtures per wire run. Lets not forget that with halogen bulbs you have to make sure that proper voltage range is 10.5-12 v on ALL halogen lights. If under or over voltage it WILL reduce the life of the bulb, which is rated on typical halogen lamp at 4000 hours. So what is the average life of a LED? Can you believe 40,000-50,000 HOURS! SERIOUSLY! So wouldn't this be a better choice?

Lets look at cost of a 900 watt system as an example operating around 10 hours per night. Say you local rate is 0.145 per kWh that works out to be around $476.00 per year of usage. Now lets compare to LED system based on the same equivalent number of LED fixtures with equivalent lumen output would cost ..........drum roll, how about $95.00!  Another cost with halogen is re-bulbing every 12-14 months of use on the system described above. Now many may be DIY or you may have a landscape company to do it. So were looking at around 45 fixtures and lamps cost around $6.00 per lamp, so that would be another $270.00 plus labor from your landscape company per year and add electric cost in to the mix.

Landscape LED - LED Underwater Light 

So with LED your looking at 12-13 years on the LED lamp, most all Manufactures like Vista, Kichler have a 10 year on LED and electronics. Fixtures in LED due cost more BUT over the long term you will save over the long haul!

We our now using LED fixtures for all our ponds, with great reviews! 

Its TIME to rethink your lighting!






LED lights

PROS:

Wider voltage range 6-15+
Long lamp life
Min 75% savings on energy 
Smaller transformers
Longer wire runs, MORE fixtures on a single run
Less time to install
BIG savings to homeowners on electrical cost and lamp replacement
40,000 to 50,000 hours on lamps
10 year warranties 

CONS:

Higher initial cost on fixtures
Labor cost to replace existing fixtures

Halogen Lights

PROS:

Fixture cost is less then LED
Lamps can be found at any Home Improvement Center

CONS:

MUST have proper voltage range 10.5-12 volts
4000 hours before replacement
$6.00 per bulb cost x fixture count per year
1-2 year warranty on fixture only
Larger transformers
Shorter wire runs LESS lights per run
ONE 20 watt compared to FOUR fixtures at same wattage
Labor cost to replace lamps every 12-14 months

Terminology Lingo- Universal language among pond hobbyists and pond professionals.

We would like to share a list of Terminology Lingo that is for the most part the universal language among pond hobbyists and pond professionals. 

WATER FEATURE - this is the industry-wide and generally accepted term describing any interior or exterior, landscape or architectural element whose primary focus is water. There are literally dozens of styles, types and sizes of water features from small to large, simple or complex, formal and naturalistic, man-made or natural.

The following is a list of some of the more commonly referred to water features along with their industry-approved official descriptions and definitions:

• Natural Water Feature -any water feature that would exist without the direct assistance or influence of humans or any human activity or man-made materials.

• Man-Made Water Feature - any interior or exterior, landscape or architectural element that has been designed and installed specifically by human means and whose primary focus is water.

• Naturalistic Water Feature - any man-made interior or exterior, landscape or architectural element that has been designed and installed specifically containing characteristics and elements making it appear to be naturally occurring and whose primary focus is water.

• Disappearing Water Feature - any man-made interior or exterior, landscape or architectural element that originates from and terminates into a hidden underground reservoir or vault and whose primary focus is water.

• Live Water Feature - any water feature possessing the elements for or designed and installed with the intent or capability of supporting and/or attracting any individual species or variety of biological life forms.

• Sterile Water Feature - any water feature that is void of or incapable of supporting or sustaining biological life with the exception of human recreational or hygienic immersion, such as swimming pools and spas.

• Water Garden - any man-made water feature, (generally less than 20 inches in depth), whose primary purpose is to house, display and/or propagate a particular species or variety of species of aquatic plants. Though these features can be any size or depth, they are typically small and relatively shallow. This is based on the fact that most aquatic plants are depth-sensitive and readily thrive in a specific depth or a particular range of water depth. The particular species inhabiting each water garden will ultimately determine the actual surface area and/or depth required in that particular feature.

• Stagnant Bog Garden - any planting area continuously containing a sufficient amount of non-flowing water that categorically falls into an area between dry land and open water, basically being classified as a contained mudhole where a diverse selection and exotic variety of plants can be displayed, housed and/or propagated. A Stagnant Bog Garden can be either a self-contained structure or located in conjunction with and/or around any existing type of water feature. Stagnant bogs can offer a natural filtration alternative as water is filtered through any plant root systems present in the bog, thereby removing unwanted nutrients from the water. Because there is no flow of water through a stagnant bog garden, the filtration process is limited because the water must simply seep slowly through the bog area.

• Flowing Bog Garden - any planting area continuously containing a sufficient amount of flowing water that categorically falls into an area between dry land and open water, basically being classified as a contained mudhole where a diverse selection and exotic variety of plants can be displayed, housed and/or propagated. A Flowing Bog Garden can be either a self-contained structure or located in conjunction with and/or around any existing type of water feature. Flowing bogs can offer a natural filtration alternative as water is filtered through any plant root systems present in the bog, thereby removing unwanted nutrients from the water. Because there is a sufficient flow of water moving through this type of bog, they are noted as being extremely efficient and beneficial as a viable filtration source for optimal water quality.

• Rain Garden/Rain Water Harvesting/Bio-Retention System - any man-made landscape or architectural water feature whose primary purpose is the collection and storage of rainwater or groundwater runoff. These systems are used primarily for erosion control or for later use as an irrigation source or other possible supply needs.

• Aquatic Container Garden - any interior or exterior, landscape or architectural water feature or self contained aquatic ecosystem with somewhat portable capabilities, displayed within the confines of any structure, such as pots, pails, bowls or tubs of various sizes, and usually displayed in such places as on a porch, a deck or a patio and may contain fish and/or plants. These aquatic container gardens may have either a flowing or non-flowing supply of water.

• Natural Pool - any body of water smaller than a pond, (generally less than 18 inches in depth), typically found intermittently arranged within the confines of a watercourse, such as a brook, a creek or a stream. These small pockets of water generally display a significant reduction in water movement than their host element.

• Reflection Pool - any man-made interior or exterior, landscape or architectural bodies of water with either a non-existent or a relatively unnoticeable current of flowing water, whose primary purpose is to reflect the immediate surrounding architectural or landscape elements in its mirror-like surface.

• Formal Pool - any man-made interior or exterior, landscape or architectural bodies of water consisting of extremely clean crisp lines or geometric shapes defining the pool's perimeter. These pools are generally constructed with a wide variety of man-made materials, from cut or polished stone, to fiberglass or stainless steel, in an attempt to continue the appearance of neat, clean, smooth symmetrical edges and shapes.

• Pond/Fish Pond - any body of water, larger than a pool and smaller than a lake, (typically less than 1,000,000 gallons in size and ranging between 18 and 48 inches in depth), whose primary focus are the fish that inhabit the pond. A pond can also contain aquatic plants but usually does so as a naturalistic landscape element, water quality measure and/or to soften the pond's hardscape of rocks, boulders or other edging and construction materials.

• Wildlife/Habitat Pond - any pond whose primary design and focus is to attract and support biological life and provide necessary and basic habitat elements for the species that visit or inhabit the pond.

• Koi Pond - any pond, (generally ranging between 48 inches to 120 inches in total overall depth), whose primary focus is the housing, display and/or propagation of domestic and/or imported koi. Typically these features employ complex and sometimes elaborate filtration systems designed to deliver ultimate water quality for optimum koi health. It is imperative that koi ponds have a sufficient depth, as these large fish require being able to not only swim horizontally but vertically as well.

• Swimming Pond - any pond whose primary focus has been somewhat split between use as a fish pond and human immersion whereby the water feature owner and/or visitors can actually swim with the pond's inhabitants. Swimming ponds must allow for easy and safe entry and exit points for the human visitors as well as the need to carefully address water quality issues for human health concerns during immersion. It must be noted here that swimming pond design and installation involves extremely detailed ordinances, laws, regulations and building codes for any structure used in conjunction with human occupancy.

Watercourse - any one of five fundamental interior or exterior manmade conveyances used to contain flows of horizontally moving water with less than a 30-degree angle of descent, as described below:

• Man-Made Brook - any interior or exterior, landscape or architectural element comprised of a man-made horizontal flow of water with less than a 30-degree angle of descent, having less than 1,000 gallons per hour in flow rates and typically having naturalistic appearances or characteristics.

• Man-Made Creek - any interior or exterior, landscape or architectural element comprised of a man-made horizontal flow of water with less than a 30-degree angle of descent; having between 1,000 and 10,000 gallons per hour in flow rates and typically having naturalistic appearances or characteristics.

• Man-Made Stream - any interior or exterior, landscape or architectural element comprised of a man-made horizontal flow of water with less than a 30-degree angle of descent; having between 10,000 and 100,000 gallons per hour in flow rates and typically having naturalistic appearances or characteristics.

• Man-Made River - any interior or exterior, landscape or architectural element comprised of a man-made horizontal flow of water with less than a 30-degree angle of descent, having more than 100,000 gallons per hour in flow rates and typically having naturalistic appearances or characteristics.

• Runnel or Rill - any interior or exterior, landscape or architectural element comprised of a man-made horizontal flow of water with less than a 30-degree angle of descent and having formal to semi-formal characteristics. Some runnels are narrow geometric watercourses moving around the perimeter of or dissecting formal patios, decks and outdoor living spaces. Runnels are basically any formal-appearing watercourse not possessing naturalistic elements or characteristics.

• Dry Creek Bed - though not actually a water feature, and they normally or typically do not contain water unless overflow or rain conditions exist, we have included dry creek beds here as having an excellent application when used in conjunction with other water features. A dry creek bed is just as the name suggests: It is a relatively small, meandering gravel bed with no flowing water, and used primarily to allow for drainage or the removal of excessive or unwanted rainwater or groundwater runoff from pre-existing water features or other sources.

• Fountain - any man-made water feature -- either sterile or live -- whose primary focus is water movement from spraying, shooting, flowing, dripping or bubbling from its re-circulated source.

• Weeping Wall - used as an alternative to the substantial flows found in a multitude of waterfall styles and designs. Weeping walls are generally rock walls of various styles, shapes, sizes or configurations that release hundreds or even thousands of tiny drips and drops of water in a weeping effect across the surface of the rock wall. These can be great ecosystems for mosses and ferns and even insect and amphibian life, either as a stand-alone feature or used in conjunction with other water elements.

• Water Wall - any solid wall of stone, metal, glass or other material that has been designed with the intent of having a flow of water evenly distributed over the entire width of the wall as the water flows or trickles down the surface of the wall.

• Formal Fountain - any sterile or live man-made landscape or architectural water feature application utilizing a single or series of precisely calibrated nozzles or ring(s) of nozzles that display various types and styles of ornate sprays of water into a formal pool or natural pond. Sometimes this category will consist of “any” fountain that is set in the confines of a “formal pool,” thereby classifying it as a formal fountain.

• Disappearing Fountain - any sterile or live man-made landscape or architectural water feature application utilizing any variety of available fountain effects that originate from and terminate into a hidden underground reservoir or vault and whose primary focus is water movement.

• Tabletop Fountain - any self-contained, man-made water feature found in a variety of smaller sizes and contained within various receptacles, rendering it somewhat portable and typically found indoors and displayed on a tabletop. These diverse water features are limited only by the materials used and the imagination of the designer. Tabletop fountains may or may not contain live fish, plants or other aquatic life.

• Wall Fountain - any fountain consisting of a sculpture or structure mounted directly on a wall that is designed to dispense either single or multiple outlets of drips, sprays or columns of water into a reservoir, shell, large bowl, basin or pool located or mounted directly below the sculpture. This type of fountain with Old World origins can be found in most any social environment around the world but is typically found in large numbers throughout Europe. Designs range from relatively simple applications to very artistically designed, complex and ornate structures.

• Spitter Fountain - any man-made fountain distribution device, either carved, constructed or manufactured typically made from stone, metal or plastic (but can be made from most any other material) and designed to shoot a single stream or multiple streams of water back into the spitter’s host reservoir or pond. Generally, these fountains are statues of animals or birds, that “spit” a stream of water from their mouths back into the host feature.

• Bubbler Fountain - any natural rock or boulder, carved stone sphere or other geometric shape, sculpture, basalt column or other natural or manufactured product, consisting of a single or series of centrally located holes bored through the structure, which allows large volumes of water to bubble up through the hole or holes and run down over the object's surface and return back to the bubbler's host reservoir or pond.

• Floating Fountain - any self-contained fountain unit, generally having a pump and a filter, either with or without lights, typically found in a larger ornamental ponds, retention ponds or lakes and spraying or shooting water in a single spray or a series of columns or sprays in an ornate display back into the host element.

Waterfall - any of a variety of styles, types and forms of vertically flowing water with more than a 30-degree angle of descent, as described below:

• Sheerdrop-Fall - any vertical flow of water with a 90-degree angle of descent, designed to leave its host surface and free-fall through the air any length or width and typically land in a pool of water. The diameter and depth of the pool at the base of any sheerdrop fall will greatly affect the tone and pitch emitted by the falling water.

• Curtain-Fall - any vertical flow of water with a 90-degree angle of descent, designed to leave its host surface and free-fall through the air any length or width. Unlike the previous sheer-drop fall, these curtain-falls originate from an extremely straight, flat, smooth and level surface, resulting in a continuous “curtain” of water across the entire front-edge of the waterfall's weir.

• Fan-Fall - any vertical flow of water with a 90-degree angle of descent, designed to leave its host surface and free-fall through the air any length or width. It is virtually identical to the curtain-fall in that it also originates from an extremely flat, smooth and level surface. The difference is that a fan-fall is not straight but rather has a noticeable convex arc from left to right, resembling that of a fan blade or an oriental fan.

• Funnel-Fall - any vertical flow of water with more than a 30-degree angle of descent, designed to deliver a significant amount of water through a relatively narrow funnel, shoot, gap or concave arc, resulting in phenomenal water hydraulics.

• Cascade - any vertical flow of water with more than a 30-degree angle of descent, providing a more complex movement of water. These are consisting literally from a few to as many as dozens of multi-sized waterfalls of any length or width, all combined into one unit as the water is allowed to tumble from one elevational level to another. These waterfalls are typically known for their gossamer-veil effects.

• Disappearing Waterfall - any vertical flow of water with more than a 30-degree angle of descent that originates from and terminates into a hidden underground reservoir or vault and whose primary focus is the waterfall.

How to Recognize, Correct a pH Crash in Your Koi or Goldfish Pond.

How to Recognize, Correct a pH Crash in Your Koi or Goldfish Pond

pH crashes occur when the water in the pond is not stable (also called alkalinity) and the pH suddenly plummets down below 7.0.  We have seen it as low as 5.0.  Your pond's pH is at its lowest level during the morning so a pH crash most often happens around or just before daybreak.  Small bodies of water are less stable than large ones so a crash is more apt to happen to smaller ponds (of less than 2000 gallons), holding, hospital or quarantine tanks and aquariums.

Low pH is acidic.  A sudden drop would feel to the fish like they were being lowered into a vat of acid.  If pH was temperature - it would be hot.  A pH crash kills fish, damages plant life and kills the nitrifying bacteria in your biological filter.

Recognizing a pH Crash

The tell-tell signs of a pH crash are: Skin peeling on the fish / Finding all the fish dead in the morning / A reading of less than 6.8 when tested after the episode.

Correcting the pH

pH changes are harmful and often we will say to gradually change the pH of your pond so that it doesn't shock the fish.  In the case of a crash you have to think about the "fire" that any surviving koi or goldfish are feeling and it's the lesser of two evils to get that pH up and fast! If there are no survivors then you can certainly change it out at your convenience but if there are surviving koi or goldfish you need to treat it as an emergency and act quickly.  When changing the water remember to add de-chlorinator if you are using a municipal water source.

Emergency Procedures

If you know you've had a pH crash and there are surviving koi or goldfish do an immediate water change to bring the pH to a normal range. (Don't forget the de-chlorinator if necessary)

If a water change cannot be done immediately, add baking soda to bring up the pH every 30 minutes until 7.0 is reached or use pH Up.

What to Expect Next

Once the pH is corrected after a crash expect problems with ammonia and nitrites.  A pH crash kills the nitrifying cycle of your pond and you must start re-seeding your biological filter immediately. The surviving koi and goldfish of a pH crash will be stressed to their limits and they are still not out of danger.  Any underlying problems (scarred gills, presence of parasites, bad water quality, etc.) will affect the fish much more than if the fish were not stressed.  Try to keep the stress factors down and watch the fish carefully for signs of secondary problems.

Why Pond Aeration?

Pond aeration is one of the most important things you do for your pond!  If you’ve ever asked the question of why exactly you have a pump pushing water over a waterfall,  the answer is simply that it is keeping your fish alive. One can not have enough aeration. The Koi thrive better, bacteria in bio-filter are healthier!  By increasing the "Oxygen" levels in the pond water, it will promote an overall healthier pond. One important area that higher levels of oxygen saturation help is in better promotion of good biological bacteria known as aerobic bacteria. Aerobic bacteria are the good bacteria in our pond that like oxygen. They grow and eat dead decaying plants, algae and pond muck up to 30 times faster than  anaerobic bacteria (an-aerobic). Anaerobic bacteria live and grow in the absence of oxygen. Maintaining a constant supply of oxygen greatly improves the ability for the aerobic bacteria to thrive and keep your pond cleaner, the water clearer and fish healthier.

It is a common belief that having pond plants will aid in providing oxygen to the fish. This is true, however, during the night, the plants use oxygen too. If you have too many plants, you’re taking away the oxygen the fish are using. Although a pond aerator will help with this problem, it is good to manage how many plants you have feeding off the water.

Ponds that are designed with bottom drains permit better oxygen disbursement towards the bottom because water usually enters the pond's top surface and is drawn out from the bottom drain. This method recirculates the pond's total water column better than those that do not draw the water from the bottom. More oxygen content close to the bottom promotes the good bacteria which consumes waste that settles on the bottom, oxygen is a great oxidizer in itself!

Decaying plants/debris/uneaten food in a very low oxygen level pond can create a toxic dissolved gas known as Hydrogen Sulfide. Hydrogen Sulfide (H2S) is a gas that can form in aquatic gardens and ponds, when certain bacteria feed on organic debris in areas of the pond that are low or depleted in oxygen. The most common way to detect H2S is by a rotten egg odor that may bubble out of the water when bottom sediment is stirred-up while seining fish, planting, or conducting general maintenance. H2S may be more prevalent in ponds and aquatic gardens that have been established for several years and have been heavily stocked with aquatic plants and animals. This is because organic debris accumulates on the bottom sediment surface, preventing oxygen to diffuse into the pond bottom.

Aquatic gardens require that you drain and clean them on a yearly bases for the reason of removing dead decaying debris trapped in rocks, nooks and cranny's. As there is no bottom drain and as a rule only a skimmer unit with pump. This allows debris to settle to bottom and not be caught in a flowing water column to be removed from system. One way to improve this is to add a Air Diffuser to pond or air stones placed in various locations. You will need a outside air pump to perform these steps. This will cause a water column to start drawing bottom water to surface for gas exchange.

The above video show us a great example of how a aerated bottom drain works. You will notice how it lifts and then bursts to the surface for the exchange!

Skimmer- How important is it?

I come across a lot of ponds THAT DO NOT have skimmer(s) and only a bottom drain. Without a skimmer one of many factors come into play....One; if any DOC's (dissolved organic compounds) in system they will remain on surface and start to build up! The other thing is any leaves, air borne debris will also remain on surface. Thus breaking down and creating MORE DOC's. Also mosquito's can start to breed as the water surface is not moving and they like calm dead water! Not to mention any Koi food that Koi have not consumed. We will talk about "calm dead water" at a later time...............I would like to share a story from one of our customers that thought they didn't need a skimmer....... Moral of story: Put a skimmer in system whether you think you need or not!

This story can also be found at our Koi club's website:
http://koiclubsandiego.org/library/leland/1007blackhole.php

The Black Hole


Leland Helzer - July 2010

"Now you have a pond" my pond man, Mark Lawson of "Koi Depot", said when his work was done.
Our 4,000 gallon pond is a little over two years old now. When Thomas and I built it, we hired Mark to install a "Nexus 300" filter, and do the plumbing. He installed two 55 gallon pre-filters on the system with blue "Matala" mats as filter media. He asked me as we were doing the planning if I wanted a skimmer. I looked all around, the only trees in sight were palms. Since there were no trees with leaves, I could not imagine why I would need a skimmer. I said no.

Fast forward a year and a half. I had the most beautiful carpet of green algae that you can imagine and our seventeen koi grew and thrived. The Nexus filter was doing a great job as bio-filter, and all of our chemistry tests were perfect. The water in the pond was crystal clear despite the frequent job of cleaning the algae that kept clogging the "Matala" mats in the pre-filters. The bio-media that came with the Nexus never even got dirty, that was a good thing.

Eventually I said "enough is enough" to the algae problem. Around December of last year, off to the "koi store" we went to buy some kind of fish-safe chemical to get rid of algae. Hesitantly, I added the chemical to the pond. I hated using any kind of chemicals, hated it! I waited to see what would happen. After a few days, I had a small amount of dead algae floating on the surface of the water. Expected.

I cannot tell you how I looked forward to not having so much of the green algae clogging my pre-filters, and not having to work so hard to keep them clean. The next thing I knew, we had a problem that we had not had before, mosquitos and gnats! It seemed to me that the dead algae floating on the water surface provided the perfect breeding ground for insect larvae. For what ever reason, suddenly we had swarms of iinsects filling the air above our pond, and it was winter!

I found myself at the pond daily with a fine nylon aquarium net, skimming what seemed like thousands of insect larvae off the surface of the pond. The larvae and swarming insects were more insidious than algae had ever been! I was afraid my neighbors would soon be turning me over to vector control! Even though water itself was crystal clear, something had to be done about the bugs floating on the surface. I was quickly getting very tired of being "the skimmer"!

Finally I called Mark and asked him if it was too late to put a skimmer on our pond. "No" he said, "It isn't." He came over and determined that we could tie in to the existing pump and system. No more electricity would be needed. An additional 55 gallon drum with horizontal disc fiber filters would work to trap the skimmed debris and bugs inside the covered barrel, where they will die before they can reproduce. YEA!

Mark and his assistant, Pat, completed the installation. When they were done I stood there with total glee, almost obsessed, as I watched all the tiny insect eggs, and larvae by the thousands, being ever so slowly but steadily sucked into the "BLACK HOLE" that is our new skimmer. I was compelled to imagine a "Star Trek" episode with the "The USS Enterprise" about to be sucked into a "BLACK HOLE".

Not only does the skimmer help alleviate the insect problem, it also skims off excess proteins from the surface and oxygenates the water. All of these factors contribute to a healthier environment for our koi. The surface of the water is now as crystal clear as the water below. The flying insects have not yet been totally eliminated, but they are decreasing by the day. I hope to be completely rid of them with time. They have quite the life cycle. Each insect lives for months and lays hundreds of eggs.

If you don't have a skimmer on your pond, I strongly urge you to consider installing one. I am 200% pleased with ours!