I purchased this model for my small pond, which is partly in the shade most of the day. I have read that the pond water clears up after several days of use. This is true. My pond was completely green, and I can only see my fishes, when they come up to feed at the surface. After about 2-3 days of constant use, the pond started to show clarity in the water. I'm able to see a few inches below the surface. Today is the 5th day of usage and now I'm able to see at least 10" down. The water in the pond is not as green any more. Of course, I removed and rinsed off the water pump filter everyday. I also took the opportunity to use the backwash feature to clean the UV filter as well. This was very easy to do. I use the collected backwash water to water my flowers and garden. Just note that when you use the backwash, water from your pond is lost. So it needs to be refill to the same level as before. I'm quite happy with the way the unit is working. I love the locking and quick release (in/out) nozzles. However, this unit will only fit 3/4" to 1 1/4". I wished the nozzles extended to 1/2", which would have made installing extremely easy. My small pond has a small water pump, which can only fit a 1/2" hose. I have a coil of 1/2" hose, but I can't use. I had to stop by Lowe to buy a roll of 20' 3/4" flexible hose and a 3/4" to 1/2" adapter. For this reason, I only gave this product a 4 stars instead of 5 stars. Also, I was surprised to see the unit is quite bulkier than I had expected.
Update: Just want to let everyone knows that after about 10 days, my pond is clear all the way to the bottom. I can see all the fishes hiding at the bottom when I approach. I'm able to spot out debris, such as leaves, etc. which helped with the cleaning. I'm glad I got this unit, and now I'm enjoying my pond immensely.
Having studied the various options on how to build my own KOI pond for the last 3 years, I am now settled on a very comfortable 300 Gallon tank with a design that will allow me to add a little more fishes as needed.
Here are the components and my reviews for each of them
300 Gallon Rubber Maid stock tank (bought from ZOROTOOL.COM ** because it is $100-$150 cheaper for the unit with free delivery. sorry Amazon !!)
Laguna Pressure-Flo 700 UVC Filter (ASIN: B001BOBPBM)
TotalPond PF850 Pressurized Biological Filter (ASIN: B004DL0Y4O)
Danner Mag Drive Pump Model 9.5 -950 gph (ASIN: B0002568G8)
(1) Rubber Main tank
Well, it is a nice size tank for KOI. I now have 7 KOI's sizes between 6 12 inches. I plan to have may be 2-3 more in the next few months. I know that 300 Gallon may not be a good size for them after they grow to >24 inch but I intend to make it work with over filtering design. To me, this will be several more years, as I am not the "over feeding" owner :-)
The tank is made with good strong and "fish safe" material. It is quite sturdy in design and able to handle the load of water (completely filled up) without a doubt. it just happened that it rained a lot once I got this tank, so I tested to full capacity with rain water (from down sprout) for a few days. by putting it on my backyard concrete patio. So far, no sign of bending or cracking. The drain plug (included) comes with threaded (1.5 in OD PVC adapter) was very handy to drain out those water when I was ready to move it for real installation.
(2) Danner Mag Drive Pump
This is the first component of my "over filtering" design. The pros recommend that the whole volume of the pond be completely circulated through filter at least twice in an hour. In my case, a 600 GPH pump should be enough, but I compensate for the smaller pipe and some flow rate loss etc. I estimated that my actual flow rate out of my system will still be somewhat 700+/-50 GPH from this pump. The pump is made with good quality material, the only moving part is that impeller. Having Magnetic drive technology is extremely important, because it will be running 24/7 for 365 days a year. I want to make sure that the pump will not pumping money out of my bank as much as it does for the water. Having checking calculation from may reputable web site, this thing will cost me around $3-$5 a month in electricity. Not bad at all. I gave it 5 stars.
(3) TotalPond PF850 Pressurized Biological Filter
In my design, I am looking for some kind of enclose trap. Such that, the unwanted debris of leaves, fish drops etc. will be collected here first. This way there will be much less of this stuff that will go to the next filtering stage. It turns out, this thing come with it's own sponge and bio balls so it serves as an extra bio filter to my design. This filter is made of some okay type of plastic. The connectors to the water pipe will have to be tighten from the inside of the filter I found this to be a spot where I need to pay a little extra attention. The lid also comes with extra O-ring to prevent leakage but still it has to be really tighten up real good. In my design, my MAG DRIVE pump will push the water straight from the tank into this filter, hence there will be high a pressure for this filter. So, tighten things up really good is very important. This is where I take 1 star from it I found this to be a little tricky to get it just right.
(4) Laguna Pressure-Flo 700 UVC Filter
This is where I expect my real action for my bio filter and algae prevention. Having inspect the unit, I am quite convinced that I have made the right choice. Material is well made with good quality kind. It has a well design bio foam with cleaning blade and back flush if you are the first timer to having back yard pond. Trust me, you need this feature for your filter. It also comes with built-in UV light. Althogh only 11 Watts, I was not quite sure if it will hold. But again, with over filtering design, I hope it will. Only time will tell. Installation and testing was easy to do no big deal for DIY at all. So far, it works well for me I gave it 5 stars.
In my design, it connects like this Rubber Maid tank -> 3/4 pipe -> MAG DRIVE PUMP -> 3/4 pipe -> Total Pond ->3/4 pipe -> Laguna Filter -> Rubber Maid Tank
I'm in GA, our winter is not that cold but there are days where it gets below freezing. So, with helps of my kid, I decided to bury 1/3 of the tank into the ground. The filter + pump are at ground level. When filling it up, I can still get the benefit of gravity to help flow the water. Digging + Installation to me 1.5 days. I filled it up and run it to check for leaks by the end of the second day all leakages were fixed. That when I start to add the enzyme (same thing I used with my earlier aquarium tank) / salt and stuff to prepare the water. Then I let it run for 8 days to make sure the good bacteria are well adjusted. Testing pH it was perfect.
My KOI's have been living in this system now for 2 weeks. The location of my pond is such that it has some shade most of the day from near by trees. Only between 11am 2pm that it will be in full sun. I build a floating basket (24 in diameter) that I plan to plant water lily this thing is a perfect shade for the fish during full sun. I noticed that between day 3-5 the water was a little less than crystal clear but it is still clear. After that, it slowly return to crystal clear I guess the bacteria was adjusting to the increase amount of nitrate and stuff that my KOI's dumped out.
So far, I am pretty happy with this design. Well, it seems to be working for 2 weeks now (fingers' crossed). My neighbors like it and asked that I share the design. I will do some drawing and pictures when I have a moment.
Total cost (excluding the fish), my system costs me
Buy Pressure-Flo Filter Now
I suspect most aquarists don't own a phosphate test kit and this is unfortunate because they allow you to avoid algae blooms. Furthermore, in reef aquaria a high phosphate (PO4) level can hinder calcium (Ca) absorption for corals because the PO4 precipitates out Calcium Phosphate making Ca unavailable for coral absorption. Phosphate is also a plant food and you can be inadvertently adding it to your tank through fish food and other products such as Seachem's Neutral Regulator.
