I've been getting sludge in my bio filter. I replaced it with another, but only to get the same results. This is my first year ponding and I know my water is still settling. My water plants are young and are now starting to sprout. I know there needs to be 75 percent of coverage. However, I'm cleaning my filters 2-3 times a week. I wanted to get a skippy, but I don't want to deal with that until my water balance is right. I was told just to have patience. I also have little critters, but that is part of the pond environment. They look like little red worms. I'm not worried. My koi are healthy. Good luck. I'll watch this thread and maybe there is a better solution than patience.

As a first year ponder - here is my experience. I have a 700 gallon pond - at first it was really green and could not see the bottom. I built a "skippy filter" and an "adams filter" and within three days the pond was clear enough to see the little pieces of gravel and dirt in the bottom and has been crystal clear ever since. I clean my "adams filter" on a regular basis - every 3-4 days and have never cleaned my "skippy filter". I did open the bottom drain once - just to see how dirty it was and it was not dirty at all. I have 12 goldfish and lots of plants, both floaters and submersed (thanks to some fellow ponders here on GW). I have seen some snails and some weird bugs but figured that was normal. Also - I have had minimal string algae.

First, let me explain how filtration works. In the ideal pond, your filter performs two functions. First, the filter should remove solids (fish poop, uneaten food, etc). This is called mechanical filtration. Sometimes mechanical filtration consists of filter brushes, filter mats, or microscreens. Dirty water goes to mechanical filtration first. The second part of filtration is bio-filtration. Bio media is anything that the beneficial bacteria can stick on and grow, such as scrubbies, bird netting, bio-balls, or sometimes lava rock (although lava rock is not really ideal). The beneficial bacteria converts the ammonia which are harmful) that fish produce into nitrites (which are also harmful) and then into nitrates (which is not harmful). The skippy filter contains bio-media, but does not really contain mechanical filtration so the sludge just builds up there and is re-circulated back to the pond keeping the water green.

It takes 4 to 6 weeks for this beneficial bacteria to start colonizing on the bio-media and begin working. Once it happens, your water begins to clear up. It wonÂt clear though, if the fish load or food load is more than the bio filter can handle because too many nutrients for the algae to feed on are being left in the water.

In order to speed up the process, you need to keep the pond clean, and that means keeping the skippy clean. The skippy web site is full of crap when they make the statement that the filter never needs to be cleaned and that fish poop turns into sand. Think about itÂÂsand is silicaÂ..basically glass. For them to make the statement that rotting fish poop turns into sand in the filter is just plain silly. Fish waste is unhealthy. It needs to be removed from your system, no matter what skippy says. There is no such thing as a maintenance free pond. It is our job as koi/goldie keepers to provide them with a healthy environment and leaving that sludge in the bottom of the filter is not healthy for them. Bacteria (the harmful kind)and parasites breed and thrive in that sludge. You do need to keep it out of the filter.

Now one caution about cleaning. Remember that beneficial bacteria I mentioned? It is fragile and needs to be cleaned gently. Drain the sludge out of the skippy (hopefully you installed a clean-out drain on the bottom) and rinse the media with pond water or de-chlorinated water. Chlorinated water will kill or damage it and then the 6 weeks to establish has to start over. If you take it out of the filter to clean the filter, then put it in a tub of pond water so it does not dry out.

I hope that helps.

I have a 55 gallon upflow filter similar to the skippy. I use a large flowerpot that contains the submersible pump with pot scrubbies in laundry bags as the prefilter. I find that in spring time I have to clean the prefilter about once every two weeks. It becomes once a month in July and onwards. If I didn't use the prefilter, I would have to clean my filter more than once a year in the fall when I pack it up for winter.

If the "Skippy Guy" says there are too many leaves in the pond I think I would take a look at the very least. It sounds like you disreguarded his advice right away. The Skippy is not supposed to remove dead leaves. I don't think any biofilter will do that. If there are leaves on the bottom of the pond or floating on the top you need to remove them with a net, a pond vac or something similar or set up a skimmer. Dead leaf debris is very large and takes a while to break down. It would be months before it breaks down enough for a biofilter to be useful. I have not needed to clean my Skippy since starting it up this spring. Large numbers of common slugs will thrive on debris and will gunk up the pond, damage plants and overload the filters. They likely came in on some plants. A salt treatment can reduce that problem. From your description I don't know what the many legged creature is. I doubt it is a problem but getting rid of leaf debris should reduce the numbers. I use a large prefilter to keep debris out of the pump and biofilter. It prevents damage to the pump. Before the trees drop their leaves this fall I will remove any debris on the pond bottom with a Python syphon and put a net over the pond to keep the leaves out. There are more efficient devices than the Python but it is what I have and with occasional but regular use it works fine. I like to try different things. Some work better than others and some do more than one job. I don't expect things to do what they were not designed to do. If the debris in the pond is big enough for you to see without a microscope it is too big for the biofilter.
ccoombs is giving you accurate information but doesn't really tell you enough about mechanical filtration. That is what skimmers and nets are for.
The sludge you are talking about is the undigested residual from the breakdown of the leaves and other debris. If the waterflow through the Skippy was substantially reduced more of it would be digested. In most cases we put a lot more pond water through the Skippy than can be handled in one pass so some of it goes back in the pond to be recycled until it has been broken down even more. You can help the Skippy along by using quilt batting to collect the sludge before it goes back into the pond or sinks to the bottom of the Skippy. I use one or two packages of batting a year. It is an additional source of living space for beneficial bacteria as shown by the slimy residue that collects on its surface but that is minor compared to its use as a mechanical filter. Sandy

Thanks everyone for your comments! I have actually considered what the skippy guy said about leaves, but I have very little debris on the bottom of my pond. I have one crepe myrtle that sometimes drops flowers in the pond but I net those out regularly. I got in the pond yesterday to clean the bottom with a net and there was hardly anything there.

My skippy has been in operation for 1 1/2 years so it had plenty of time to find its biological equilibrium. Also, my pump sits in a basket with floor scrubbers as a prefilter so there isn't anything really large that gets through.

I think the little tiny bugs might have something to do with the problem. I'm not sure how to fix that, though. It's definitely gross to have to clean out the whole 100gal container when it's filled with little bugs, snails and worms!!

Also, my filter is covered in a net so leaves don't drop into top of the skippy.

I guess I'll go get some beneficial bacteria to get it stabilized again and see what happens.

I have about 30 fish in a 3000gal pond. They don't seem crowded at all so I don't think it's overloaded. My original pond was 300 gal and had 20 or more fish (after babies) and it was extremely clear so that shouldn't be the problem.

I do have plants in the pond, although not 75% coverage so that would probably also help.

Are your 30 fish koi? If so...that's part of the problem. The suggested stocking rate for koi is one koi per 300 gallons. Most koi keepers shoot more for a 1 per 500 gallon...and I know many who have one koi per 1000 gallons. Koi produce an incredible amount of waste. Your fish have only 100 gallons each, which is just too crowded for koi.

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Here is my pond. My skippy has been running 7 months with no cleaning. I can see the pea gravel and the pipe for retrofit BD plus my fish on bottom. It's 5 ft deep. I clean the mechanical filter media pretty regularly once or twice a wk. Glenda

http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/load/ponds/gal0515475930301.html?6

I don't know if that link will work but I have a picture of my pond in the gallery. I have about 10 koi and the rest are goldfish that I am fish-sitting until my friends get their new pond built. I know a number of people with smaller ponds than mine who also have more koi than 1 per 300gal. I haven't heard that ratio before and my pond was clear when it was a smaller pond with a much larger load per gallon.

I'll see what happens.

Lots of people cram 4 german shepherds in a 10'x10' kennel too and the dogs don't die....that does not mean it is a healthy environment for them. The stocking rates I suggested come from the experts in koi keeping...the people who REALLY know how to properly keep koi and bring them to their fullest potential. sure ...you can keep koi crowded and they may survive....but surviving and thriving are two vastly different things. Did you know that years ago, the chinese Royalty used to keep small breeds of dogs in bird cages and feed them very little, just to keep them small? Seems inhumane to us...but for some reason people think it's OK to do that to fish too....just becase they are fish. Oh well....your pond.

Thanks everyone for your suggestions!

Unfortunately it seems that ccoombs1 has gotten angry about the amount of fish I have. I did mention that I am fish-sitting. Also, I enlarged my pond so my fish would have more room. I also have 2 fish tanks in the house so ccoombs can decide that I don't care about the fish, but that is her perogative, not a fact. I was merely mentioning that I don't think I know anyone with a pond who has the ratio that ccoombs1 recommends. My fish have never had any diseases or anything and have only died at the paws of racoons. I try very hard to give them the water quality they need (the fish, not the racoons).

I appreciate the help! Too bad people have to get crabby.

Mandi

Very nice pond, Mandi. Looks like you have something bubbling in the middle. Is that an oxygenator? I put one of those in my pond and it cleared up within a week. Good luck and hang in there.

Sorry, but Ccoombs is right about the koi ratio. Clear doesn't always equal healthy when it comes to ponds.

Brenda

The crawly bugs with legs are dragonfly nymphs. Dragonflies splash their tails in water to deposit their eggs and then they hatch and look like weird alien bugs. I was so shocked when I first saw them in my filter, so did some researching and found out they were just dragonfly babies. They do not cause any harm to your pond - they are just part of the natural pond system. So, there's no need to get rid of them. They are just gross looking. I hate it when they surprise me during filter cleanouts. Ewww!

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Good luck.

I have a 7,000 gal. pond (7,500 if I count the small upper pond). I have 4 koi, 8 goldfish, about 300 rosy red minnows(started with 10 this spring, mistake!), tons of mosquito fish (started with 10 also) and thousands of different larvae.

I have a 55 gallon up flow filter that sits in the upper pond which is crammed full of filter material on top of a milk crate. It has 3 drilled holes on the side at the top for the water to fall back out of to put even more oxygen in the water before it runs back down the waterfall.

A lot of the fish waste still makes it thru the filter and it settles in the upper pond in areas with slower moving water. It seems to work like a large settling tank. Every 3 weeks I bet I vaccuum out 20 pounds or more of wet black fish poo off the liner after the upper pond is drained.

I don't have the heart to pull most of the minnows or mosquito fish out. Most of my koi and goldfish are now 8-10 inches and I think they started eating the small fish along with the bullfrogs (that also poo) that made a home in my pond. About 2 months ago I would have guessed 1,000 fish total in my pond.

If I had to start from the begining again I would only have koi and goldfish and 1 per 1,000 gallons of water. My water is still crystal clear even at 5 foot deep but it takes a lot of work right now. I learned my lesson on stocking a pond!

Ccoombs is correct about the number of fish. This is a basic rule of thumb for ponds with fish. Why wouldn't anyone be annoyed when you ask for info and then do the opposite? Who are you going to blame if you get a sudden die off from over crowdimg? I am in trouble right now because of too many fish surviving and then they decided to have orgies which produced even more fish. I am keeping up with keeping the mechanical filter and bio filter working and I have another set of filters and pump going and two bubblers as well. The water is a bit turbulent and I can tell the fish are stressed so tomorrow I will have to add salt. I would not be doing all the extra work and using extra electric if I had a proper fish load. Sandy