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  • Results 1 to 13 of 13

    Thread: Adding a well to my filtration!?!

    1. #1
      rhern041 is offline Senior Member
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      Adding a well to my filtration!?!

      Hello every one. I have been contemplating adding a well to my system for some time now. I would like basically have a well dug and install a 1/2 hp pump on a timer.
      I have spoken to two local fish farms around within a 7 mile radius of me and they tell me they run there whole farm with open system ( 24 hour well running ). And I have spoken to a well driller.
      In two weeks I will be having a shallow well drilled.
      I want to use a 1/2 to run enough to inject my current system with up to 40% of new well water.
      I will attempt to run pump every 6 hours to keep some stability.
      Water will be added into moving bed that has aeration to has off anything I could has off?
      My concerns are:
      Will this operation hurt the pump?
      Can I test water at home for anything that will hurt the koi?

      Any comments or ideas would be appreciated.

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    2. #2
      gatorkoi's Avatar
      gatorkoi is offline Senior Member
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      Yes you can get water test kits to test your water at home or pick up a sample kit from you extention office and mail it in for testing. However the well company should provide comprehensive water testing as part of the service. At least they do in my neck of the woods. The pump issue is dependent on the type of pump used.

      So you want to add 40% new water on what kind of schedule? what are your plans for disposal of the 40% exchange. I know some that run a continuous exchange and discharge the used water into a weeping field to be filtered back into the ground water. This is an expensive system to set up but once up and running fairly economical to maintain.

    3. #3
      rhern041 is offline Senior Member
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      Yes thanks Russ. I want to break it up as much as possible. With out hurting he pump.

      I will be starting off small. About 5% a day and then gradually move up.
      I have a trench that runs at the back of my house. I plan to let it overflow into. If the water return becomes a problem I plan to install a return well.

      But I guess for now is that I don't know much about the well pumps; well water and how to work them into the koi health

    4. #4
      rhern041 is offline Senior Member
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      I guess this is going to have to be a trail and error type of thing!

    5. #5
      Koifish is offline Senior Member
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      You can pump fresh water directly into your pond without any water problems to your koi. It all depends on how deep your well company can make it. I remember talking to a koi farm in Iowa and they have a well drilled and plumbed at 125 feet down and supplies 2000 of fresh water per day to their ponds. Then again some say 25 feet you hit the water table and you be good.
      Also does your town/county allow for private wells? Some towns around here require permits or dont allow them, they want you to pay for water.

      K

    6. #6
      pearlharborday is offline Senior Member
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      on your thread way back about this the main thing I warned you about is degassing............a 1/2 hp pump on a 2" well using what size drop pipe? what size return to the pond? how big is the pond...

      to much water to fast in a smaller pond without proper de-gassing can be extremely deadly.. ........you also want to make sure you aren't flucating water temps to much everytime the pump turns on........for example............if everytime the pump runs ,,you drop water temp 10 degreesat a shot,,,the doing that several times a day could effect the fishes health...................I still say a pressure tank and points are your best bet for systems under 5k gallons.........a constant light spray all the time will be a lot more effective,,,less risks of screwing with any biofiltration and eliminating constant water temp. fluctuations ..

      a typical 1/2hp well pump will put out 12-15 gpm..............and if you put to much back pressure on the pump you'll kill it early.......................... what a fish farm does with multiple systems or large system is completely different than what you do with one or 2 systems................................with them they can say use a 1/2hp pump and divided it threw 6 system so they can deliver say 2-3 gpm per system at a light spray........

    7. #7
      rhern041 is offline Senior Member
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      Hello again. On the last thread I was considering a straight flow through. I have disused to me keep my current system and use the well to do water changes every couple of hours.
      My pond is 2000 gallons
      I was thinking of starting out with 50 gallons a day and monitoring things. Then slowly increase it when I know the effects of it.

      To handle the degassing part I was going to have it go through my moving bed filter which is pretty highly aerated.

      Essentially this would work basically like a sprinkler system that pours into the pond.

      As far as temperature my pond stays pretty much from 70-74. Which is also the temp of the well water.

      I have spoken to all the koi farms and 3 drillers in the area and all use 25 foot wells.

      Is degassing such a problem Even at this depth and that little water replacement?

      Also if the pump is ran like a sprinkler system with, no tank just a timer, what is the back pressure that will kill it?

      I really have no experience with these pumps so if the questions sound dumb am sorry

    8. #8
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      I live in S. Florida, where are you located? I have my pond on a shallow well also and run 1,000 gpd into it. There are several issues with shallow well in my part of Florida, i.e near the everglades. My well is 40' deep. The aquifer is about 200' deep. Subsurface water is acidic, mine has a ph of about 5 right out of the ground, completely deoxygenated, has an ammonia level of .05 ppm, contains tannins and iron, my Kh is about 50. I add baking soda to keep the Kh around 120.

      So what I do, is I have a sprinkler well pump, (runs sprinklers and pond) that puts water into a 50 gallon pressure tank. The pressure tank feeds the water softener system. I have two softner tanks filled with tannin removing resin beads. The water flows 700 g through one tank while the other backwashes and cleans itself. When it hits 700 g it switches over to the clean resin tank and cleans the other one. Water from the resin tank goes through an iron removing tank and then through a charcoal tank. The clean water then goes to another 50 barrel near my filter pit. That barrel has a timer and float switch. The timer fills the barrel every 15min and the float switch cuts off the fill tube when the barrel is full. This decreases pump time.

      The water trickles into the basin right after the RDF and goes directly to the shower. The basin mixes the water with pond water, and goes to the shower which aerates it, raising the Ph, adding oxygen, and removing ammonia. The water then flow back into the pond.
      Subsurface water in florida is not the cleanest water and needs to be cleaned up for koi ponds. For fish aquaculture, running it through bio and aerating it would work fine if you did not care if the water was the color of ice-tea and that it contains iron. I want my water to be crystal clear so that is why I clean it so well.

      You should ask the fish farmers in your area for a sample of the raw water and have it tested. Then you will know what needs to be done to it.

      The pressure tank and barrel holds about 80 gallons of water. So my well pump only turns on when either the tank or barrel calls for it.

      K.O.I.


      Start something you will never finish...A koi pond
      "Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible." -Dalai Lama

    9. #9
      rhern041 is offline Senior Member
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      Wow that seems complicated. Maybe I should just stick to my city water.
      I am in homestead. Actually right by the Air Force base.
      Last edited by rhern041; 04-17-2014 at 11:50 AM.

    10. #10
      rhern041 is offline Senior Member
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      Right know I trickle about 50-80 gallons of city water a day through pond. The city water goes through a carbon filter which I change about 2 times a year.
      I was thinking that using well water would naturally be better for koi. Plus I would not have to add dechlorinator.
      Last edited by rhern041; 04-17-2014 at 11:51 AM.

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    11. #11
      pearlharborday is offline Senior Member
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      if you plan to start just with 50 gallons the 1/2 hp will do that in 4 mins............and like Katie says and I preached in your 1st. thread about this...shallow wells are not known for quality potable water...


      they typically are used for sprinklers and other non potable uses........you do keep bringing up the local fish farms,,,,but honestly have no clue how good there water is......and like 90% of florida fish farms have no clue about actual health of fish.....I known hundreds of fish farmers in florida...maybe 10 of them had a clue..........and again like I mentioned in the 1st thread...............you can't go by how deep this guys well is and this guys.. I own 5 homes on well water all within 5 mins from each other and the depths of the wells for potable water greatly differ......1 is 60 ft,,,another 80,, 2 at 100 ft and one at 140ft.........mine at my springHill house is 100.....neighbors less than 100ft. away is 120 and neighbor on other side 130ft........

      if you have your mind set that you are only going to pay a certain amount for a well ,,,well then forget it..... you want the well driller to drill for potable drinking water ,,,may that be 25,40 60 or 100 ft down.

      well drillers have no clue about fish health ,,I don't care how many they have drilled ,,but they do understand potable.....which means ,,they'd drink a glass of it.

      and with onlya 200 gallon ond you definatley want a min of a 82 gallon pressure tank,,,so you can control your volume..............with out it ...you only have 2 options wide open or off....................restricting the flow less than 10-12 gpm,,,will wear the pump down prematurley,,,due to back pressure............

      so maybe it's best to stick with your city water until you are ready to put what ever cash is needed for a proper set up.IMHO

    12. #12
      rhern041 is offline Senior Member
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      I think for now that is what I will do. I may be renting this house in a year I don't want to invest that much until am certain am not going anywhere. Thanks again guys.

    13. #13
      pearlharborday is offline Senior Member
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      Quote Originally Posted by rhern041 View Post
      I think for now that is what I will do. I may be renting this house in a year I don't want to invest that much until am certain am not going anywhere. Thanks again guys.
      that would be the best bet,,especially if you end up renting,a well is just something else the rentors can kill ,at your expense

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