Originally Posted by
Zac Penn
It is VERY RARE that Russell and I would agree on something but this is one of those cases. Water currents are only needed to keep the pond floor clean of waste settlement, and mix the filtered water with the non-filtered water inside the pond. The fish will be just fine exercising on their own. You don't need to create a specific current speed for them to be healthy, or else the breeders wouldn't grow their fish in mud ponds.
Pond Spin, is just for waste removal in my opinion. That being said, I like a good bit of it in order to remove the solid waste from the pond as quickly as possible. My preferred method of water circulation is with underwater returns and as little aeration as possible through the bottom drains. The circular currents will bring the waste to the bottom drains faster, as the waste will remain on the bottom of the pond. Vertical water currents from aerated bottom drains are helping to keep solid waste suspended in the water which creates longer paths for the solid waste before they exit through a skimmer or bottom drain. Both methods of water movement end up working, it is just my personal preference to have circular currents with a cleaner pond surface (much better viewing of the fish).
So everything I have stated so far has to do with removing waste from the pond, but you also need to have great filtration in order to keep a clean pond. If your mechanical filtration is not up to the waste removal task, then it doesn't matter how quickly the waste is removed from the pond because you are just sending waste back due to inadequate filtration. Everything needs to be designed as a system.