Originally Posted by
jimfish98
So this morning koi keeping really sucked. I went out to feed the fish this morning and my pond was only 3 inches deep. I was testing a new more powerful pump on the RDF cleaning and it had a defect as it actually died after 4 days of use. As a result the screen got dirty, clogged, and the water level rose above the waste trough line and started emptying out of the pond. The only reason it took so long is that it was also spilling over into the shower still and the drain line cannot gravity release as much as the pump was pushing so it was overflowing the waste trough as well.
Thankfully the pump lost suction and left some water in the pond. All of the new tosai and tamasaba were not impacted due to their size. Most of the koi could stay somewhat upright and had air so they recovered fast once the pond got some more water in it. My three largest however were impacted the most. An Asagi, Yamabuki, and Chagoi were all stuck on their sides due their physical size. Thankfully two were on their size next to the aeration. The Asagi suffered what looks like some sunburn as it has little white spots on the skin of its face. She is back to normal and hungry, but one to watch. The Yamabuki lost a scale or two and is rightfully a little skiddish right now. She at least came up for a little food. The Chagoi however was stuck in a corner and was barely alive when i got out there. I placed her next to the air as the pond filled but she did not make it. I took a final measure of 32 inches before burying her in the back corner of the yard. I plan to get a plumbego later today to plant over her.
It was a heart attack moment but a teachable moment as well. Any pump fed system needs to have a safety back up and I never installed one and just happened to luck out for nearly a decade. While the pond filled back up I took the time to start by hooking up the original pump for the RDF cleaning spray bar. After that I made a trip out to a few stores for some parts. I installed a larger weather box for the outlet and a piggy back float switch. It is connected to my retro BD pipe and my pump is now plugged into the outlet via the float switch plug. From here forward should the RDF cleaning pump go out, a pipe bursts, etc....the pump will shut off in the water level gets too low. The float is positioned to where I do my water changes so if the system fails, they will still have a solid foot or so of water to survive in while the air pump is still running.