How large of a pond can a 55-gallon 3-barrel filter system handle? I'm building my first koi pond and will land in the 2500-gallon range. I can't go any larger so at some point I assume I'll end up overcrowding my pond with Koi. I 'd like to sufficiently over-spec my filtration so I'm ready. Should I consider going with smaller barrels, say three 30-gallon barrels?
The amount of biofiltration needed is more dependent on the stocking levels and amount of food fed than the pond gallonage.
What is your plan for the barrels? Are all 3 going to be filled with bio-media with a separate prefilter (settling tank, sieve, matting or rdf)? Will they be set up as static bio, moving beds or a down flow shower configuration? External or submersible pumps? Will the pond have bottom drains? All of these factors will play in.
Definitely stick with 55g barrels. It sounds like you want a lot of koi, and will not be over filtered with only three. As an example, my pond is 2500g with 14 koi. I run two 55g sand and gravel filters, two 55g static bio filters, and a 210g settling tank. I will probably need to expand this as my koi reach full size.
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Cheers,
Ci
Hi Ci, thank you for sharing your knowledge. The good news is I haven't committed to anything. Since we're so late in the season I will take my time to design and build it right. There is no reason to rush into things just to shut the pond down for the cold Chicago winters after a few weeks. I talked with two pond builders locally and although their projects are gorgeous, I don't have that kind of discretionary income. So DIY is my likely choice for whatever I can do. In my mind, I have allowed myself to splurge on "one thing" if it's far superior to DIY options. I fully expect that splurge to be with the pump(s). My guiding principles for my pond build are to 1) Keep it simple (both build and upkeep) 2) Keep it cost-effective.
Okay, back on topic... The additional details you asked about: Rectangle pond with pond liner, straight sides 6.5ft x 12.5ft x 4.5ft deep, no plants. I think this is called a traditional Koi pond. 1.5ft above ground, 3ft below ground with a bottom drain and skimmer. My preference is an external pump for a cleaner pond look. I will pump water to the filtration system. In the 3-barrel system, B1-static with K2 media, B2-static with K2 & K1 media, and B3-moving with K1, water enters at the bottom of each barrel and exits at the top. UV Clarifier before returning to the pond and plenty of aeration. Space is a concern, so a smaller filtration footprint is desirable.
expected maintenance: Daily: feed, clean skimmer basket, Weekly: Barrel 1&2 clean and flush, Seasonally: Spring full pond clean, Fall winterize and shutdown
--More off-topic concerns:
A) Fear of cutting my liner and creating leaks - (I considered a "no-cut" pond build-out with a retro-bottom drain and in-pond skimmer(s) even though that goes against my desire to have a clean and junk-free pond look.)
B) Winterizing a bottom drain setup - Cold Chicago winters can lead to cracked pipes.
Stocking levels: Since I have time before my pond is ready I got some Koi Fry and will grow them in a dedicated fish tank over the winter. With any luck, I'll have 15+ 9-month old Koi to put in my pond. I'll buy some older/bigger koi once the pond is up and running. I don't expect stocking levels to be an issue for the first few years but later on, I'd like to be able to support an overcrowded pond with more than adequate filtration.
Does all of this make sense? Am I on the right track? I'd like a rock-solid filter plan and then adjust the other details around the filtration. For example, if I need to add a settling barrel before my 3-barrel filtration I will need a larger filtration footprint. So I would reduce my pond dimensions to support this.
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