I've had my large pond for maybe 15 years and my small pond for about 25 years. Until this year I have never had water so clear that you could easily see the bottom of the pond. I've tried chemicals and quilt batting around my filters. That helped some but was getting costly plus I had to clean my filters pretty much every 3 days. And the water still wasn't clear.
I did find a couple chemicals that worked pretty well, as far as at least making the pond clear enough to see the fish.
I use Barley Extract about once a month. It definitely helps clear the water some. Many people put barley straw in the pond and as it slowly breaks down, it does help clarify the pond.
The problem is it takes a long time to brake down and I never cared for the straw bundles floating in the pond. Just didn't look right.
But this year my grandson and I were out by the pond feeding the koi and he said it would be nice to add a waterfall. Sounded good to me so I ordered a waterfall box.
The boxes were $150 - $250 locally but I went on Amazon and found this one.
Then I made a decision that was epic. Well, looking back now, it might not have been epic but it definitely changed everything. I ordered Bio Balls. The box and balls came late in the day so we hooked up the box where our small stream was flowing and added the balls and decided to build the waterfall the next day. When we came out the next day we could see the bottom of the pond for the first time since we cleaned and reopened the pond.
Let me give you the companies description.
"OUTSTANDING FILTRATION! Each bio ball is covered in spines to dramatically increase the surface area of each ball to nearly 2 square feet providing space for a massive number of beneficial bacteria to colonize. These good bacteria break down harmful organic waste."
So basically the filter pushes the water up thru the filter in the box which is shown above. The bio balls are in a net and they sit on top of the filter. The filter and the bio balls collect waste from the pond and clear water pours out.
Now as the water flows thru here, it then passes bacteria back into the pond. This is not only healthy for your fish but also helps clear the pond.
Aquatic Experts Bio Balls Filter Media - 1.5 Inch Large Bio Ball for Pond Filter - Perfect Bio Balls for Pond Filter Media – Made in The USA (300 Count Bio Balls with Mesh Bag)
Aquatic Experts Bio Balls Filter Media - 1.5 Inch Large Bio Ball for Pond Filter - Perfect Bio Balls for Pond Filter Media – Made in The USA (300 Count Bio Balls with Mesh Bag)
At first I would clean the bag of balls out and the filter once a week. Overkill!. I now do it anywhere between once a month and once every six weeks.
I take a large bucket and get water from the pond and rinse the filter and the bio balls in it. This cleans the excess goop but keeps the bacteria. Put them back in the box and enjoy a clear pond.
I took out about 100 of the balls and added them in the box where the small stream runs. The waterfall box came with a small net bag so I put the balls in there. So now we have two areas where the water flows thru a filter and balls.
I can't believe I didn't do this years ago. This has been the best year to go out and actually see the fish and the crystal clear water.
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