When rain falls and before it comes into contact with any aerial pollution the water created from condensed vapour is pure. This water then falls upon the land and becomes contaminated with fertilisers and other materials.
The water then flows into rivers and streams or sinks through the soil to be stored underground.
However when water is evaporated the impurities are left behind (as though the water had been distilled) and the resulting water vapour starts the cycle all over again.
Technorati Tags:
water, evaporation, contamination, vapour
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
A Snake in a Pond and Good Pond Water Filter
Tony,
I am really learning a lot from your e-mails!!! What a great resource for information. Anybody interested in receiving emails can opt-in at my main website Practical Water Gardens
My husband and I are novice pond keepers. Last year we were getting ready to spend a fortune on a pond filter. Someone gave us an idea to save us some money.
We purchased a 100 gallon container and filled it 3/4 of the way with lava rock, running our line from the pump on the bottom. We added moss and water hyacinths on the top. We cut 2 holes in the top front of the container and used PVC pipe to let the water drain over a rock back into the pond to provide aeration. We surrounded the container on the outside with rock. It does a really great job!! Our pond was totally green and in just 3 days it was crystal clear!!!
I was wondering how often we needed to change the lava rock and if there was anything else we might need to do. If we don't have a problem with algae, should we still get a UV filter? And, I read in your last e-mail that ponds shouldn't have a flat surface on the bottom, which ours does. What can I do to remedy that situation? Are snails good or bad to have in your pond?
We live in Alabama and our 1500gal pond is in full sun. We have a variety of Koi and goldfish and several plants. We also have some unwelcome guests, like the water moccasin that likes to sun on our rocks. Do you have any advice on how to keep snakes away from your pond other that purchasing a mongoose to run loose in my backyard!?
We have a lot of pond books and each one tells us we need something different. It can get really confusing. So I thought I would e-mail you and ask for your advice.
Thank you,
Kim
My response:
Kim, I don't fancy the idea of having a water mocassin in a pond. Unfortunately I don't know how to keep snakes away ... as far as your filter is concerned you have done a good job. It would do no harm to clean out as regulary as you can but if a big job clean say every 3 months. You might find it useful to put the lave rock inside shade netting or other open mesh plastic bags so that you can lift the rock out easily.
Only use pond water to rinse down the rocks and put the rocks back into the filter quickly ... do not let them dry out. Do NOT feed the fish for a few days after doing the cleaning.
If your pond stays clear don't install an UV but if it goes murky or green then it would be a good idea.
I'm not sure what you mean by flat surface ... in general the bottom of a pond should not be covered with rocks or sand or soil.
Snails are good for a pond ... the fish will eat the small ones.
Sounds like you've done a great job
If you do the things I suggest in my emails and book you don't need to do anything else
Tony
Technorati Tags:
water moccasin, snake, clean pond, filter, uv, water
I am really learning a lot from your e-mails!!! What a great resource for information. Anybody interested in receiving emails can opt-in at my main website Practical Water Gardens
My husband and I are novice pond keepers. Last year we were getting ready to spend a fortune on a pond filter. Someone gave us an idea to save us some money.
We purchased a 100 gallon container and filled it 3/4 of the way with lava rock, running our line from the pump on the bottom. We added moss and water hyacinths on the top. We cut 2 holes in the top front of the container and used PVC pipe to let the water drain over a rock back into the pond to provide aeration. We surrounded the container on the outside with rock. It does a really great job!! Our pond was totally green and in just 3 days it was crystal clear!!!
I was wondering how often we needed to change the lava rock and if there was anything else we might need to do. If we don't have a problem with algae, should we still get a UV filter? And, I read in your last e-mail that ponds shouldn't have a flat surface on the bottom, which ours does. What can I do to remedy that situation? Are snails good or bad to have in your pond?
We live in Alabama and our 1500gal pond is in full sun. We have a variety of Koi and goldfish and several plants. We also have some unwelcome guests, like the water moccasin that likes to sun on our rocks. Do you have any advice on how to keep snakes away from your pond other that purchasing a mongoose to run loose in my backyard!?
We have a lot of pond books and each one tells us we need something different. It can get really confusing. So I thought I would e-mail you and ask for your advice.
Thank you,
Kim
My response:
Kim, I don't fancy the idea of having a water mocassin in a pond. Unfortunately I don't know how to keep snakes away ... as far as your filter is concerned you have done a good job. It would do no harm to clean out as regulary as you can but if a big job clean say every 3 months. You might find it useful to put the lave rock inside shade netting or other open mesh plastic bags so that you can lift the rock out easily.
Only use pond water to rinse down the rocks and put the rocks back into the filter quickly ... do not let them dry out. Do NOT feed the fish for a few days after doing the cleaning.
If your pond stays clear don't install an UV but if it goes murky or green then it would be a good idea.
I'm not sure what you mean by flat surface ... in general the bottom of a pond should not be covered with rocks or sand or soil.
Snails are good for a pond ... the fish will eat the small ones.
Sounds like you've done a great job
If you do the things I suggest in my emails and book you don't need to do anything else
Tony
Technorati Tags:
water moccasin, snake, clean pond, filter, uv, water
Thursday, March 6, 2008
Fishing for Trout
I re-discovered my diary of 1992 the other day in which I recorded my fishing experiences in the UK on the River Wharfe and in the USA in Montana, Idaho and Wyoming.
The entries brought back great memories and show that I learned some great fly fishing techniques taught by able masters like Craig Fellin, Jim Stubbs and Brett Downey ... in particular I was amazed at the quality of fly fishing on the Bighorn River in Montana where I was guided by Brett Downey. If you're interested you can read some of these flyfishing diary entries here.
Technorati Tags:
flyfishing, montana, idaho, wyoming, diary, wharfe, bighorn, bighole
The entries brought back great memories and show that I learned some great fly fishing techniques taught by able masters like Craig Fellin, Jim Stubbs and Brett Downey ... in particular I was amazed at the quality of fly fishing on the Bighorn River in Montana where I was guided by Brett Downey. If you're interested you can read some of these flyfishing diary entries here.
Technorati Tags:
flyfishing, montana, idaho, wyoming, diary, wharfe, bighorn, bighole
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
Alfagrog and Biofilters for Fish and Duck Ponds
Algfagrog is what we call a pond filter biomedium... bacteria grow on the surface and these bacteria in turn purify the pond water keeping fish healthy in a pond environment. I got this email from one of my newsletter readers and it has a general appeal so I'm publishing it here.
Hi Anthony
As a new subscriber, I have been reading your words of wisdom with great interest – especially those about not succumbing to the temptation of buying overpriced biofilters. I built my own filter 20 years ago (hand packed concrete, 0.8m3 capacity, partially filled with 13mm crushed stone in orange bags packed in such a way that I get largely horizontal water flow, thus keeping the anaerobic bacteria at bay) Not elegant, but it has never let me down. As a biologist turned engineer, I understand how these things work. I do, however, have to lift the stones once a year and vacuum out the sludge with a submersible sump pump.
Which brings me to my first point…….. I am no longer a spring chicken and lifting the crushed stone has become arduous. Substituting them with Alfagrog seems like a good idea to me because a significantly smaller volume would be required. The sludge I refer to is mainly decomposed leaves from an overhanging tree – my leaf trap does not catch them all. (By the way, evergreen is not the opposite of deciduous. All trees lose all their leaves every year – the only difference is that the deciduous ones are considerate enough to drop them all at pretty much the same time) How does Alfagrog behave under these conditions? I imagine that, with thousands of little holes and passages, it would be susceptible to rapidly glogging up and in need of more frequent rinsing. If so, what are the mechanical filtration options? Are brushes any good, or could I use shade cloth curtains inside the biofilter? I do have space for either.
My second point is that I am about to build a duck pond, and this too will be sufficiently close to trees to suffer from the same leaf-drop problem. I can solve it partially with a more sophisticated leaf skimmer but it will not catch them all so the Alfagrog clogging question arises again. I really do not want a swimming pool sand filter anywhere in the system – channeling, lack of space, noisy surface mounted high pressure pump, high electricity consumption compared to Oase submersibles etc. On biological issues, I have assumed that nitrogen production from one 800g duck is equivalent to that of a 3Kg koi and will size my filter and duck population accordingly.
I look forward to hearing from you
Kind regards
Humphrey McAllister
And my reply
Humphrey
Thanks for the email.
Alfagrog has a bulk density of about 0.5 kg per litre. It is highly porous but in my experience so long as occasional back wash (or dunking of the orange bag into a container of pond water) carried out it does not easily block.
To reduce any tendency to blocking brushes or foam or "scrunched up" shade netting as you use now will remove much of larger debris but most of the blockage if any will be from dead algae which most brushes and foams will not necessarily remove.
One thing if you do exchange Alfagrog for stones do not remove all the stone until Alfagrog is established.
Duck ponds ... I have always been wary of suggesting any kind of biofilter for duck ponds because of extreme waste and general mess they create.
You can get Alfagrog from Ken Lombard 012-666-9888 if you want some ... he can also supply liner 500 micron or thicker (as used in large reservoirs) if that's what you want for the duck pond. See http://www.fibrefeatures.co.za
It might be worth having a chat with Ken ... he has a very large koi pond and biofilter filled with Alfagrog which has been in operation for about 3 or 4 years.
Tony
PS Alfagrog is called SUPRA in USA
Technorati Tags:
alfagrog, koi, fish, clear ponds, algae, filter, biofilter
Hi Anthony
As a new subscriber, I have been reading your words of wisdom with great interest – especially those about not succumbing to the temptation of buying overpriced biofilters. I built my own filter 20 years ago (hand packed concrete, 0.8m3 capacity, partially filled with 13mm crushed stone in orange bags packed in such a way that I get largely horizontal water flow, thus keeping the anaerobic bacteria at bay) Not elegant, but it has never let me down. As a biologist turned engineer, I understand how these things work. I do, however, have to lift the stones once a year and vacuum out the sludge with a submersible sump pump.
Which brings me to my first point…….. I am no longer a spring chicken and lifting the crushed stone has become arduous. Substituting them with Alfagrog seems like a good idea to me because a significantly smaller volume would be required. The sludge I refer to is mainly decomposed leaves from an overhanging tree – my leaf trap does not catch them all. (By the way, evergreen is not the opposite of deciduous. All trees lose all their leaves every year – the only difference is that the deciduous ones are considerate enough to drop them all at pretty much the same time) How does Alfagrog behave under these conditions? I imagine that, with thousands of little holes and passages, it would be susceptible to rapidly glogging up and in need of more frequent rinsing. If so, what are the mechanical filtration options? Are brushes any good, or could I use shade cloth curtains inside the biofilter? I do have space for either.
My second point is that I am about to build a duck pond, and this too will be sufficiently close to trees to suffer from the same leaf-drop problem. I can solve it partially with a more sophisticated leaf skimmer but it will not catch them all so the Alfagrog clogging question arises again. I really do not want a swimming pool sand filter anywhere in the system – channeling, lack of space, noisy surface mounted high pressure pump, high electricity consumption compared to Oase submersibles etc. On biological issues, I have assumed that nitrogen production from one 800g duck is equivalent to that of a 3Kg koi and will size my filter and duck population accordingly.
I look forward to hearing from you
Kind regards
Humphrey McAllister
And my reply
Humphrey
Thanks for the email.
Alfagrog has a bulk density of about 0.5 kg per litre. It is highly porous but in my experience so long as occasional back wash (or dunking of the orange bag into a container of pond water) carried out it does not easily block.
To reduce any tendency to blocking brushes or foam or "scrunched up" shade netting as you use now will remove much of larger debris but most of the blockage if any will be from dead algae which most brushes and foams will not necessarily remove.
One thing if you do exchange Alfagrog for stones do not remove all the stone until Alfagrog is established.
Duck ponds ... I have always been wary of suggesting any kind of biofilter for duck ponds because of extreme waste and general mess they create.
You can get Alfagrog from Ken Lombard 012-666-9888 if you want some ... he can also supply liner 500 micron or thicker (as used in large reservoirs) if that's what you want for the duck pond. See http://www.fibrefeatures.co.za
It might be worth having a chat with Ken ... he has a very large koi pond and biofilter filled with Alfagrog which has been in operation for about 3 or 4 years.
Tony
PS Alfagrog is called SUPRA in USA
Technorati Tags:
alfagrog, koi, fish, clear ponds, algae, filter, biofilter
Monday, March 3, 2008
Sunday, March 2, 2008
MPs in the British Parliament Like Their Water
The bars in the Commons section of the British Houses of Parliament sell 100,000 bottles of water a year. Committee members devour 16,200 litres for free and 34,000 litres of "bottled" water are supplied in coolers throughout the "House".
This is while the whole of the UK is asked to cut back on bottled water consumption by the same people.
A senior MP has reached the conclusion that maybe there is a need to change policy inside the "House".
This is while the whole of the UK is asked to cut back on bottled water consumption by the same people.
A senior MP has reached the conclusion that maybe there is a need to change policy inside the "House".
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