I'm wondering to the people who use the intex pools or ponds for there big fish how do you do water changes with it outside and how you filter it
Pool and pond tanks
- Thread starter Charlied81
- Start date
When I used Intex pools for fish, I put the pump in the pool and pumped water thru a DIY Foam Fractionator that was filled with bio media Similar to my pond unit in the video below. When I wanted to do water changes, I rerouted the plumbing to send old water into the garden.
koi pond fractionation
In winter when the pool had to be taken inside, old water water was rerouted to laundry tubs.
I summer fractionate waste was allowed to fall on the ground, when inside in winter, it was collected in buckets.
koi pond fractionation
In winter when the pool had to be taken inside, old water water was rerouted to laundry tubs.
I summer fractionate waste was allowed to fall on the ground, when inside in winter, it was collected in buckets.
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If you filled it from a hose outside though your water would be very cold. Where if you were doing it inside you would use warm water. Wouldn't that be a big deal?
Yes the treated Lake Michigan water was too cold straight from the outside spigot where I lived back then (average 45 to 50' F), although many fish I kept outside were cool water tolerant (Uruguayan cichlids, and Tilapia) so I attached and ran a hose inside to blend hot and cold for new water for those less robust species.
If you water needs to be treated before use...as most does...then you use a storage container of some type to store it, treat it and heat it to desired temperatures before use...but that takes up a lot of space. My house has a basement under one half, and just a crawlspace under the other half. I have 55-gallon barrels and a big water storage tank in the crawlspace and keep them filled; they take a day or so to reach ambient basement temperature, which is also what my tanks are kept at, and then the water can be drained into whatever tank needs it. The catch is that once I use it all, I need to wait for the next batch to warm up before I can do more water changing, and I don't have enough storage capacity to be able to do a water change on all tanks at once.
I recently installed an on-demand tankless water heater in my home, and took the opportunity to install hot-and-cold taps in the basement, and another set outside. This way I can get water mixed to whatever temperature I want, in essentially unlimited quantities. Total game changer; I love being able to do fin-level water changes in all tanks at the same time. The outside taps make filling tubs, ponds and other containers easy, and is handy for bathing the dog, rinsing filter foam and many other jobs that are unpleasant with just cold water. On-demand heaters are great for this; if you have a traditional tank-style water heater, you are still limited in the amount of heated water you can get at any given time; if your pond/tanks are big enough, and/or your water tank too small, you still might not be able to get as much water as you would like at one time.
My single indoor "pond"...a round stock tank 72 inches across...is only used in the winter for outdoor fish that must overwinter indoors. I filter it with a single homemade giant Poret sponge filter, 6 x 6 x 19 inches, powered by air. Works like a charm, easy to remove and rinse out...especially now, with warm water!
...and inexpensive compared to any type of power filter.
I recently installed an on-demand tankless water heater in my home, and took the opportunity to install hot-and-cold taps in the basement, and another set outside. This way I can get water mixed to whatever temperature I want, in essentially unlimited quantities. Total game changer; I love being able to do fin-level water changes in all tanks at the same time. The outside taps make filling tubs, ponds and other containers easy, and is handy for bathing the dog, rinsing filter foam and many other jobs that are unpleasant with just cold water. On-demand heaters are great for this; if you have a traditional tank-style water heater, you are still limited in the amount of heated water you can get at any given time; if your pond/tanks are big enough, and/or your water tank too small, you still might not be able to get as much water as you would like at one time.
My single indoor "pond"...a round stock tank 72 inches across...is only used in the winter for outdoor fish that must overwinter indoors. I filter it with a single homemade giant Poret sponge filter, 6 x 6 x 19 inches, powered by air. Works like a charm, easy to remove and rinse out...especially now, with warm water!
...and inexpensive compared to any type of power filter.
I do have an about 350 gallon water storage tank in my yard. I was thinking about buying a 320 gallon clear koi breeding tank to put in my detached garage. I thought maybe i could use 2 fx6's for filtration? I don't know if that would work? Keep my fish outside in the summer. Bring back inside in the winter?