[Ponds-Koi] My pump keeps plugging!
Remember that as goldfish (and most other large fish) double their length, they are increasing their body mass by eight times so your 25-30 2″ goldfish from last year are comparable to 200-240 2″ goldfish.. if they only doubled their length. Properly fed juvi goldfish in a large enough pond will more than double their length in a year and should probably quadruple in size.
Goldfish should grow to 90% of their expected adult size in the first 3-4 years. This means that the 1″ goldfish can grow to 12″+ in 3-4 years. A single 12″ goldfish is equal in body mass to well over 500 1″ goldfish.
That is the likely reason that your prefilter is clogging up a lot faster this year… your fish are putting out a lot more poop!
It’s time to make a larger pre-filter for that submersible pump… maybe two milk crates with the openings strapped together with nylon ties… or a laundry basket… something that will allow you to have a lot more surface area of filter media. The stuff I used in my DIY pre-filters is “Permanent Furnace Filter” media like this… http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=10 051&langId=-1&catalogId=10053&productId=100351377&N=10000003+500387+90401 (Presuming the above link will break, go to http://www.homedepot.com and do a search for True Blue Budget Washable Filter.. $5.46 for 20×30x1) or click this TinyURL… http://tinyurl.com/58b4rl
Lenny Vasbinder Fish Blog - http://GoldLenny.blogspot.com
Category: Philippines Internet Koi Society
