Hi Guys,
I'm a koi pond lover here. My pond has a dozen of local koi, 2 gold fish, one albino Oscar, two dozen small guppies…yeah it’s a jungle 
I had a problem with a badly designed pond which made the filter unmaintainable as per picture below, the water just splash down in the middle of the space before falling out of two waterfall hole.

As any aquarist would know, filter system and filter maintenance is the first thing to think about when having a pond. I didn’t do any calculation or whatsoever regarding the filter requirement per gallon of my pond.
But after some brain storming, I came up with a fiber sump filter to put in the space behind the pond. You can get this fiber sump filter at aquarium shops in jalan pasar or eng hin aquatics in Taman Bolton. I did a custom fiber job from kedah because I stumbled on the readily available fiber sump after I already paid for the order lol but no regrets as the custom job is way sturdier then the one I saw in shops and the size fits the space behind my pond nicely. The size is 3.5ft, 1ft, 1ft.

See self-explanatory pictures below, I put k1 in the first compartment as it floats and a standing sponge filter, this is to trap all the dirt and waste, it will then flow through downwards on typical coral, bio ring and some rocks. In the last compartment I put carbon bags just to absorb all the ammonia and smell from water. There is also a UV light to kill all those floating algae, as my pond receive direct sunlight, most area in pond is covered by algae, that type of algae is no problem, the problem is with floating algae that makes your water green and murky. UV light is a must for direct sunlight pond unless you don’t have too much fish.

I gave a lot of thought to this design, as the sump will be submerged by 19cm or water depth to the waterfall outlet, hence there will be some backflow water to think about, so there is two (2 in) outlet in last compartment, and I raised the sump filter by putting some brick under it. This is to make sure the pressure in the sump higher than the one outside. So water can easily flow out.
Sometimes to repair a faulty pond is way harder than to design one properly before start. I have encountered so many ponds that have green, murky water..it all usually boils down to filtering system.
Water is very clear now
Feel free to comment 







This post has been edited by thahirah: Mar 23 2015, 12:58 PM

Hows your pond now?

After filter installation my water is crystal clear lol...at night when bukak lampu can see all fish

Some reading on the net says at first it will be clear, after 2 weeks cloudy, then clear back.

Regarding animal always like that bruh....
If your pond is small, normal pudu breed good enough

Japanese kois makes a real difference when they are big, well taken care off.
they are also more "jinak" local koi can also be trained but not as easy.
Same with cats, overseas cat act cuter/smarter then kampung cats, probability speaking lah

Biggest mistake as an pond owner, is having itchy fingers in adding fish...cant stop buying stuff to "experiment"
it the end your pond filter cant handle the bio load.

This does not happen with cats for me...as taking care of one is a big commitment itself hahaha

choose depend on your wallet.

Whats your budget? go to any big sized fish shop, canister filter is good to start of, but please dont add too many fish, and cover your canister filter from sunlight to increase the lifetime, you need to clean it once a month too.

Good brands is laguna, price is rm700 to rm1500, filter is sold separately from the pumps, one thing good about the canister filter is that it usually have included uv light so you dont have to worry about floating green algae, algae on the wall and base cant be avoided. For pond with direct sunlight, UV light is 100% a must or you will have cloudy green water in 2 weeks.

If you get laguna, some replacement parts are readily available in lazada.

First count the gallons of your pond base on your water height, then you can start choosing the pump and filter size. from the gallons of your pond then you can count how many fish you have.

To have less headache is to have the correct sized filter/pump with the amount of fish and water volume.

Ditch the koi, get a big ass gold fish, look way nicer for a small pond set up.
Any pond size is fine, just need the correct type/amount of fish and filter size, to avoid lingering problems.

Just buy the canister type filter, it has built in UV.
One advise you need to size your pump for that canister filter, if you oversize your pump it will start leaking.
And after the water becomes clear, please dont start adding fish, thats where the problem will start.

There are a few china brands out there, most rather big fish shop have them, i often go to xian long shah alam. In cheras theres one near alam damai. Some small well stocked pet shops also has them. In jalan pasar the shop fronting the gold fish road has some good selection.

Another suggestion for filter, is to get a medium size fibre sump filter, this is actually easier in the long run in term of maintenance, but to find the nice size that fits your pond and look aesthetically pleasing is abit hard. I only saw this fibre sump in xian long and at that jalan pasar shop.

No issue, just check the litre rating for the laguna canister filter, and your connecting hose size, you may need to buy hose tightening clamp

Better follow that, dont oversize your pump, as it may make your laguna leak.

Yeap. Canister filter would get worn very fast if its used with an oversized pump.