Utilizing existing 750 gal fish pond

[multifasited]

Hi from Cartersville Ga,I have a unique pond set up ,consisting of twin ponds conected by a waterfall 18" to drop lower pond 2' deep ,upper 4'x12' x12"deep . bottom pond ,has 1/2hp sump pump in capped milk crate w/course comm. scrub pads surrounding pump ,travel thru 1 1/2"pvc sch 40 pipe thru check valve -Gate valve to a tee feeding 300 gal bio tank,and 55 gal sand and gravel filter second valve meters flow to each ,5 liter air pump to bio and ponds via air stones,water exits each filter dumps into gravel trickle tower in SS weire at water fall into SS final filter aeration and dispersal collection box at water fall at upperend of upper of the .long pond ,second water fall also has same ssffa box w/o TT. The upper and lower ponds have connected 1/6hp pump fed bottom sweeps ,upper pond has 1 1/2" linear bottom pipe half slotted connected to a third sealed sump pulling thru that 1 1/2 pipe for is feed pumping to the bio tank for waste removal. pix below ,after that longwinded disertation ,the QUESTION I am thinking of adding ! or maybe 2 bci 4x4 x14" GTs with constant flow from the upper drain sump to feed the gbs ,w/auto=bell vac drains back to my bio tank,or I could go back to the upper pond directly this pond supported 80 -6-8" gold fish ,all suggestions welcome before I build and decorate to match existing . This is my front yard 10' off my frt. porch ,I set 800' off of the road.I am interested and anxious for all replies !! Got the fever and want to do it right the first time ! Thanks ,Carl

[badflash]

Ponds suck up most of the nutrients and defeat the AP process for the most part.

[multifasited]

Ponds suck up most of the nutrients and defeat the AP process for the most part.

Thats quite interesting ,can you tell me more?

[badflash]

Ponds are already a closed AP system and the pond bottoms de-nitrify the water. The only way I can see it working is if the bottom has a liner and you keep the bottom clean.

[keith_r]

you could remove some of your pond plants after you get growbeds online.. i imagine if you started feeding your fish a good quality fish food (and remove the filtration) you'll have plenty of nutrients to green up a few growbeds

[multifasited]

you could remove some of your pond plants after you get growbeds online.. i imagine if you started feeding your fish a good quality fish food (and remove the filtration) you'll have plenty of nutrients to green up a few growbeds

I was planning to suck the fish waste from the upper pond directly into the grow bed and flood -drain back to my biofilter ,the upper pond has no bottom drain and is collected thru separate pump to my bio filternow ,I was simply going to directly feed GB first and exhaust thru flood drain vac to bio filter to eliminate contaminion at cycle process to my fish,would that not work,and eliminate failures or changes to the fish and the pond ,while providing needed nutrients
to the grow bed. I can capture the water directly from the bottom of either pond to the grow beds prior to any filteration ,and dump exhaust water directly into filteration media before re-entering either pond ,However the supply to the beds will be from the bottom of the pond where the excrement collects . Am I missing something ,as I have 80 + fish
in the two ponds ,I thought ,this would be Ideal condition for both the fish and the plants ,please explain problems you see .!Thanks Carl
Ps. The fish are already on Quality food now! My plan was to be able to grow plants ,and increase water quality to the fieh ,btw both ponds do have liners , and sump pumped to filters individually .

[jackalope]

Welcome to the forum! Nice pond ..... keep at it and let us know how it works

[multifasited]

Ponds are already a closed AP system and the pond bottoms de-nitrify the water. The only way I can see it working is if the bottom has a liner and you keep the bottom clean.

A better view[attachment=1:2o7kuzc1]non-con pond 008.JPG[/attachment:2o7kuzc1][attachment=0:2o7kuzc1]non-con pond 001 - Copy.JPG[/attachment:2o7kuzc1]

[bsfman]

That's a really cool looking pond! Let us know how it goes!

[multifasited]

That's a really cool looking pond! Let us know how it goes!

What! No Input ! That is two tomatoe plants and 1 bell pepper ,grown in the flower bed next to the pond last year ,fed only pond water ,grew to the roof cascaded back to the ground and 2/3 back up ,over a bussel of tomatoes each plant. vines removed after killing frost over 20' long .