Complete video overview of DIY 4,000 gallon koi pond / RDF / Shower Filter / Moving Bed Filter 

Agreed

Thanks for the feedback, glad you found it helpful!

Thanks so much! 🙌🏼

I was going to say the same ur setup is awesome!!👍

@@jcardona1 what does a pond like this cost. Looking to build one in my back yard

@@TattooedBeast I'd estimate I spent about $10k with the RDF being the most expensive component.

#650th to give a 👍! 😊

Thanks so much, appreciate the kind words 👍🏼

Thanks!

Thank you!

Thanks!

Thanks!

Thank you! And definitely agree. I've had plenty of labor-intensive setups before and over time it starts to feel like a chore. My main goal was to make it as maintenance-free as possible.

Thanks!

Thanks - it's a really cool device. Highly recommended.

Thanks!

Thank you!

Thanks!

Thanks!

Sure am, thanks 👍🏼

Thanks!

Thanks!

Shower filters are great. I don't think I'll go back to any other form of bio filtration.

Thanks!

Thanks for the kind words, much appreciated!

Thanks! 👍🏼

Thanks, appreciate it!

Thanks!

@@jcardona1 How did you figure out the layout for electrical and plumbing? I'm in the Northeast, so weather considerations are a little different here, and I'm also looking to do under gravel filtration along with a bog filter area. I probably just need to really buckle down and do some more drawings to figure out how things will sit, but is there something that helped you when planning this? Or are you just really, really goddamn good with plumbing and electrical already?

@@milesgibson13 honestly, I kinda just dug the hole and figured things out as I went along. I knew what kind of filtration I would be running and what plumbing it would require, but I didn't follow any firm plans. My small yard mostly dictated the plumbing layout. Will yours be a koi pond or mostly a water feature? I'm not a fan of undergravel setups and bog filters for koi because they are muck factories. There is always a recurring theme in koi that have health issues and under filtered ponds. The best thing you can do for healthy koi is keep the water as clean as possible. Trap the debris and remove it from the water column before it can break down and turn into muck.

@@jcardona1 I plan on making it a koi pond with a fish load of about 15-25 koi. Doesn't a bog filter have the particulate settle there and get used by the plants? Sorry, this is the first pond I plan on building, so my only experience is watching a bunch of RU-vid videos and doing a ton of reading, so I'm definitely not an expert. I'm also planning on putting in a waterfall biofilter, but I don't think that will do much for particulate. I'm also debating about hooking up an Ultima II filter for the particulate, I just don't have a full grasp yet on how much filtration will be needed for that fish load.... Overall pond size I'm going to put in is a modified tear drop shape that hits about 40' long and 18' wide at its widest and around 5'-6' deep at the deepest end (I have weird topography I need to account for here). I planned on putting in shelves at different depths throughout, so definitely a little different than yours. On top of that main pond area, I was going to put in another 10' x 30' bog that I was going to pump the water through. I'm also debating about putting in a big rainwater collection unit while I'm at it.... My end goal is to have a big koi pond that is hopefully clean enough for me to wade into after working outside on a really hot day, and that will require fairly minimal maintenance. Not really sure how realistic all of these goals are, and I'm sure that I will probably make some mistakes along the way.

@@milesgibson13 I think it all depends on your end goal; water garden with a few fish or a dedicated koi pond. Folks that keep dedicated koi ponds and are serious about their fish tend to frown upon the whole Aquascape style ponds with bog filters and any sort of rock or gravel in the pond. We've been there done that and learned hard lessons along the way. Bog filters and up/down-flow gravel filters have been around for ages. It's what everybody use 30yrs ago when I first got into ponds because there was really nothing else out there. But technology has changed and products that were once only available for large scale commercial fisheries (like RDFs) are now available for the koi hobbyist. The reason we don't like bog or gravel filters is that fish waste and detritus is in a constant state of rotting and decomposition. Yes it eventually gets broken down, but the muck production is disgusting. If you've ever smelled this muck after draining a pond or tearing apart a bog filter you'll know what I mean. I would never want my expensive koi living in that kind of water. The Aquascape guys push this concept because it's an 'ecosystem' and it's how nature intended it. Yes, but natural waterways are also not closed systems with 1 fish for every 100-200 gallons like we have in our backyard puddles. In the wild you get 1 fish per 100,000 gallons or more. Bog and gravel filters are not apples to apples when comparing a lake or a river to a tiny backyard pond. And of course the other big reason they push this type of setup is for profits. They can build these with hardly any material costs and charge a premium and can lock you into their annual maintenance services for drain and cleanout. That's not to say that bog filters are evil. If I had the space I would love to run one, but it would be the very last step in my filtration process. I would NEVER send water to a bog that first hasn't passed through a serious mechanical filter. My ideal setup would be RDF for mechanical < pressurized glass bead filter for fines removal < shower filter for bio < planted bog for nitrate removal < return to pond. RDFs are truly a game changer and I can't imagine ever running a pond without one. It's amazing how well the pond and fish do when all the muck and debris is instantly removed from the water. I don't have algae issues, never have to drain and clean out the pond, never had green water (don't even run a UV light anymore), don't need to add any additives or chemicals to the water, and haven't had any health issues in the pond. Check out the latest video I uploaded a few days ago so you can see how nice the pond is doing :)

Thank you!

Thanks, appreciate it!

Thanks! Much of my inspiration came from ponds in the UK and throughout Europe. You guys definitely are on the high-tech side of koi keeping. We're about 10 years behind here in the US. But the nice thing is RDFs are starting to become more popular here, just a matter of getting more brands and dealer here in the states, we only have 2-3 to choose from. But a lot of people still are still turned off by the price. Most folks here are still using gravel/bog filters which are very inadequate for a koi pond.

@@jcardona1 A lot of hobbyist's here are now building their own drums to save money. Draco are a budget friendly UK drum company trying to build a dealer network in the States. Drums are definitely a business opportunity on the U.S if you have the engineering know how.

Thanks bud!

Thanks!