FILTER BOX ADDITION AND IMPROVEMENTS

Having gone through treating lateral line inflammation in two of my ranchus, I finally took David Lains' (Ichthius) advice (GoldfishGarage), who is a fish guru and very generous in sharing his knowledge, and purchased a UV sterilizer. Another improvement suggested by David was a 150 micron nylon filter bag to trap solids pumped from the pond. I previously used pre-filter pads, which would easily clog and were somewhat restricting water flow. Here is my old post about the set up "Before the Fish"
                                                                                                                                                             

Filter Box before

Redesigned Filter Box

To implement the changes I had to redesign my filter box. In most situations, the UV sterilizer is placed in-line after the filter and before the pond. In my case it was not possible as water from the filter box flows directly into the pond with no space to attach the UV sterilizer in between. So, I turned the last section of the filter box from which water enters the pond into UV sterilizing chamber.

       

                              

The filter box is made out of transparent acrylic, and my first step was to block the UV light from effecting the rest of the sections, where bio media is placed with cultures of nitrifying bacteria. I used opaque black acrylic and UV resistant and fish safe Life Guard Pool & Pond paint to block the UV light from the chamber. Then, I installed a 18 Watt Emperor Advanced UV Sterilizer for Savio Compact Skimmer. 

18 Watt Emperor Advanced UV Sterilizer for Savio Compact Skimmer

150 micron nylon filter bag 

It is now up and running! I am glad I did it, one extra measure to keep the water cleaner and my ranchu healthier.