I have a 750 gallon koi/goldfish pond with a 1000 gph pump. My pump has a small filter attached at the water intake area as do most pumps. For years Ive had to clean that filter every few days and STILL had cloudy water a lot of the time.
Last week the water was so cloudy I decided to do a complete water change. Water was crystal clear....for two whole days. Big whoop.
So after 10 years of struggling with cloudy water I decided I might just need a bigger filter.
I hooked this up to my pump with materials (fittings and a piece of hose) in about 10 min. I put it in the pond and turned it on. I was impressed there was little to no change in the water output pressure for my fountain head. I assumed I would lose some pressure with the pump having to suck water through a MUCH larger filter. I was also concerned this would take up too much room in the pond for my personal taste.
The first day I checked the water quality almost every hour hoping to see a difference. Hoping to see my fish other than when they come to the top.
After 24 hours I noticed I could now make out where the river rock was at the bottom of my pond. I couldnt make out any of the individual rocks but it was a start.
At the 48 hour mark my water was crystal clear. I could make out every rock at the bottom of the pond. Beautiful! In just 48 hours just adding this filter changed the water clarity from about 10% to 100%. Im amazed! My water hyacinths are even perked up and looking healthier!
From past experience I assumed the filter must be REALLY dirty so at hour 60 I took the filter out to clean it. It had collected all the murk in the pond but quite honestly it would not have had to be cleaned yet. There was still plenty of filter that was not "dirty" I did clean it anyway because now I want to test how long it can keep water crystal clear before actually needing cleaned now that the water clarity is where it should be. So basically I want to test "regular maintenance" vs the "cleanup" it just did.
Bottom line, best money Ive EVER spent on my pond!