Now for some E-mail...

Now for some E-mail...

NOTE: Please remember that these are untouched E-mails from hobbyist to myself, and spelling and grammar may no be accurate in the correspondents.

Dear Dr. Novak, Hope you are having a great summer. I talked to you last year at the pond expo in Cedar Rapid and corresponded several times. If you remember, I struggled with water clarity and after hearing your talk, added a filter pond with the kitty litter/Laterite mix, removed all dirt from all my plant material. I wanted to give you an update. My water clarity has been EXCELLENT this year. I still struggle with some spaghetti-algae, but my water has been crystal clear all year. I have been on garden tours and have been the hit! I thought that you might enjoy seeing some picture of my larger pond. I have Koi in the bottom pond and have enjoyed actually getting to SEE them this year! Thanks for you help! Sincerely, Kim Davis P.S. Hopefully these picture get through! Photos by: Kim Davis Iowa

Dr Novak

This is good stuff here. Man, it's great! Already have made some design decisions. I'm currently reading it for the second time.

I just have to know though, is your water clear as a bell and seams to be thin like water is supposed to be?

Actually I believe that My email was broke. I just got it fixed last week.

Mickey

From:-------------------
> Date: Mon, 19 Nov 2007 19:03:00 +0000 > To: drklnovak@gmail.com
> Subject: Anoxic System
>
> Dear Dr. Novak,
>
> I'm not sure if this email address is current.

> I just wanted to send you a quick note to thank you for the anoxic idea.
> I built the system last spring and had a wonderful maintenance free season with my Koi. > Cheers,

> Nolan Baird > Johnsburg, IL

Today I received an e-mail asking for one of my CDs, and telling me that a person on the Internet wanted to ask me some questions. He thought that these questions would require my immediate attention.

I will try to address the questions that James has asked of me. James asks if a system is producing excess amounts of harmful pathogens then there is something definitely wrong with that system. Meaning of course, there are too many fish, the fish are being excessively fed, the filtration system is inadequate in handling fish load plus any if not all harmful pathogens, the water parameters can become way off, inadequate water turnover through the filtering system itself, and proper pond husbandry is being improperly executed or ignored by the hobbyist, etc., etc.

His question is: So why would you wish to intercede “after the fact” rather than addressed the actual causes of the rising bacteria count?

This is an excellent question that James brings up, and makes a very good point. Why would one, wish to intercede after the fact? I know I would not, and most hobbyists I trust would not either. All filtration systems out there are specifically designed to slow down the deterioration of pond water, but not or cannot stop it.

The Anoxic filtration system, which I have designed, is not only capable of handling the hobbyists ponds with which it was originally designed for, but also on a more professional level can be used in saving our environment. Many scientists including myself are trying to do just that. The system has the capability of removing Phenols from heavily loaded water along with the removal of cyankali, carbolic acids, and detergents from sewerage treatment facilities. In addition to a number of other bacteria such as Escherichia coli, Bacterium coli along with germs like enterococci and salmonella. The systems that most hobbyists are using do not have the capabilities of dealing with any of these germs or bacteria. Unbelievably, most of these bacteria and germs do exist in all hobbyist ponds to some degree. This may be due in fault to the hobbyists doing something wrong or from other outside sources such as animal’s coming into the pond environment. Hobbyists have no control in these circumstances. I guess what I am trying to say is: The hobbyists are at the mercy of the environment and geographical location in which their pond is located in, and not necessarily will this be the fault of the hobbyists themselves. Therefore as a scientist, I tried to deal with all the problems that hobbyists might have to deal with, even if they do not even know they existed. Moreover, sometimes this may have to be “after the fact.”

We do not live in a perfect world and hobbyists are not perfect individuals they make mistakes, as all human beings do. This filtration system was designed for what I call the “mom and Pop” ponds. Unlike you who are a professional at pond keeping, many people are not; they are constantly having problems with their ponds environment on a daily basis. I hope I am using the term “professional” correctly, based on your intelligent question. I think you know exactly what I mean, not all people know not to over feed, not to have too many fish (some hobbyist refused to listen to anybody on that subject) and in doing the proper maintenance on their pond. We all know that people sometimes get lazy and do things like that, which is just being human. This system is designed to give the hobbyists a cushion, better than most systems do or will because it does not clog like other systems.

I would also like to say James; to call you one of those nonprofessionals is taradiddle. I bet your one of those hobbyists that has a cost-no-object über expensive filtration system for your animals'. You will do anything at any cost to make sure your animals' live in secure, comfortable, and clean environment. You more than likely are a prime example of what hobbyist should be doing and not what they should not be doing! Unfortunately, most people do not have the wherewithal for such filtration systems and therefore have no other way of enjoying this hobby except going on the cheap. These cheaper systems cannot in any way compete with the state-of-the-art systems some hobbyists are willing to buy. This is an imperfect hobby! At least with my system, these people can now be on a level playing field with these high-end systems. My CD-book tries to help the hobbyists in achieving what otherwise would be a losing battle with their pond. No, it is not perfect, but then again what filtration system out there for so little outlay will give you so much bang for the buck?

In closing, I will give you an example James of a so-called “professional” that builds ponds for a living in our area. This professional pond-builder actually told a couple: “To place about 28-cinderblocks in their pond to raise their plants up high enough in the pond. I know that right now you are probably rolling your eyes: But yes, this did happen! The hobbyist not knowing better did it! Then they came to me wanting to know why they had cyanobacteria problems and why their fish were lethargic. The pond’s pH was literally reading off the scale of their test kit. Would you or anyone else reading this post say that this individual that is considered a professional knows what they are doing? Now James let me ask you a question: Do you now see the premise and need behind a patent system like this one? I think most people reading this post would say, yes.

Hi, Robert,


I just received your E-mailed today and I looked at your pictures. Your pond and yard look wonderful, but it makes me wonder why on earth would you want to change anything, when everything looks so great already? I always tell people if you seem to have a system that works then don’t change it.

However, for some reason you feel that maybe you need to change your filtration system. The only time I recommend for someone to changer their filtration system, if they wish to have a bigger fish and/or having some kind of pond troubles to begin with. It looks to me that you’re not having any troubles at all; so changing your filter just for the sake of change sake is not the right way to go about doing things, at least in my way of thinking.

Nevertheless, if you wish to change your filtration system because it is not working correctly could be something that I may not have seen in the pictures: then of course I can understand.

Now on with the questions: Question number one is that you have particulate matter floating in your water. This system will eliminate that problem, but also a good prefilter will also eliminate the particulate matter floating in your pond.

As for as your second question goes, should water be drawn from the bottom drain or prefilter and/or skimmer? People will draw water from both the skimmer and a bottom drain, that’s entirely up to you on how much work you wish to put into your pond. When I talk about prefilter or filtration systems, I mean either a prefilter that sucks water from a pond and has some kind of filter medium in it to stop the particulate matter. On the other hand, a skimmer would be more than enough to retain particulate matter.

You also asked another question on how big should the filtration system be for 2500 - 3000 gallon pond. However, you also say that your Koi or anywhere between 10 the 20 inches. These are not small animals to begin with, and you will need a good size filtration system the handle such a load of 20 of these animals. About one biocenosis clarification basket will handle about one Koi. That means if you have over twenty Koi you need at least minimum 20 Biocenosis baskets of the 7x7x11 size. You can go smaller on the filtration size or you can make it in an L shape that is inside the corner, it doesn’t necessarily mean the filtration system has to be square. If can be deeper if you wish it to be, that is entirely up to you on how many baskets you would wish to put in the filtration system itself. I can see that you have limited space by your photographs. However, many people that have limited space may make the filter even a triangle shape to fit into a corner; there is no reason why you cannot do something like that.

The filter could be a little bit above ground made out of wood, stones or whatever you’re choosing and then spill over into the main pond. This is entirely up to you on the cosmetics of your filtration build.

 I cleanout my filter with the garden hose without having to move any of the Biocenosis baskets because of the space between them. Refill with clean water and then let the filter run until about November when you can shut it down for the rest of the year. (Ed: I don’t do this any more I let it run all winter now.) Well here in the U.S.A. it’s that time of the year to start thinking about autumn and getting the pond ready for the cold days of winter.

There is no reason to empty the water in the Anoxic filter for the wintertime your plants will need the water and the bacteria, too. Sometime in March you can clean the filter out again and get it ready for springtime, this should accommodate you until October of that year.

Anoxic Filtration System ®

February 02-2005-2013

New Updated Version