Can anyone recommend a good set up? Would like to have a system that would be simple when it comes cleaning filters than having to pull from pond,when I lift the box that holds the filters,lot of the debris comes off and back into the pond,and its like I have to filter it all over again.
external pumps and pond filtration set ups
My filter material is inside of my waterfall box and husb. put a drain on the bottom so I drain before I lift them out of box to take and wash out. Also, filtration material is inside of my skimmer which I pull out the whole inside piece including the hard plastic around material and take it all to be washed.
Don't know if this helps but hope so.
Bonnie D.
When you lift and it drains,does the yucky stuff fall back into the pond?
How many gallons do you have?
Small pond about a 1000 gallons
waterfall has drain on the bottom. I drain it and then lift filtration material all out. Nothing goes back into pond. It does on small pond but it filters out in a day and becomes clear again.
Skimmer baskets do let some muck go back into pond but not a lot. Small pond is about 1,300 and larger pond is 3,000 gals.
Just cleaned them both today plus vacuumed bottoms. Water is already clearing up nicely.
Good luck with your pond Tropicman.
Thinking might set up a sand filter like on a swimming pool,but the noise level has me concerned.
I had a sand filter on our pool which is 20X40 feet. Also it was very expensive. Now we have a DE filter which is quite efficient. That said, pool filters are much more expensive to operate and maintain than a simple pond filter. And yes they are noisy if near living area. Pump is what creates the noise.
There are so many different types of pond filters you could research. Ours are really home made. I just cut filtration material to fit down inside of waterfall and skimmer. Some folks make them from 5 gal. buckets. Main objective is just water has to enter go through filtration material and exit back into pond. I'm sure you will come up with your own design that will filter water and work fine.
Good luck.
Well I'm still in thinking mode,I mainly wanted it work during the winter time, in conjunction with what I have,just run it a couple times a day for hour or two.I see those with the type A or B cartridge filters like I use in my hot tub,I just take it out and hose off every couple weeks,pretty simple!
I found some interesting videos on YouTube about DIY pond filters. I made my own using ideas from several videos. I have a 60 gallon food grade plastic drum. The filter medium is lava rock from HD or Lowes with PVC pipe. I did get some sheets of plastic mesh filters and cut them to fit the top.
Basically the water comes from the pond with a submersible pump to the filter. It goes straight down a pipe to the bottom. The water then flows up through the lava rock and back to the pond.
This video shows the basic idea.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tt6eMowvuD8
My barrel is a lot bigger, I put mesh filters on the top and the pipe back to the pond goes into the pond under the water and creates a lot of bubbles.
Mine works like a champ if I keep the system inoculated with beneficial bacteria. I use to drain the muck out of the bottom on a regular basis but now I only do that once or twice a year. The top mesh filters need to be flushed clean from time to time.
I got some pictures of my set up today. I hope it makes my description a little clearer.
Great job Helen. I started out with one similar to that called a skippy filter. As ponds got larger we just put filtration material layered down inside of skimmer and waterfalls. So far it has handled the fish load and water amt. well. I do test water often or when I think of it. Water quality is important I learned the hard way.
Oh and I do run UV clarifiers on both ponds. They are a great help too.
Very nicely done,? how to you keep your submersible pump from being clogged? Currently I have tried three different mediums,I have mine in plastic type shoe boxes,filled with pebbles in one ,sponges in another,and scrubbies,plastic mesh in one,each one would last about a week before I would have to pull out of pond to clean,because the water flow gets weak.I also have a 13 watt UV light to help keep the pond clearer.I drilled holes in the plastic boxes for water to flow to the pump.
I use this pump. Rarely do I pull it up and brush off the intact holes.
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=20126&kpid=78458&cmpid=11cseYY&ref=XXXX&subref=AA%26catargetid=530005150000154361%26cadevice=c%3Fref=6111%26cmpid=11csegb&gclid=Cj0KEQjwuqauBRDhnfvnxMvKy6UBEiQAmTLQu_U312hf3XGff56peAI3mvNHe0QYd6MFJ5Hw9mL9CsoaAssr8P8HAQ
I also run UV clarifiers too but they aren't directly tied into the filter system.
My pumps are down inside the skimmers. When I am washing filtration materials I vacuum around the pumps and across the tops of them. Because I can't see well down inside I reach down and check for leafs and junk and make sure intake holes are clear. When I pump out some water to do water change then I can see clearly and double check for junk down inside of skimmers. I do this about every 2 months or sometimes every month. During summer I accumulate more detritus so it really needs sit every month.
Husb. put UV's inline. Skimmer sucks water in, then goes through UV and back into ponds.
Thanks guys for all your info!