Biological Filters

Hello All!

It's been a few years since I've had the opportunity to have a pond. I'm currently digging out a 3300 gallon pond that will be 8' X 11' with a maximum depth of five feet and plant shelves that are 1' to 2' deep.

I read the following on-line article about biological filters with great interest.

http://www.skippysstuff.com/biofiltr.htm

I am thinking about building a filter to the specifications in this article. Between a local feed store and Home Depot, I shouldn't have any problems gathering the materials needed.

QUESTION: Has anyone ever built their own biological filter? Is it worth the cost in savings to build your own filter instead of buying a retail kit?

Chef Dave

i think that skippystuff sounds interesting, i would try it . i have the scrubber pads in my filters , orderd more yesterday for a new filter. im not going to clean them ,i just drain the water off the bottom . water is great, its better to build your own

Thank you for your reply.

I'm going to give this a try. Although it would be convenient to purchase a retail filter system, I think it'd be fun to try and build my own. If I wind up saving money in the process, so much the better. I can always put the savings towards water plants.

We haven't built a filter for the pond but did build a filter for our reef tank and it worked great. Give it a shot and post pics when finished.

I built mine using a 55 gallon drum (I know Skippy sez 55 gallon drums don't work, but he is wrong). Both DrCase and I use them and they work fine.

I used 7000 cut pieces from 1/2" ABS irrigation tubing in mine and they work fine. The secret to success lies in a lot of surface area and these provide a lot while allowing a fast back flush. I have a 2" ball valve near the bottom that allows the sludge to be dumped in 25 seconds. Cleaning has never been easier.

Dave, anywhere I can find the design of your filter? I can't "get it" from those pics, never having created one myself.

I just have the pictures of the build. These 3 photos really show everything important.

55 gallon drum
2" ball valve attached to a 2" bulkhead connector
egg crate light cover from Home Depot
Milk crate to support it.
7000 pieces of 1/2" ABS tubing cut to 1.5" placed on top
1.5" downspout to the waterfall
3/4" pipe that feed it from the pump.
that's it

It is very similar to the skippy filter

Originally Posted by DrDave

I have ... 55 gallon drum ... 2" ball valve attached to a 2" bulkhead connector

A 55 gallon drum? Wow! How big is your pond?

i am making one ,i will post some pics after work today.

I'm not done with this yet .these pics show the simple guts. i drill holes in the lid to make the bottom grate, the center hole needs to be the same size as your center tower pipe , mine is 3 " pipe pic 2 shows the 3 parts, the tower pipe is cut on the bottom to let the waste flow out, the lid is drilled to let water flow up,,, then the milk crate. i had to use a bucket.this gives the filter a big settling area...... pic 3 shows the parts together........pic4 shows the parts in the drum......pic 4 with scrubber pads ( fill to top)