Advice for pump and pre-pump filter

[Sooner]

Rebuilding my pond. I am moving to a 300-400 gallon pond going 3' deep with a self made bio filter for the waterfall.

Question I have is regarding the type of pump and pre-filter I should use. Attached is a rough drawing over my existing pond with the idea. I plan to have the intake at 3' deep with the waterfall coming down in the 1-2' area.

Should I do an external pump, and what type of filter and where to put it? I currently use a standard pump and box filter from Lowe's.

 

[addy1]

That is going to look nice, is there enough room to hide a doc or skippy type 55 gallon filter behind those rocks? And be able to reach it easily. Check the diy section there is a lot of info on building filters that work well.

I like external pumps, some like submersible pumps. That will be your choice.

 

[Sooner]

Yes, there should be room for the skippy I am doing. I am only going to do a 20 gallon skippy given the size of the pond. currently there is a 3 step waterfall behind the pic I threw on top of that picture. I plan to just do a vertical waterfall drop into the pond once I move to a liner instead of a prefab pond. I just can't find good info on how to setup the prefilter and size pump I would need for this. Pond intake at 3' and the top of the bio filter will be say 2' above ground so I would need a pump that could push out the right amount for the 5' incline.

I know the biofilter should take 3 minutes for water to cycle through it too. My main concern is the pre-filter since i want the intake to suck out all the crap at the bottom. there will be no rocks or anything in the water.

 

[addy1]

I am sure someone will chime in, I don't use a pre filter so can't really help you. Just have a large bog. The pump needs to be sized to be able to circulate your water every 1 -- 1.5 hours. There are calculators on line that will help you with the gpm and the head you need.

 

[sissy]

addy I don't use a prefilter either as it seems the pumps can handle most of what goes through them .I really don't think you should get any thing so big that you need a prefilter and they get so yucky and smelly I won't use them .And sooner your guest are going to be greeted nicely .I like that as you walk up that the sound will greet you first .Nice looking too .

 

[koiguy1969]

i use prefilters, and a submersable pump myself, and have yet to find them smelly, yucky yes. but that just means theyre doing their job. my pump sits on a ledge right up under the waterfall. the prefilters are plumbed on 1&1/4" hose and they allow me to relocated them around the pond as i feel the want or neccessity . they increase the effectiveness of your filter by eliminating a great deal of the fecal/organic matter before even getting into the filter. i have mine tied to black nylon string so i can pull them close to the surface for easy removal and cleaning. when a pump pulls solids thru it, the impellor purees it and turns much of it to a semi liquid, and small particulates which are future DOCs.(dissolved organic comounds)

 

[Shdwdrgn]

I've had a 250-300 gallon pond for about 5 years now with a 25-gallon skippy filter (half of a 55-gal barrel). I made sure to put a bottom drain in my barrel, and this has worked well over the years. I'll drain out the sludge about once a month (or once a week in the Fall), and the fish have done very well over the years.

On the other hand, since I'm planning a much larger pond now, I AM trying to incorporate a solids filter of some sort, just to help reduce the number of leaves left in the pond. I don't think you NEED a pre-filter in a smaller pond, but it certainly can't hurt.