another nooby with filter questions

[Hxckidd]

Sorry for probably posting redudant questions others have posted. But i am really green when it comes to ponds. The pic below is my pond that i aquired with my house and i have been messing with for the last year... The 1 area that i dont feel real comfortable wiht is the filter. I basically have a pump running full time to a "total Pond Pressure filter" which all sits inside the pond. I also have another pump that goes up to the waterfall that runs about 3-4 hours a day, which i was hoping would help with circulation.

I am looking for another alternative for a filter that might work better. Seeing posts of skimmers seem cool, but i have no idea how i would run one with this pond as its already constructed out of concrete. Any ideas would be great, and pictures would be even better.

 

[sissy]

skimmer is just to pick up stuff floating up near the top of the water .Like leaves or extra fish food or anything that may get pulled into the skimmer basket ,It is not designed to be a filter that builds up bacteria .I guess you could make it work something like that by having filter media behind it in a large enough area to hold it .But it would look rather ugly hanging over the side of your pond .

 

[addy1]

They have those no niche skimmers that float in the middle of a pond, don't need to be on a wall

 

[sissy]

But it is still not to take the place of a real filter .

 

[addy1]

But it is still not to take the place of a real filter .

no not at all, but would work as a skimmer

 

[Hxckidd]

i have netting over the pond so maybe its not floating debri i should be as concerned about? (netting was to repel racoons and birds from eating my fish).

So if you guys had a pond set up such as this... how would you route your filter and what type of filter would you be looking at? Do you think the pressure filter i have now will be sufficent? or should i be looking into something else?

 

[sissy]

That would depend on what kind of fish and how many fish .Goldfish are not fussy koi are and koi get very big.Since that back wall you have there is high you could hide a barrel filter behind it and that would be more than enough to keep your pond clean.You have a tall fence behind your pond and that does not keep critters out .Does that fence enclose the back yard where your pond is and I don't really see to many trees or do they blow into the pond from else where .You said also your plants are not doing well what do you have them planted in .I know my elephant ears like to be planted in pea gravel and my cannas are planted the same way

 

[Hxckidd]

here is more info on the pond... i have 1 blue gill, 6ish gold fish, and 4 small koi. There is a huge magnolia tree in my neighbors hard that overhangs my fence to the right of the pond and drops leaves on top... Also i have had problems with racoons and a giant bird eating all my fish so i put netting over it for now. Here is a pic with only 1/2 the netting on. and yea the back fence backs up to another persons backyard.

If you dont mind can you school me on barrel filters a bit? what is the benefit of them versus a pressure filter? what do they typicall cost to build/buy? and lastely do you guys have any great ideas on how to hide the hoses running to and from the pond to the barrel filter behind the pond?

 

[sissy]

magnolia the worse tree leaf to have falling in your pond ,the only good thing about that leaf is it is a hard leaf and does not break down fast .A skippy filter or barrel filter is a bio filter and that depends on how fancy you want to go .The barrel will cost money and the media and adapters to get the water from the pump to the filter and then back into the water fall to run back into the pond .Bio filters take awhile to build up bacteria .With your fish load that may be why your plants are not surviving .How big is your pressure filter .Fish need plenty of oxygen also and the water should be tested .They have a lot of info on here about barrel filters and about all kinds of media to use .I use lava rock and it works for me but it does not work for everyone .It is mainly trial and error with media ,what works for one does not work for all .

 

[Hxckidd]

i have just the generic one they sell at home depot...

http://www.homedepot...catalogId=10053

I figured oxygen might be a problem so that is why i set up the waterfall. I ran about 7 months with only the pressure filter and that 1 pump. Then thought maybe it needed more so i built a real waterfall and set up that pump...

By the way thanks for the info so far. Its hard to pick up info from some other threads as they relate to ponds like 10 times the size of what i am working with. lol

P.S. how often should a pressure filter of this size be cleaned? i was afraid of doing it too often and it not letting good bacteria build up in the system. But its been a while now and still havent seen a change.

 

[sissy]

Ok I think I know what pressure filter you have as I have 2 of them and afraid that 2 just could not do what I needed them to do .I bought mine there clearanced out and I ended up building my own tank filters and they work a lot better .Koi produce a lot of waist and 2 of my koi are over 2 feet long .They were a couple of inches long around 9 years ago .If I knew then what I know now I would have stayed with goldfish .You have a nice pond going and you can try building your own filter and see if it works for you .I see though that your water looks clean and your fish I guess are fine .Remember koi destroy plants .The reason I like building one is I can use quilt batting in the top to pick up all the fine stuff floating in the pond .It helps with green water and algae

 

[sissy]

I still have to say your pond looks good and I have a problem with plants growing in my pond so far all I can get to grow is lilies and elephant ears and a strawberry and cream plant .Your pond looks like it is getting plenty of oxygen .if no fish have died you must be doing something right .I know my filters like that I cleaned out every month and I cleaned them with some pond water I drained off to do 10% water change and don't clean them to good as you don't want to kill the good bacteria growing in it .You will need a bigger filter though .Thats a lot of poop and ammonia for that filter to clean .Do you net the gunk from the bottom of your pond

 

[Hxckidd]

How big was ur pond when u ran two of those filters? The pics are when those plants were first planted. Doesn't look that great anymore.
Another question on barrel filters they wouldn't work on my waterfall since the barrel would sit lower the the waterfall. I am not sure how to have a return go back into the pond since barrel filters aren't pressurized right?.

 

[Waterbug]

Maybe I missed a post, but Hxckidd, I didn't see where you said what you were wanting to filter out. I also missed the size of your pond and any test results like ammonia and KH. Sorry, if I missed it.

If you just want to add filters for fun then it would be good to know how much money you have to spend or if you want to do a DIY project.

 

[Hxckidd]

i still have to run the tests and measure the total size... but havent had a chance... There seems to be a good amount of sludge/ particles that circulate through the waterfall. The pump for the waterfall does not have a filter on it. I have a full time pump that is hooked up to the pressure filter.

So back to my original question. If this was your pond, would you continue to put faith in a pressure filter? or try a different route. Or maybe just add a 2nd pressure filter to the waterfall and hope it does okay?

Its not that i want to drop a bunch of money, its more that i want something that will sustain itself better and allow my plants to thrive. Right now all my water lettuce died, all my hycinths are dying, and my elephant ears arent doing so hot either.