Filter designing, will it be a fail?

[avery155]

Hello, I recently put a new pond in, it is a little under 1500 gallons. It is now time to upgrade to a real filter and pump.
I say that because I have a mag drive 950gph pump with a flat box filter.

The pond is just under 7x9 and is 3.5 ft deep.

I have already purchased my barrel, so now is design time.

I keep looking at filters and cant understand why the inlet is up top and feeds to the bottom. Why not put a bulkhead low and tee off down there for the vortex style sediment trap?


So my current plan is a inlet low on the barrel, tee off and use 90s to create a vortex, a few inches above that have a platform that my bioballs and other light weight bio media will sit on. finally atop that will be some foam or other floss media to polish the water when necessary.

Bulkhead near the top gravity fed into pond or eventually to a waterfall box where water polishing floss would then be located when and if I ever put a tiny waterfall in.

I also plan on designing my own back flush system that will use 1/2 or 3/4 inch pvc pipe structure intermingles in the media with small holes drilled into it to hopefully pressure wash everything.

Any thoughts? Or has this been done before.

 

[Mmathis]

Welcome!

Well, you have your up-flow and your down-flow systems. There are advantages and disadvantages to both kind. What you are describing sounds like the "Skippy" style (Google skippy filter) which is an up-flow. That's what I use. The "vortex" action isn't all it's made out to be with this filter. From what I understand, to get a more realistic and more effective vortex requires more than a single barrel.

And another question, what kind and how many fish are you planing to have?

Do you have any plans drawn up? Maybe if you could add those, it would help us visualize your design better.

 

[avery155]

The filter is similar to a Skippy filter, just with probably inferior design changes.
I'm not sure why I feel I need to change the design of a tried and tested filter.

I think it is top fed so there is no need for a check valve to prevent back flow and the filter draining if the pump is shut off.

The pond will have a few koi and mostly goldfish. Currently there are 4 goldfish and three koi in it


The vortex while I agree won't work as well as an empty barrel it should increase the dwell time of the particulates thus helping to keep them from flowing up the edge of the barrel into the bio media.

The backflush design would be something like this. The four quadrants of the barrel like a compass. N,s,e,w. Pipes running down the length of the barrel on each quadrant. Every foot tee off run a cross pipe from n to s, then the next one run it e to w. Drill small holes throughout to act as a mini pressure washers.
This could be fed off the main pump after draining the filter and re filling it using a wash cycle. Then drain and refill under filter mode.

Or I could use my current pump 950gph as a dedicated was pump. Shut off main pump turn on wash pump and let it run for a few minutes.

Drain the muck and turn it back on. I'm not sure how the wash would work if I keep the bio balls and other media in mesh bags though.
I'm thinking of getting a pump in the 3 500gph range.

 

[Big Lou]

Welcome Avery.

 

[Jeff Kraemer]

The filter is similar to a Skippy filter, just with probably inferior design changes.
I'm not sure why I feel I need to change the design of a tried and tested filter.

I think it is top fed so there is no need for a check valve to prevent back flow and the filter draining if the pump is shut off.

The pond will have a few koi and mostly goldfish. Currently there are 4 goldfish and three koi in it


The vortex while I agree won't work as well as an empty barrel it should increase the dwell time of the particulates thus helping to keep them from flowing up the edge of the barrel into the bio media.

The backflush design would be something like this. The four quadrants of the barrel like a compass. N,s,e,w. Pipes running down the length of the barrel on each quadrant. Every foot tee off run a cross pipe from n to s, then the next one run it e to w. Drill small holes throughout to act as a mini pressure washers.
This could be fed off the main pump after draining the filter and re filling it using a wash cycle. Then drain and refill under filter mode.

Or I could use my current pump 950gph as a dedicated was pump. Shut off main pump turn on wash pump and let it run for a few minutes.

Drain the muck and turn it back on. I'm not sure how the wash would work if I keep the bio balls and other media in mesh bags though.
I'm thinking of getting a pump in the 3 500gph range.

Make sure to add a plug at the bottom to drain it for maintenance.
I have a homemade filter also, using 2 twenty gal cans.

 

[Jeff Kraemer]

Both cans have a plug at the bottom for draining. I test the water regularly and never had anything but crystal clear water. For small ponds these filters are great, AND fun to make.

 

[HARO]

For backflushing, you'll need a drain as close to the bottom as possible to get rid of the crud. In order to drain fast enough, use AT LEAST a 2" bulkhead fitting and a slide valve to permit fast opening. Your 'bioballs and other lightweight media' will be totally useless as far as bio-filtration goes, since they will be covered in muck, killing off the bacteria. In my filter, the clean water exits near the top of the first barrel, and drops through a 12" wide tower of bioballs located in the center of the second barrel, exiting at the bottom to flow back into the pond.
John