filter for a 150 gallon above ground pond

[phillyofish]

I got a 150 gallon rubbermaid trough that i have several plants in but would like to do a DIY filter and maybe a waterfall back in...any ideas/suggestions.
i was thinking maybe using a 30 gallon plastic drum that would be fed by the fountain pump and would feed up through the drum and back into the pond.

anyone do something like this?

 

[koikeepr]

yep! Check our DIY forum and you will see a number of step-by-step ideas for you that are stickied right on top.

 

[phillyofish]

I want to use the 150 as a goldfish pond so i wanted to do an external filter. the sticky was for the 150 RM trough.

 

[koikeepr]

We have stickes for 55 gallon barrels, too. You would just create the same concept with a smaller barrel or drum, that is all. Plumbing it would be exactly the same as the stock tanks or the barrels.

 

[phillyofish]

am going with a 30 gallon, do you think i can do with out bulkheads? what size pump do you think? 300/gph suffice?

 

[koiguy1969]

30 gals is even a bit big for a 150 gal stocktank pond....a 15 gal would be 10% of the ponds volume which is plenty. many people wish they could have a 10% filter volume

 

[DrCase]

The 30 gal drum would be at a good height to fall back into your pond
:lol: If you could cut a smile like shape at the very top of the drum but below the rim and heat it with a torch or heat gun you could mold out a spill way to fall back into your pond

 

[phillyofish]

the 30 gallon that I have is thicker than the standard blue barrels. could I get away with plumbing with vented top to feed back to the pond.

 

[phillyofish]

if I go with the bulkheads, how do i get a tight seal since it is not the typical blue barrel ( extra rubber gaskets or silicone). this is made from tougher plastic. or do i skip the bulheads and go with just pumbing and a durso drain back into the rubbermaid 150 trough?

 

[koiguy1969]

i use shower drains on my filters...sturdier mount than a bulkhead and seal beautifully.

 

[phillyofish]

could I have my pump feed into the drum and have it feed back in to the pond with a drain with a vent on top?

 

[DrCase]

Yes you can ..If your drum is close to your pond and the outlet is sloped down hill you may not need a vent

 

[DrDave]

I don't see the need for a vent on the outlet side. And while we are at it, with a check valve none are needed at all. I like mine without it in case I have to force water through which happened once with a string algae clogg.

 

[phillyofish]

it would be done without any bulkheads, just going by how my wet/dry is setup for my aquarium.