Soooo...I'm building my first pond (part above ground, part in ground, about 1500gallons), and am having trouble deciding between making a homemade skippy-style filter, or buying a premade waterfall bio filter type thingy.
I want to "over filter" the pond. I'm used to aquariums, with a minimum of 10x per hour turnover. Obviously I won't be quite that high with a pond, lol. But I want to be well above the standard of once every hour or two hours. I was thinking 3-5 times per hour turnover.
The water will be pumped from the main pond, to the filter (bought or homemade), into a bog garden, into a smaller pond, down a waterfall, back to the main pond.
Whatever "filter" I use, whether bought or homemade, will be crammed with mechanical filter media and biomedia (likely ceramic beads - I really like them). It will have filter plants (hyacinth or water lettuce) floating in the top of it. There will also be lots of plants in the pond(s) and bog garden eventually.
I know I can easily plumb up something like one of the waterfall bio filters. It would be much easier than making a skippy-style one (I'm not all that handy, have never done any plumbing, mostly just worked with wood). Does the whole round shape with the water coming up from the bottom really make that much of a difference? Or could I get good enough filtration with a ready made (or at least square) box that has the water going in one side and out the other?
I want to "over filter" the pond. I'm used to aquariums, with a minimum of 10x per hour turnover. Obviously I won't be quite that high with a pond, lol. But I want to be well above the standard of once every hour or two hours. I was thinking 3-5 times per hour turnover.
The water will be pumped from the main pond, to the filter (bought or homemade), into a bog garden, into a smaller pond, down a waterfall, back to the main pond.
Whatever "filter" I use, whether bought or homemade, will be crammed with mechanical filter media and biomedia (likely ceramic beads - I really like them). It will have filter plants (hyacinth or water lettuce) floating in the top of it. There will also be lots of plants in the pond(s) and bog garden eventually.
I know I can easily plumb up something like one of the waterfall bio filters. It would be much easier than making a skippy-style one (I'm not all that handy, have never done any plumbing, mostly just worked with wood). Does the whole round shape with the water coming up from the bottom really make that much of a difference? Or could I get good enough filtration with a ready made (or at least square) box that has the water going in one side and out the other?