SIEVE FILTERS

[whiskey]

Hi waterbug you took me back to my very first pond when i built a pump feed gravel filter from bricks and 4" pipework , all working fine for nine day in mid july , when whilst back flushing the filter i noticed the lower pond had turned green, stayed this way for several days, then one day whilst walking over bridge to a seated area the water in the lower pond cleared.
Well i was amazed to see gin clear water ...was never able to draw conclutions on ....why.
Now i know that the top pond run off to a small stream filled with rock and gravel, dropping into lower pond via waterfall, it was this that started the pond theory of life ...self preserve.
thanks

 

[j.w]

Thanks Waterbug, you've got me thinking now! Sure wish I would have put a stream in when I had the chance. I don't have many fish (goldfish) in my 2500 gal pond now but they do keep coming. I'll have to do some figuring on how I can incorporate a small stream into my pond. Been thinking about it for awhile anyways but never moved on it. Even if I don't you've still got me thinking about all this filtering and spotless cleaning that seems as tho it may be overdone.

 

[taherrmann4]

Just do it JW! Quit thinking and start diggin!

 

[j.w]

The thing is tho I'm not sure if I want the fish to be able to use the stream as it will make it easier for the heron if he comes around and sees them swimming in there. He could just pick them off one by one. Guess if you put a ledge at the end of the stream like a waterfall then the fish can't get up of course. And I'm still going to use the stainless barrel falls thingy my hubby made which is a couple feet tall so that means a heck of alot of dirt to be brought in and just think it might look funny w/ a big mounded up stream in our flat as a pancake yard. Seems like it would have to be an awfully long stream or it would be really fast moving. Gonna have to think about this more tmann and this is still all in just my head............haven't put it in hubby's head yet either and he may not like it one bit. Might be easier to add a bog. Want to do something tho.

 

[Waterbug]

For killing green water the stream should be very shallow, like just enough to cover most of the stones. So these wouldn't be for fish. I did have fish get into the head of the stream and take a ride. Mainly it was a Fantail rescue that took the most rides. Don't know why. Keeping the fish out of the mouth is pretty easy, even a 3" waterfall is enough. And of course they can't really get into a really shallow stream.

A shallow stream is pretty easy to install. You just need the edges up maybe 4-6" either by digging down or bringing in soil. And I don't think it's obvious to most people but a stream can be dead level and work fine. Can be 100 miles long and level, 4" sides. As long as the sides of the outflow is 0" the water will pour out of it.

And a stream can wrap around the edge of a pond. For example where you have the rocks around the edge, that could be converted into a stream. Looks pretty cool too imo.

And there's no limit on how many times you wrap around the pond. For example, a 5' wide liner (sold really long for streams) could be humped up in the center so the water went around the pond twice. This can also be done with a basically straight stream. You can pump the water into the stream at the pond's edge and it would flow alway from the pond until it got to the end where it would make a 180 turn and go right back to the pond. When you start thinking outside the box there's lots of strange things you can do.

When building a level stream start at the mouth but dam the mouth. Lay down some liner keep the rest in a roll. You can then put water into the liner, unroll some more liner, more water. The water level will keep telling you if you're too high or low. This can also be done just temporarily to check slope.

While a stream only has to 4-6" I do prefer to make them deeper, like 12" and pretty much straight sides. Then fill with gravel up to the actual water level you end up at. When shallow the liner is harder to hide and can be exposed over time. Plus its harder to lower a liner once installed while raising and lowering gravel is easy.

 

[j.w]

Thinking now waterbug and why do I think that I have to use the big waterfall as part of the stream? Well I don't. I can just make a whole new stream setup and leave the waterfall the way it is and have another short falls coming into the pond from the stream. And I like the deeper stream idea too as I can make a bit of a ledge along the sides like a step and put rocks along it and then more rocks along the top edge to hide the liner w/ gravel in the center bed of the stream. I like that idea about the stream right along side the pond, meandering around it but I just don't know how I'd do that w/ all the bushes and trees so near the pond. My pond is also mounded up a bit so stuff can't flow into the pond which means I will need dirt to raise the stream up. How long does a stream have to be to be effective in killing green water?

 

[Shdwdrgn]

I've been thinking on an idea of incorporating something like a sieve filter into my bio-barrel. I want to replace the center pipe (that goes to the bottom and Tees into a swirler) with a 4" diameter pipe. Then I'll get some of the 3" irrigation pipe (has holes drilled along the length) and add a lot more holes through it. This will be dropped inside the 4" pipe and centered. Last, I can drop some kind of cheesecloth sock inside the 3" pipe, positioned so the incoming water is pushed down through the sock. The idea here is that as the sock fills up with debris, the water can still escape through the sides of the sock, via all the holes drilled through the 3" pipe. The water would then continue down into the filter in the space between the " and 4" pipes, and the debris in the sock shouldn't have any affect on the overall water flow. Take the sock out and hose it clean once in awhile, and drop it back in place.

At the very least, I could use a cotton mesh laundry bag and trap the leaves. Realistically, it would be much better if I could figure out a filter for the pump intake instead, but I haven't had much luck with ideas that aren't sticking out like a sore thumb.

 

[Waterbug]

j.w. You understand killing green water with bacteria is hit and misss...so it's really impossible to say how long a stream should be. Ammonia and bacteria is really easy. Algae and bacteria fight each other, as does green water algae and string algae. Plus I assume different species of green water algea fight each other. The way I look at it is to make the stream as long as possible. Streams can be all but invisible too, like a shallow gravel bog. They don't, or parts don't, have to be a big landscaping issue. In CA the yards were small so I once put a stream under a Trex walk way thru the graden.

I think you have the right idea thinking the stream doesn't have to be connected to a falls. That's thinking outside of the box.

Shdwdrgn, that wouldn't be a sieve because the trapped debris would remain in the water column as far as I can tell. A sieve knicks stuff out of the water column. However, what you described is similar to the best fabric filter I ever used. It was the 3" flex drain pipe and drain pipe sock. Instead of putting the sock on the outside I put it on the inside like you are saying. It was very effective in clearing green water but tricky to setup correctly. However, the sock fabric would also work well for your setup as the "kind of cheesecloth". Cut a length long and just tie a knot in one end. Use a length of 1/2" or 3/4" pvc pipe inside the sock to push it into the pipe. Cluff the top fabric over the outside of the pipe and secure with a rubberband. You can also glue a ring of pvc on the top of the pipe to stop the rubberband form sliding off. Or heat the pipe end and flare it out. The sock material is very find yet slow to clog and made of polyester so easy to wash out. Lasted forever when kept out of the sun. I used the company's fabric in several different filters and as a bag for a pond vaccum. Good stuff, pretty cheap and easy to find.

 

[j.w]

Hey Waterbug I don't really have a problem w/ the green water but thought I'd do what I could to prevent it down the road and also just thought a stream would be a nice bacteria bed plus nice to look at. Thanks for the tips!

 

[Shdwdrgn]

For what its worth, all of my string algae is growing IN my stream, but nowhere else. My water there is about 6" deep at best. It's really strange because that is the coldest water with the most UV exposure... yet the green slime seems to like it there.

But I gotta agree... streams definitely add a certain characteristic to a water feature, and I'm really happy I put the work into building one in mine.

 

[DoDad]

I use two sieve filters. I use a Cetus sieve on my skimmer circuit and a AquaForte UltraSieve III for both bottom drains.

 

[j.w]

For what its worth, all of my string algae is growing IN my stream, but nowhere else. My water there is about 6" deep at best. It's really strange because that is the coldest water with the most UV exposure... yet the green slime seems to like it there.

But I gotta agree... streams definitely add a certain characteristic to a water feature, and I'm really happy I put the work into building one in mine.

I don't understand it either Shdwdrgn, guess it's that hit and miss thing Waterbug was talking about. Guess you could use the hydrogen peroxide to keep it off your stream if you don't like it but then maybe it being in your stream is what's keeping it outta your pond? Who knows!

 

[addy1]

I have minimal algae in the stream or pond, some gets on the side walls, some around the lily pots. ow none. The pond and stream are in pure hot sun all day.