Buying pond filter

[koi]

Professional filter or Just a drilled 55 gallon barell with bulkheads.

[Woody]

I bought a 19 inch pool sand filter for my 2000 gallon pond several years ago for under $180.00. In place of sand, I put Ultra Bio-Media (looks like macaroni) in small mesh laundry bags & filled it 3/4 way to the top (around 10 bags). Works great with 1-1/2" plumbing, a Cyprio UV & a 2800 GPH submersible pump. Always clear water & maintenance is very easy since the media can be removed without it spilling all over the place. Plumbed it through the wall of my adjacent garage so everything is safe from freezing & hidden from view.
~
Filter was bought from Fibropool Co. LLC
408 St. John St.
Bay St. Louis, MS 39520 USA

yyavuzer@fibropool.com

[koi]

yeh but im on a tight budget so yeh 180 dollars is the price for a pond filter with a uv. Im looking to spend somewhere around 50 dollars for an already drilled barrel or i have 2 barrels and someone could drill it for me

[Woody]

I got ya, I started out "on a budget" too but then found the budget stuff was not doing the trick after a while & became too much of a maintenance problem. My pond becomes overstocked at times (happy fish like to procreate) so filtration was a high priority. How big a pond are you going to build?

[koi]

5x10x4 using a 13x20 liner from lowes. 130+tax. Spending approx 100 dollars on flagstone for a patio around the pond. Still think about a waterfall since i have yet learned how to make one. And 30 dollars for gravel for the bottom of my pond. 50$ for uv. And more money for fish i currently have 4 5in koi, 8in butterfly koi, 4 3in goldfish. Im going to try this thing where i plant the lilies directly into the pond by digging pockets on the bottom and putting soil then gravel over. People told me not to put gravel but i've also been told so because there is more suface area for beneficial bacteria.(THe pond is rectangle)

[Woody]

I would suggest putting the plants in pots. I tried gravel on the bottom but it creates a cleaning nightmare. After a few months of dealing with it, I decided to take it all out. Leaves & debris gather in it & you dont want that stuff decomposing in there cause it will effect the oxygen levels in the water. I was able to plant my stuff using a granular clay media that I bought at Lowes. It looks like cat litter but it is red like a clay pot. I think Scotts makes it but I don't know if it is still sold there.

[justdoit]

Everyone gets caught in the trap of $ vs can always go bigger later. Agree w/ Woody that filtration is a major issue in healthy pond & being able to "see" fish . Don't know if you can have too much filter as these guys will grow quite quickly under good conditions. The koi & gold fish you already have is a big load for a pond that size without the rite filter so cutting corners there can lead to disaster.
Plants in containers saves lots of extra cleaning when these rooters go nosing and they
will.
Never have put gravel on bottom/ was warned against & again agree w/Woody on that point.
Look forward to seeing how your pond progresses.

[lee85]

I have a real nice pond filter that I need to sell. I will post pictures and info once I get around to it...

[koi]

Lee pm me specs and price of the filter. Im stilling trying to find out how to build a waterfall. And im still looking for a pump.

[magicfishy]

It depends on what you are trying to do. I have a couple smaller ponds (about 4x4 each) that run purely on a small aquarium pump (something like 200 gal), no filter, no nothing. These have been running for almost two years now. The water is crystal clear at all times. I never change the water. In the past I used my testing kit to check the water, and it's always perfect zeros. I don’t bother testing it any longer. Fish are fine. Plants are fine. Water is clear.

On the other hand, I have my larger pond with a 10-12 ft waterfall/river bed that has a 3500 gal pump (from Lowe's) in it with bio balls at the top of the river bed. River bed, pond edges and the 3 levels inside the pond are nothing but rocks and gravel. Pond is usually over stocked with fish and plants. Here too, water is always perfect, crystal clear and always zero on nitrate, nitrite and ammonia. As a matter of fact, that's the water I use to change the water in my aquariums. I never use our great city water without "cleaning" it in the pond first....and I never use any chemicals in the ponds or the aquariums (unless I'm setting up a new tank).

I sent some samples of my water to A&M a couple of years ago when they were doing some sort of research study on local ponds to see how my water is and the results were amazing. Yeah, debris collects in the bottom of the pond and about once a year I'll jump in there and scoop it out but since there is so much water moving over the rocks, oxygen levels are never an issue....and if you are trying to grow lilies, plant one down in this 'debris' and see what happens. I can guarantee you it will outgrow any other plant you've got in your pond, no matter how much fertilizer you use.

Oh, and by the way, if you are on a budget, don’t waste your money on UV sterilizers and other stuff. There is really no need for any of it as long as you can get the balance in your pond right. Mother Nature doesn’t use them either….

[koi]

Well I want to maximize the amount of fish i can have in the pond so i thought installing a filter would be a good idea

[koi]

Bump!

[Oldsgirl]

This is the pond I built into my deck.


There's a pump in the pond that pushes water up into the big filter (Upper area), that is filled with pea gravel. There's a distribution bar made of pvc piping at the bottom of the bog fitler, and the water is filtered as it is pushed up through the rocks. The plants help clean also, and the best part is you never have to water them :)



Really all I do is feed the fish and top off the water when needed. I'd love to build a bigger pond with a huge bog filter, more for the sake of having more plants, and I like the waterfall too :)

[koi]

Thats a good filter idea

[rebelliondog206]

My pond is similar to the one two posts above......just smaller (8'x3'x32"). I am using a bog filter....37 gallon tote filled with gravel with an upflow through the gravel and roots of the plants. A few days after I installed it, water cleared and has been clear since. Water comes through a mechanical filter first and is pushed by a 700 gph pump (water volume in pond is only about 375 gallons). I have not yet cleaned the bog 6 months later. I do clean the mechanical filter media once a week or so. Pretty easy and takes about 5 minutes or so. I have added Phos-x to the filter box and barley straw.....no more string algae problem.
I like the gravel look in the bottom. It does collect a bit of gunk. I usually just stir it up a little every couple of times I change (or just clean) the filter media....clears up in an hour or so...then maybe re-rinse the filter.
The fish are seemingly happy. They eat well and some have reproduced.....Danios and Silver Mollies. I am hoping for the goldfish to lay eggs in the spring, since I did not have any this year. Of course it was hot (even though I had a shade over them)...... I have Sarassa Comets, Shubunkins, Red Cap Orandas and a couple of Fantails. There are also a couple of catfish (Syno. Eupterus). I will be heating the water over the winter....they should be ok.
The plants I have grow like crazy. It has come a long way since the few that I bought to put in the bog....
Prices:
$10 Tote (the top that it came with is blocked up in the bottom to create a settling chamber)
$<10 in PVC (2 valves, fittings and short pipe)
$10 Gravel
Plant a few plants directly in the gravel.
Little labor....Bog Filter is done.
Since you will have more water in the pond.....use more gravel in a bigger container. Idea is the same. Use pump rated for twice the volume the pond. Push water up from the bottom....."natural" filter.

Plant plants to hide the plastic box or barrel used for filter.....works great.

Pictures: http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/...&id=1296431596 . There are many more plants today...