need pond filter ideas

[midnight]

Alright, since you have a baseline (a years worth of previous history on this filter) you'll be able to see quickly how the changes effected it.

I trust the discolored material is the old stuff used to 'seed' the new filter.

how do you go from a years worth of history to seeding a new filter?
same filter,same media,only difference now is the rocks and separator thing.

and does "media" i.e. scrubbies and sponges,go bad?

How's the inline filter holding up (have you tested the water quality coming out verses going in)?

the pvc filter i put up under the wood on this pond?
if so,still works great.
and lets not talk about tests

Did you ignore my question about the 'other ' filter??

obviously i did
i did a huge water change,but pump is burnt up.
so soon as i can i should get a new one.lol

If Home Depot and Lowes carried fish, all the LFS's would go out of business!

who needs a lfs when ya have fl

 

[midnight]

I dont think the bed mattress foam/sponge is such a good idea unless you guys have different foam over there. Bed mattress is closed cell struture so most of the water will run off or overflow your bucket unless it is under pressure. If you do need to use foam/sponge try some aquaculture places or specialised rubber places and ask for open cell. Picture the Aquaclear HangOn filter media to see the cell structure difference. They manufacture "Fish Foam" by detonating a small charge under vacume pressure Im told.

Give it a try if youve already got the stuff - best way to learn sometimes.

ya ive seen stuff you can buy but its pricey.
and i dont have one to try

 

[maseyferguson05]

Think of it like this. You need a filter for a new tank. You decide on throwing everything into the tank from sponges to felt clothes, add a little bit of current and your good? The water is going right around everything, witch is not doing much filtering. All the media is kind of free swimming getting sloshed around by the water. The solution is to drain all the water out of the bottom of the barrel and have no extra water in the barrel , have it empty out into another container in witch you pump from there into the main tank.

The egg crate mattress pad is somewhat hard to get the water flowing threw, but you can. I know people have used them before and they get all the large and small particles. You really have to cut it the diameter of pad bigger than the barrel and like Dr Joe said make it dip in the middle so the water gathers and is forced down.

You can also use those giant pond filter pads, but again they wont work well if the water in the bucket is sloshing around.
http://www.enkoi.com/subcat62.html

Good luck, ill try and think of more ways.

 

[fishdance]

No,
I actually meant; give the bed foam a try if you can do this cheaply although I know from past experience it isnt very good. Of course the fish foam will definitely work since thats what it is made for. Try some plastic manufacturers or commercial aquaculture mobs for fish foam rather than aquarium stores. If you were in Australia I could help.

Or..... just keep filling the bucket with bags of gravel like you started. You need to cover the pump much much more so add heaps more. I would toss out the scrubbies and sponges personally unless you add a trickle tower over the bucket which would then become the sump.

I wouldnt worry about a prefilter either since this will mean more frequent cleaning and just something else which might go wrong. Prefilter will get really dirty really fast unlike an aquarium since this is a pond. I prefer not to prefilter and let the main filter get dirty since I know I have to clean it anyway. Work out which you prefer. Trial and error and modify until your happy. There are lots of variations and ideas.

 

[Dr Joe]

Check Goodwill or freecycle online for the mattress foam (not the new style memory foam).

Some media deteriorates and you know if it does, some just gets too clogged up to clean anymore.

I thought you replaced most of the media, not just added rock...my confusion, sorry.

Pump 'burnt-up' huh...

Eh, Live & learn .

Dr Joe

.

 

[duke33]

wait, let me write this down.

 

[midnight]

toss the scrubbies and sponges?lol
thats most of my filter

not just added rock...my confusion, sorry.

and added the separator,i think that will help alot

 

[maseyferguson05]

Hows it going? Did the separator help any?

Heres a website dedicated to foam. Open cell and all.
http://www.thefoamfactory.com/opencellfoam/opencellfoam.html

 

[midnight]

it seems to be working good.
the media doesnt tip and not much bypass,and the gravel is keeping the pump cleaner.

 

[fote03]

Nice work. How many of these will you build for your 450?