Filter, skimmer, bottom drain...how many pumps?

[BenignVanilla]

I am planning on a having a large veggie filter that will be fed by a pump
and will then flow back into the main pond. I am now considering a skimmer
and a bottom drain. What kind of pump set would you use? Three smaller
pumps? Can one or more of these functions share a pump?

--
BenignVanilla
tibetanbeefgarden.com
x-no-archive: yes

Remove MY SPLEEN to email me.

[Justin]

"BenignVanilla" > wrote in message >...
> I am planning on a having a large veggie filter that will be fed by a pump
> and will then flow back into the main pond. I am now considering a skimmer
> and a bottom drain. What kind of pump set would you use? Three smaller
> pumps? Can one or more of these functions share a pump?

I'd use one pump for the bottom drain and veggie filter. My setup is
an upflow filter design that pumps into a veggie filter.

Justin
http://www.geocities.com/justinm090

See my FAQ: http://www.geocities.com/justinm090/faq.html

[BenignVanilla]

"Justin" > wrote in message
om...
> "BenignVanilla" > wrote in
message >...
> > I am planning on a having a large veggie filter that will be fed by a
pump
> > and will then flow back into the main pond. I am now considering a
skimmer
> > and a bottom drain. What kind of pump set would you use? Three smaller
> > pumps? Can one or more of these functions share a pump?
>
> I'd use one pump for the bottom drain and veggie filter. My setup is
> an upflow filter design that pumps into a veggie filter.
>
> Justin
> http://www.geocities.com/justinm090

That was my next question...can I just dump the bottom drain output into my
veggie filter. Seems like it makes sense. I am pumping water up to the
filter anyway. Why not suck it from there?

I guess if something fails though, this could empty the pond, because the
bottom drains are so low...


BV.

[Cleveland Ponder]

I have my skimmer and bottom drain both going to a stock tank which
acts like a settling tank/pre-filter. The pump draws from the stock
tank. The top edge of the stock tank is a few inches higher than the
normal water level so it is a gravity feed to the stock tank from the
bottom drain and skimmer.

"BenignVanilla" > wrote in message >...
> I am planning on a having a large veggie filter that will be fed by a pump
> and will then flow back into the main pond. I am now considering a skimmer
> and a bottom drain. What kind of pump set would you use? Three smaller
> pumps? Can one or more of these functions share a pump?

[BenignVanilla]

"Cleveland Ponder" > wrote in message
om...
> I have my skimmer and bottom drain both going to a stock tank which
> acts like a settling tank/pre-filter. The pump draws from the stock
> tank. The top edge of the stock tank is a few inches higher than the
> normal water level so it is a gravity feed to the stock tank from the
> bottom drain and skimmer.

I am confused...if the stock tank is above the water level...how is it
gravity fed? Or did you mean it spills back into the pond via gravity?

[Just Me \Koi\]

You can install a backflow device in the system, that way water goes in to
the filter but not back out of the inlet pipe.

May I strongly suggest that you dump the water from your bottom drain into a
bio/mechanical filter first, then from that into your veggie filter. This
way the biofilter gets all the muck and stuff first before going into your
veggie filter. If you don't, and you get leaves into your veggie filter,
when they decompose, they will generate ammonia and nitrates that will
affect your pond, and you will also need to mechanically clean your veggie
filter more often.

Please learn from my mistakes.

--
_______________________________________
"Architecture is the ultimate erotic 'object'."
Bernard Tschumi, "Architecture & Transgression"

http://community.webshots.com/user/godwino
"BenignVanilla" > wrote in
message ...
> "Justin" > wrote in message
> om...
> > "BenignVanilla" > wrote in
> message >...
> > > I am planning on a having a large veggie filter that will be fed by a
> pump
> > > and will then flow back into the main pond. I am now considering a
> skimmer
> > > and a bottom drain. What kind of pump set would you use? Three smaller
> > > pumps? Can one or more of these functions share a pump?
> >
> > I'd use one pump for the bottom drain and veggie filter. My setup is
> > an upflow filter design that pumps into a veggie filter.
> >
> > Justin
> > http://www.geocities.com/justinm090
>
> That was my next question...can I just dump the bottom drain output into
my
> veggie filter. Seems like it makes sense. I am pumping water up to the
> filter anyway. Why not suck it from there?
>
> I guess if something fails though, this could empty the pond, because the
> bottom drains are so low...
>
>
> BV.
>
>

[BenignVanilla]

"Just Me "Koi"" > wrote in message
...
> You can install a backflow device in the system, that way water goes in to
> the filter but not back out of the inlet pipe.
>
> May I strongly suggest that you dump the water from your bottom drain into
a
> bio/mechanical filter first, then from that into your veggie filter. This
> way the biofilter gets all the muck and stuff first before going into your
> veggie filter. If you don't, and you get leaves into your veggie filter,
> when they decompose, they will generate ammonia and nitrates that will
> affect your pond, and you will also need to mechanically clean your veggie
> filter more often.

My plan is to build a settlement tank that will precede the veggie filter.
My thought is 3 5-6 gallon buckets from cheapo depot. The bottom drain would
feed into the first bucket. A pipe then goes from the top (less sediment
area) of the first bucket to the bottom of the second bucket. The second
bucket is piped from top to the bottom of the third bucket. The third bucket
contains a pump that takes from the top of the bucket and dumps into the
veggie filter.

I figure this will be cheap and easy to build. It should also be easy to
clean with the proper valves in place. It will also be easy to employ, as I
just need to dig a hole and drop it in. I could probably build something
similar with one large vessel using a liner, but I am thinking the multiple
vessels will help drop more sediment out. This way, I can also use it has a
mechanical/bio filter if I decide to do so.

BV.

[Bonnie Espenshade]

BenignVanilla wrote:

>
> My plan is to build a settlement tank that will precede the veggie filter.
> My thought is 3 5-6 gallon buckets from cheapo depot. The bottom drain would
> feed into the first bucket. A pipe then goes from the top (less sediment
> area) of the first bucket to the bottom of the second bucket. The second
> bucket is piped from top to the bottom of the third bucket. The third bucket
> contains a pump that takes from the top of the bucket and dumps into the
> veggie filter.
>
> I figure this will be cheap and easy to build. It should also be easy to
> clean with the proper valves in place. It will also be easy to employ, as I
> just need to dig a hole and drop it in. I could probably build something
> similar with one large vessel using a liner, but I am thinking the multiple
> vessels will help drop more sediment out. This way, I can also use it has a
> mechanical/bio filter if I decide to do so.
>
> BV.
>
>

My only worry would be that the bucket would be too small
and would clog quickly and then cause havoc. By having a
larger settling tank (mine was 100 gallon stock tank) you
wouldn't have that worry and it wouldn't be necessary to
clean it weekly or possibly daily.

--
Bonnie
NJ

[Howard]

The water would not slow down enough to drop much is a 5 gallon bucket.
Howard

"Bonnie Espenshade" > wrote in message
...
> BenignVanilla wrote:
>
> >
> > My plan is to build a settlement tank that will precede the veggie
filter.
> > My thought is 3 5-6 gallon buckets from cheapo depot. The bottom drain
would
> > feed into the first bucket. A pipe then goes from the top (less sediment
> > area) of the first bucket to the bottom of the second bucket. The second
> > bucket is piped from top to the bottom of the third bucket. The third
bucket
> > contains a pump that takes from the top of the bucket and dumps into the
> > veggie filter.
> >
> > I figure this will be cheap and easy to build. It should also be easy to
> > clean with the proper valves in place. It will also be easy to employ,
as I
> > just need to dig a hole and drop it in. I could probably build something
> > similar with one large vessel using a liner, but I am thinking the
multiple
> > vessels will help drop more sediment out. This way, I can also use it
has a
> > mechanical/bio filter if I decide to do so.
> >
> > BV.
> >
> >
>
> My only worry would be that the bucket would be too small
> and would clog quickly and then cause havoc. By having a
> larger settling tank (mine was 100 gallon stock tank) you
> wouldn't have that worry and it wouldn't be necessary to
> clean it weekly or possibly daily.
>
> --
> Bonnie
> NJ
>
>
>

[BenignVanilla]

"Howard" (remove XYZ)> wrote in message
...
> The water would not slow down enough to drop much is a 5 gallon bucket.
> Howard
<snip>

That seems to be a common thread. I figured 1 bucket would be too small,
which is why I was thinking about the multi vessel idea. I was thinking with
3-4 buckets, maybe the sediment would fall out faster. I don't think it is
worth the experimenting though, if I can just build a liner based settlement
tank. Just a bit frustrating. Now I'll have the pond, the veggie filter/bog
pond and now a third settlement pond. *laugh*

BV.

[Cleveland Ponder]

The top edge of the stock tank is a few inches above the water level.
See ascii art below. the tank is approximately 22" deep which would
put the bottom 18" - 20" below the pond water level. With the 4"
pipes from the bottom drain and the skimmer attached to the bottom of
the stock tank the water comes in to the stock tank at about 6psi.

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|| <--- Flow ||
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|________________________________|



"BenignVanilla" > wrote in message >...
> "Cleveland Ponder" > wrote in message
> om...
> > I have my skimmer and bottom drain both going to a stock tank which
> > acts like a settling tank/pre-filter. The pump draws from the stock
> > tank. The top edge of the stock tank is a few inches higher than the
> > normal water level so it is a gravity feed to the stock tank from the
> > bottom drain and skimmer.
>
> I am confused...if the stock tank is above the water level...how is it
> gravity fed? Or did you mean it spills back into the pond via gravity?

[Justin]

"BenignVanilla" > wrote in message >...
> "Justin" > wrote in message
> om...

> That was my next question...can I just dump the bottom drain output into my
> veggie filter. Seems like it makes sense. I am pumping water up to the
> filter anyway. Why not suck it from there?
>
> I guess if something fails though, this could empty the pond, because the
> bottom drains are so low...


Make sure your pump is not on the bottom and the bottom drain will not
be a factor in emptying your pond.

Justin