If water can go through it and plants can grow in it, it can be a veggie
filter.

However, a slow flow through it (like maybe 40 minutes) will let the junk
settle out. A shallow filter with a slow flow and with plant roots reaching
down into it will mechanically filter out a lot of the stuff.

Our system draws from the bottom of the pond into 55 gal barrels with
strapping tape to catch the big junk. The water then rises through the tape
and flows into 5' kiddie pools filled with plants of various sorts
(anacharis, parrots feather and water celery in sequence). Water celery has
VERY thick roots and grows like crazy. Not much muck makes it into the
third pool. We drain them once a year by 2" drains in the bottom. We also
have a separate veggie filter of water hyacinth. In the summer, we compost
a pickup truck full of plants...always thinking of them as converted fish
waste!

No filter pads to clear!

You can see the veggie filters at our pond site.

____________________________________________
See our pond at: home.bellsouth.net\p\pwp-jameshurley

Have fun.

jim


"Neil" wrote in message
m...
I installed a pond a few years ago, installed by an acquarium shop.
The problem is that it used a typical acquariam filter. It never
really keeps the water clear even thoug i have a UV steralizer and a
fair amt of pond plants. My question- Can I simply buy bio balls or
other bio material and put it in my filter to creaet my own bio
filter?? this filter has the intake at the bottom of the drum and then
the water flows to the top where it exits to the pond?

It originallyc came with some large filter.. that ultimately got so
dirty and cracked that i replaced it with "horse hair" (you know,
those square fibrous spong like pieces that they cellat the pond
store_)..

will that work? can i just add bacteria to it...

or do i just scrap this and buy a real bio filter?

thanks!! it has been a bad week for ponds for me!