Thank you for your comments and advise. I will be going with a more
porus material for the inner most chamber for now.
Travis


"how" wrote in message . ..
Hi,
Both responses are correct in that mechanical filters using mats will clog
eventually and need cleaning. Larger 'holes' = less cleaning. Remember that
when the pump loses return pressure it is choking at the suction end and
this will strain the pump increase heat and reduce its life expectancy.
One thing to try is to redo your current set up by having holes in the outer
pot only at the top edge. On the next pot have the holes only at the bottom
sides. On the inner pot have holes at the top edge and have the pump encased
in pot scrubbies or some other large holed material. Some ideas are pieces
of PVC cut small, hair curlers, etc. This assumes a fairly snug cover and
that there is enough volume in the pots and the hole in the pots are
numerous and large enough so the water does not 'speed' though. The
scrubbies could be used in all the pots.

HTH -_- how
no NEWS is good

"Gale Pearce" wrote in message
...
I think BV is right - your filter material is probably too dense - are you
using sponge? - you need to maybe get some filter material with more
airspace (i.e. not as fine) so it won't clog up as quickly
Gale :~)
I built a filter with
3 plastic planting pots. snip
snip

it sounds
like what you are describing is a common mechanical filter issue. You
are
filtering particles out of the water by catching them in a your filter
matter. Once that matter gets plugged up, the water can't flow as fast,
reducing your pressure. I think anyone with a basic mechanical filter
system will tell you this is normal. BV.