"Nathan A. Smith" wrote in message
I have built a pond (my very first) that is about 9ft by 7 ft and 30"
deep at places. I have it inhabited by 7 goldfish and 2 koi (all are
under 5" right now). I have a waterfall powered by a 1200 gal/hour pump.
My skimmer is a "Savio compact skimmerfilter".

Also anyone have comments on the savio?

I also run a savio skimmer/filter, but with a 3600 gal per hour pump
for about the same size pond you discribed (consider you may need a
larger pump). We find we need to clean the pads every do or two, but
it's easy so we don't mind (might be a problem if we decide to go on
vacation however). I also couldn't get the water clear so I finally
got one UV lite and now the water is crystal clear. We had a problem
at the beginning with frogs getting into the Savio Skimmer (poor
design) and being chewed up by the pump, but my husband put hardware
cloth over the opening and ran a handtowel through the handle so they
can't get in the unit anymore. In the fall when we have leaves we
will have to remove the hardware cloth, but for now it works. I
wouldn't recommend lava rock in the pump chamber as it makes it very
difficut to get to the pump if needed.

you can see my Ripplin Waters Pond at...

htpp://community.webshots.com/user/aspenjd

Sue W
Brooksville, FL