You really should not be getting much inside of a skimmer, there should be a
few layers of filter materials to catch the diff sizes of crap. I would go
back to where u got the skimmer and ask them why it is happening.



"George" wrote in message
. ..

"David Johnston" wrote in message
news:FN25d.17223$He1.14947@attbi_s01...
I have a Danner 1800 gal pump in my 500 gallon pond. It draws from a
skimmer and pushes out to a waterfall w/biofalls. The pump is forever
clogging up and it is getting old having to get the pump out of the pond
and
remove the hoses every other week to clear it. (My 'barometer' that its
time to clean is when the waterfall slows to a trickle).

The skimmer has a cheesy basket in it which obviously allows too much
debris
to pass. Any suggestions on what I can add - perhaps an inline filter -
to
keep the pump clear?

Thanks!

Dave in Des Moines


You should put an inline pre-filter between your skimmer and the pump. I
have a five gallon Tetra brand pre-filter that works great for my
purposes, but you can build one that is cheaper and probably works better
for your needs (my pond holds about 1,500 gallons). You need inflow from
your skimmer to the pre-filter, then a course filter media, followed by
biologic filtration, such as lava rock in nylon netting. Then, of course,
outflow from the pre-filter to your pump. That should keep most debris out
of your pump, and will allow the microbes in the main filter to do their
job more efficiently without getting overwhelmed. Then once every 2-4
weeks, you just clean out the pre-filter (make sure that you design it, or
buy one that is designed to be easy to clean). I have no skimmer in my
pond, so I just use a coat hanger wire to grab the pre-filter, and pull it
to the surface, where I drain the crud out and rinse the filter pad (I use
pond water to rinse out the pad), then put it back together and drop it
back in the pond. It takes about five minutes, twice per month. I opened
my main filter for the first time this year, and after 18 months of near
continuous operation, it was essentially clean as a whistle, no serious
grunge, no sludge build up, and the gravel was not compacted at all.
Water in the pond is crystal clear all the way to the bottom (45").

An alternative would be to get buy a utility pump like I did. I have a
flotec utility pump that pumps about 1,400 gph. It will practically pump
pure sand with no damage or clogging of the pump. I've never had to clean
my pump. Of course, unless you retrofit your filtration system to be a
suction type, this kind of pump may not be what you need. But there are
positive pressure pumps out there that should work for you that aren't too
susceptible to clogging.