"Tom L. La Bron" wrote in message
...
You sure are right George,

Many in our pond club members started out with filters like this, but
changed when trying to pull it out of the pond needed three men and a boy
to do it. It really becomes almost useless if you have an algae bloom.

Tom L.L.

I think Cowboy's filter is quite elegant on many levels. I'm almost 60
years old, 5'2" on a good day and not a heavy weight. I manage with
something that would weigh far more than this filter just fine (mine is a 25
gallon bucket that I pull out of the pond so I'm not only lifting the rock
but the water as well). The lava rock weighs nothing and cleaning something
like this will be done maybe once a year. It is also very easy to clean.
For the system to work (that is if you want clear water) you need to feed
the water from this into a veggie filter. If you are going to raise fish
as opposed to having a pond with mosquito eaters (a few fish) in it, then
you will probably want to be creating a more costly and involved system.
However, I still have feeder fish I had from when I created my first pond, 3
butterfly koi, and a monster of an albino catfish (that I really should find
a home for this year....) and I manage just fine. My loss of fish have come
from feeding the local wildlife and not from water quality issues.

----------------------------
"George" wrote in message
news:qio4e.1922$yg7.1075@attbi_s51...

"CanadianCowboy" wrote in message
.. .
Just wanted to share a very inexpensive Bio Filter with some mechanical
filtering that can easily be built at home.

http://www.mvwgs.org/filter.htm

The problem with that filter is with trying to clean it. It is labor
intensive, since you have to get it out of the pond, take it apart, clean
it, put it back together (or replace the filter material if necessary)
and then put it back in.