On 18 Apr 2005 00:23:54 -0700, "robv60" wrote:

My pond has about a 15-20' long sloping stream/waterfall that empties
into the main body of water. I have been looking at biofilters, plans
and ideas people have posted on this forum and doing a lot of reading.
My question is, instead of sinking and pumping water through a huge
bucket in my pond, filled with whatever media, Couldnt I simply line
the bottom of the stream bead with more rocks and maybe even mix in a
fair amount of lava rock and/or other media for filtration? The water
flows pretty nicely through the stream bed, wouldnt this effectively
filter my water to some degree? Wouldnt the flowing water from the
"falls" running around the rocks essentially be the same thing as
pumping water through a filter box filled with lava rocks? Seems like I
could spread the filter media out over a larger area and provide a more
natural look to the pond while at the same time filtering. Functional
and unnoticable filtration that simply looks like part of the pond
rather than an unsightly 55+ gallon bucket sunk in my pond. The pond is
2835 gals. I will be using(whenever it gets here) a 3500 GPH pump that
pumps 2785 GPH @ 5' to power the waterfall and circulate the water.

All filters need to be cleaned at some point. In a pond this size you
really ought to be thinking filter-and-pump out-of-the-pond. Similar to
mine, only perhaps bigger. www.jjspond.us Click on *My Filter* and there
are more pictures under *Demon Pond Filter* and *My Lily Pond*.

If still thinking you can do it with rocks in the pond, get a manual on the
Aquascape System and see how they recommend cleaning a rock filled pond. Or
better, ask people here and in www.koiphen.com forum how many people
started with this system and have removed the rocks and added a bottom
drain return to filter. ~ jan

See my ponds and filter design: www.jjspond.us

~Keep 'em Wet!~
Tri-Cities WA Zone 7a
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