That is what I use - mine is a 45 gal drum, with ~ 32" high return
bulkhead - most of the water is crystal clear by the time it rises up 32"
through the media. I intend to install a skimmer and that would probably
help your situation
Gale :~)
(It's a bottom fed, top outlet housing, filled with course floor scrubbing
pad pieces. http://www.skippysstuff.com/biofiltr.htm)

I've been using a homemade Skippy with my small 1000 gallon pond for about
two years. It's a vast improvement over the previous Oase filter, it would
need constant cleaning during the summer. The new Skippy is happy to run
all season without much attention, and maintains good water quality.
As a biofilter it cannot be faulted. However, one downside is that the
filter medium does not provide sufficient mechanical filtration to trap
and remove silt from the water. As a result my pond has been murky for
quite a while.
Of course the reason the old filter needed such regular cleaning is that
the fine partials were blocking it's fine filters. That in mind, I would
be interested to know if others using the Skippy filter have a method for
removing dissolved solids such as silt, that wont cause blockages. Perhaps
I need to use a higher tank for the filter, in order to achieve some more
gravity driven sedimentation, or maybe even sand in the bottom to trap
particles... any thoughts?
regards
DavidM


--
DavidM
www.djmorgan.org.uk