Finally broke down and cleaned out my filter falls yesterday. I'd about
talked myself into taking a year off, since the water flow appeared OK and I
knew what a mess it would be. I took out the 4 mesh bags of lava rocks,
probably 200 lbs worth, and 1 mesh bag of bio balls and rinsed them off.
Took out the three 2 inch filter pads and rinsed them off over plants in the
flower bed. Siphoned out the water remaining in the filter and let it run
out on some dogwoods and other plants I have down hill from the pond. Threw
a bushel of mint that had been growing in the filter on the mulch pile and
then put everything back together. Sore today from all the lifting.

Now, got to do something about the green water! sigh Too cheap to buy a
U/V.

I have to say, I absolutely hate cleaning my waterfall filter media,
which is why it gets done less than it should. It originally had 3 2"
pads and 6 heavy net bags of rocks, and I've since gone to 1 pad,
throwaway net bags of barley straw, and 6 heavy net bags of rocks.
Even that's a hassle though. The mats are just a pain to clean when
they're that size and all those rocks are... well, heavy.

I keep wishing I could convert the bucket into some kind of veggie
filter, but I think the flow rate is too high since it's the output of
3 pumps.

On Mon, 21 Apr 2008 11:26:44 EDT, Pond Addict
wrote:

I have to say, I absolutely hate cleaning my waterfall filter media,
which is why it gets done less than it should. It originally had 3 2"
pads and 6 heavy net bags of rocks, and I've since gone to 1 pad,
throwaway net bags of barley straw, and 6 heavy net bags of rocks.
Even that's a hassle though. The mats are just a pain to clean when
they're that size and all those rocks are... well, heavy.

I keep wishing I could convert the bucket into some kind of veggie
filter, but I think the flow rate is too high since it's the output of
3 pumps.

You two need to look into matala pads. Durable, reusable and clean to new.
Granted expensive, but it is probably a one time expense. Better than
hurting your back and seeing the doctor, chiropractor or, in my case, the
acupuncturist. ~ jan :-)
------------
Zone 7a, SE Washington State
Ponds: www.jjspond.us

You might be able to work out an alongside veggie filter where the
flow would be slower.

Jim

Matala pads?! Thanks. I've not heard of these but I will check them out. I'd
intended to ask the group for suggestion on other options and here you are.

JB


"~ jan" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 21 Apr 2008 11:26:44 EDT, Pond Addict

wrote:

I have to say, I absolutely hate cleaning my waterfall filter media,
which is why it gets done less than it should. It originally had 3 2"
pads and 6 heavy net bags of rocks, and I've since gone to 1 pad,
throwaway net bags of barley straw, and 6 heavy net bags of rocks.
Even that's a hassle though. The mats are just a pain to clean when
they're that size and all those rocks are... well, heavy.

I keep wishing I could convert the bucket into some kind of veggie
filter, but I think the flow rate is too high since it's the output of
3 pumps.

You two need to look into matala pads. Durable, reusable and clean to new.
Granted expensive, but it is probably a one time expense. Better than
hurting your back and seeing the doctor, chiropractor or, in my case, the
acupuncturist. ~ jan :-)
------------
Zone 7a, SE Washington State
Ponds: www.jjspond.us

On Fri, 25 Apr 2008 23:57:08 EDT, "JB" wrote:

Matala pads?! Thanks. I've not heard of these but I will check them out. I'd
intended to ask the group for suggestion on other options and here you are.

JB

;-) Just don't go into sticker shock. A couple of pads will do more than
rocks and weigh 100X's less...I bet, I haven't really done the math myself.
I'm all about ease of maintenance and saving one from backache. ~ jan
------------
Zone 7a, SE Washington State
Ponds: www.jjspond.us

Yeah, this looks good to me... I'm even thinking about changing out my
skimmer pads with that since the width is right. Would a waterfall
setup use a combination of the blue, green and black, or is the blue
just too tight to make sense for things like that because it would be
continually clogged? I can't tell how tight it is.

Dave

"Pond Addict" wrote in message
...
Yeah, this looks good to me... I'm even thinking about changing out my
skimmer pads with that since the width is right. Would a waterfall
setup use a combination of the blue, green and black, or is the blue
just too tight to make sense for things like that because it would be
continually clogged? I can't tell how tight it is.

Dave

The matala mats are designed to be placed in series this way. They will
need to be weighted down since they float.
--
RichToyBox
http://www.geocities.com/richtoybox/pondintro.html
Zone 7A/B Virginia