Anybody have an opinion on which is better & why? Anybody tried both & found
one to be much better than the other?

I would think the pump fed is easier to set up & is not sensitive to water
levels in the pond but the gravity fed seems to have the advantage of being
able to catch a lot of the cack in a settlement chamber and less pump
maintenance.

I'm trying to decide on which way to go - what's the preference of the
assembled company? All thoughts gratefully recieved.

rgds

I.

Can't speak to comparison.

We have pump fed.
Pump in the bottom of the pond.
Three feeds up to barrels
Which then gravity feed the VF ponds.
Return gravity to pond
Total head about 4'

Works fine.

P--
____________________________________________
Check out Jog-A-Thon fundraiser (clears $140+ per jogger) at:
www.jogathon.net
See our pond at: http://www.home.bellsouth.net/p/pwp-jameshurley
"Iain Miller" wrote in message
...
Anybody have an opinion on which is better & why? Anybody tried both &
found
one to be much better than the other?

I would think the pump fed is easier to set up & is not sensitive to water
levels in the pond but the gravity fed seems to have the advantage of
being
able to catch a lot of the cack in a settlement chamber and less pump
maintenance.

I'm trying to decide on which way to go - what's the preference of the
assembled company? All thoughts gratefully recieved.

rgds

I.

"Phyllis and Jim Hurley" wrote in
message .. .
Can't speak to comparison.

We have pump fed.
Pump in the bottom of the pond.
Three feeds up to barrels
Which then gravity feed the VF ponds.
Return gravity to pond
Total head about 4'

Works fine.

Thanks for that, but how often do you have to get in to clean the pump?

rgds

I

Iain Miller wrote:
"Phyllis and Jim Hurley" wrote in
message .. .

Can't speak to comparison.

We have pump fed.
Pump in the bottom of the pond.
Three feeds up to barrels
Which then gravity feed the VF ponds.
Return gravity to pond
Total head about 4'

Works fine.


Thanks for that, but how often do you have to get in to clean the pump?


Similar set up to me. I've got a foul water pump with no prefilter so I
never clean the pump.

--
Matt Helliwell
www.helliwell.me.uk
matt at helliwell dot me dot uk

Some pumps need to have some form of protection from the debris that they
pick up and try to grind up. Some pumps will handle solids up to 3/8 inch
or so. If the pump will handle solids, it grinds up the solids into a puree
that is much harder to filter. If the solids can be collected before they
go to the pump, by settlement basin, media strainer, clam shelled plant
baskets, or whatever, then it is that much less that must be digested by the
bacteria in the pond. A prefilter outside the pond is much easier to clean
than the in pond prefilters that require you to lift the pump and as you do,
a cloud comes up around the filter material.
--
RichToyBox
http://www.geocities.com/richtoybox/pondintro.html


"Iain Miller" wrote in message
...
Anybody have an opinion on which is better & why? Anybody tried both &
found
one to be much better than the other?

I would think the pump fed is easier to set up & is not sensitive to water
levels in the pond but the gravity fed seems to have the advantage of
being
able to catch a lot of the cack in a settlement chamber and less pump
maintenance.

I'm trying to decide on which way to go - what's the preference of the
assembled company? All thoughts gratefully recieved.

rgds

I.

I've had both, gravity fed is not only superior IMO, but is also what is
recommended by the AKCA and the writers of Filter Construction at the AKCA
website under Koi Health Advisors, Chapters on Construction and Filters.
~ jan www.akca.org


On Thu, 21 Aug 2003 16:02:51 +0100, "Iain Miller" wrote:

Anybody have an opinion on which is better & why? Anybody tried both & found
one to be much better than the other?

I would think the pump fed is easier to set up & is not sensitive to water
levels in the pond but the gravity fed seems to have the advantage of being
able to catch a lot of the cack in a settlement chamber and less pump
maintenance.

I'm trying to decide on which way to go - what's the preference of the
assembled company? All thoughts gratefully recieved.

rgds

I.



See my ponds and filter design:
http://users.owt.com/jjspond/

~Keep 'em Wet!~
Tri-Cities WA Zone 7a
To e-mail see website

In my previous home, I had a small pond of about 1,000 gallons. In
that pond I had started with a pump in the pond feeding a filter
outside the pond. Water returned through a veggie filter via gravity.
I'd say it worked OK but cleaning the pump of debris was a PITA so I
swapped it for a tetra retrofit bottom drain and an external pump. I
liked this much better.

In the new pond, about 5,000 gallons, I have an external self-priming
pump drawing water from a skimmer and two bottom drains and pushing it
through a bead filter before returning the water to a veggie filter
and two jacuzzi style jets.

I like the currnet set up very much. I like having an external pump
for maintenance, replacement, seeing whats going on etc. I like being
able to simply backflush the bead filter, I clean the filter and
change out the water in one fell swoop.

BUT, if I could do it over I would probably build the gravity style
filtration I see in the "Koi Kichi" book and other sources. There,
additional excavation is done adjacent to the pond and filled with
filter media. This additional chamber is fed by at least one bottom
drain and one skimmer. A pump then returns the water to the pond.
These seem like very clean installations, although it does mean more
work.

Good luck.

"Iain Miller" writes:

I would think the pump fed is easier to set up

Why? Same plumbing.

& is not sensitive to water
levels in the pond

Your pond wants a constant level anyway or it looks bad
(exposed liner).

but the gravity fed seems to have the advantage of being
able to catch a lot of the cack in a settlement chamber and less pump
maintenance.

Yeah, pumping dirty water means cleaning a prefilter. Gravity fed can mean
less equipment in the pond (if you pump feed with a submersible pump) and
no need to wire the pond for electricity.

For gravity fed with an external pump, if the filter is remote the pump noise
is too.

I would only do pump fed if the filter level had to be above the pond level.

IMNSHO

I would think the pump fed is easier to set up

Thanks to all who have responded to this - I like the look of Gravity fed -
now I just have tro figure out if I can do it with the way the site is.

rgds

I.

We have NEVER gone to the bottom of the pond to clean the pump.

It is now at the end of its 6th year. It lives at the bottom of our 'deep
well' (think old septic tank) in a 5 gal bucket with a vast # of 1/2" holes
in the sides, no holes in the bottom and a light grid (egg crate) over the
top. The bucket is supported by 2 bricks to lift it. The only things that
can get to it are less than 1/2" and the pump grinds them up.

There are no filter pads around the pump to clean! The only reason we would
go there would be if the pump broke or something got through the holes that
could jam it. Hasn't happened yet. May it not break in the winter.

We drain our barrels annually. Also our ponds.

I was thinking about Jan's preference for gravity fed filters. In a way, we
have both. The pump pushes up through the barrels and the water then flows
down through the VF ponds and over the falls.

J
____________________________________________

--
____________________________________________
Check out Jog-A-Thon fundraiser (clears $140+ per jogger) at:
www.jogathon.net
See our pond at: http://www.home.bellsouth.net/p/pwp-jameshurley
"Iain Miller" wrote in message
news

"Phyllis and Jim Hurley" wrote in
message .. .
Can't speak to comparison.

We have pump fed.
Pump in the bottom of the pond.
Three feeds up to barrels
Which then gravity feed the VF ponds.
Return gravity to pond
Total head about 4'

Works fine.

Thanks for that, but how often do you have to get in to clean the pump?

rgds

I

I was thinking about Jan's preference for gravity fed filters. In a way, we
have both. The pump pushes up through the barrels and the water then flows
down through the VF ponds and over the falls.
J

Well gravity does play a part in your set up obviously, but you don't have
a gravity fed filter, wherein gravity moves the water to fill the filter
because the pump is removing water from the filter. (But you knew that. ;o)
~ jan

See my ponds and filter design:
http://users.owt.com/jjspond/

~Keep 'em Wet!~
Tri-Cities WA Zone 7a
To e-mail see website

I would think the pump fed is easier to set up

Yes it is, it is how most of us start out, then we get.... smarter? ;o)
Gravity fed filters usually perform better and therefore are easier to
maintain... course that could also be because the ponder is wiser due to
experience. ) ~ jan


See my ponds and filter design:
http://users.owt.com/jjspond/

~Keep 'em Wet!~
Tri-Cities WA Zone 7a
To e-mail see website