Filtering water requires:
course filters to get out the larger particles. the drain is to remove this
stuff most efficiently because this stuff is most likely to clog the rest. furnace
filters and plain netting or screening is good for this. but best is when the water
slows down it drops the crud. some people use a separate tank with baffles to slow
the water and drop the crud, then the cleaned up water overflows to the next filter.
Big and little sister filters use easy to clean hanging brushes to pull the crud out,
slow the water which overflows to the other filters. there is an outlet on the
bottom of each chamber to flush the system.
medium filter. this needs to be cut in manageable size so it can
periodically be removed and cleaned easily. one of the best is open cell foam.
fine filter. this gets out silt. it is best it is disposable, so I think
polyester batting is excellent.
biofilter. this may be all of the previous filters (which then need more
routine care so they dont get clogged, OR, a veggie filter which removes ammonia --
nitrate from the water. The whole plant needs to be submerged OR the roots need to
be in the water flow for this to happen. a veggie filter must be in nearly full sun
at least part of the day.

In your configuration all the crud is going to be on top and you will have to lift
those heavy filters out and clean them. further, the weight of the water shoves the
fine particles down into (and thru) the filter material making it a lot harder to
clean. plants wont grow well if shaded.

your trough can serve if you start with the pond water flowing into the bottom of the
trough, moving up thru the course filters then thru the finer filters then thru the
veggies with a large overflow pipe that takes the cleaned water back to the pond. on
the bottom drain there is a T connection with a diverter so water from the pump is
turned off, the drain from the T is opened and the water in the trough is allowed to
flush the crud out a hose and away from the filter and pond.

My long veggie filter (14' with a bend in the middle) slows the water down so the
crud drops to the bottom. As the water flows down the filter it moves thru all the
roots that remove wastes and the finer stuff especially once the roots hit the bottom
of the filter. Ingrid

GrannyGrump wrote:
I am disabled, and can't clean filters easily, so I am planning on
making a veggie filter from a large water trough (Tractor Supply).
Planning on rocking this in, with a roof, so that it looks like a
wishing well...
This trough has an opening at the bottom for draining water.
I am planning on having water pumped from my pond into the top, so
that it trickles down to the bottom and back into the pond.
I figure lava rock on the bottom, then a layer of gravel, then a layer
of barley straw, with water cress and water plants on top.

Will this work?



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List
http://puregold.aquaria.net/
www.drsolo.com
Solve the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Unfortunately, I receive no money, gifts, discounts or other
compensation for all the damn work I do, nor for any of the
endorsements or recommendations I make.

I dont plant it. I screw a plastic pot to the wood of the filter with the bottom in
the water and just put the celery in there. it sends roots out thru the pot and into
the filter. the cyperus is tied to the fence behind with the roots in the water.
Ingrid

"Benign Vanilla" wrote:
Hopefully Ingrid will chime in and mention how hers is planted.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List
http://puregold.aquaria.net/
www.drsolo.com
Solve the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Unfortunately, I receive no money, gifts, discounts or other
compensation for all the damn work I do, nor for any of the
endorsements or recommendations I make.

In your configuration all the crud is going to be on top and you will have to lift
those heavy filters out and clean them. further, the weight of the water shoves the
fine particles down into (and thru) the filter material making it a lot harder to
clean. plants wont grow well if shaded.

But top cleaning will be easier for me, by using a wet/dry shop vac to
clean with...

Guess I'll just have to play with it until I get it so it works for me


Plants won't be shaded much.

wrote in message
...
I dont plant it. I screw a plastic pot to the wood of the filter with the
bottom in
the water and just put the celery in there. it sends roots out thru the
pot and into
the filter. the cyperus is tied to the fence behind with the roots in the
water.
Ingrid
snip

You add a beer to that method, and I think you are infringing on my patent.


BV.

"GrannyGrump" wrote in message
...

In your configuration all the crud is going to be on top and you will
have to lift
those heavy filters out and clean them. further, the weight of the water
shoves the
fine particles down into (and thru) the filter material making it a lot
harder to
clean. plants wont grow well if shaded.

But top cleaning will be easier for me, by using a wet/dry shop vac to
clean with...

Guess I'll just have to play with it until I get it so it works for me


Plants won't be shaded much.

I think you have a cool idea, but Ingrid is right. Whatever work you think
you will have, will actually be at least double. Let gravity do the work for
you if possible. Trust me, you'll be happy you did. My VF is only 12-18
inches deep, so by design it's easy to clean out. Now that the landscaping
is growing in though, it's not as easy as it should be. LOL.

BV.

I want to put permanent PVC "pipes" in the VF so I can just hook up my wet dry to
them and suction out crud. but actually it is easier to wait until fall when I pull
all the plants out. Ingrid

"Benign Vanilla" wrote:


"GrannyGrump" wrote in message
.. .

In your configuration all the crud is going to be on top and you will
have to lift
those heavy filters out and clean them. further, the weight of the water
shoves the
fine particles down into (and thru) the filter material making it a lot
harder to
clean. plants wont grow well if shaded.

But top cleaning will be easier for me, by using a wet/dry shop vac to
clean with...

Guess I'll just have to play with it until I get it so it works for me


Plants won't be shaded much.

I think you have a cool idea, but Ingrid is right. Whatever work you think
you will have, will actually be at least double. Let gravity do the work for
you if possible. Trust me, you'll be happy you did. My VF is only 12-18
inches deep, so by design it's easy to clean out. Now that the landscaping
is growing in though, it's not as easy as it should be. LOL.

BV.




~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List
http://puregold.aquaria.net/
www.drsolo.com
Solve the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Unfortunately, I receive no money, gifts, discounts or other
compensation for all the damn work I do, nor for any of the
endorsements or recommendations I make.

Can you arrange a bottom drain? It makes crud removal so much easier.

Can you set up some sort of easy/light mechanical filter for the physical
stuff and let roots do the rest? Maybe screen in bags.

Our WH and celery both have great root systems. The celery is in a kiddie
pool and has its roots to the bottom. The pool is thus full of roots for
the water to work its way through.

Slow flow through the plants allows most of the muck to drop. The roots
collect muck and provide surface for bacteria. We think is is probably MORE
surface than lava rock. Think about a 5' x 1' mass of roots.

Cleaning plants is a lot easier than cleaning lava rock.

--
____________________________________________
See our pond at: home.bellsouth.net\p\pwp-jameshurley
Ask me about Jog-A-Thon fundraiser (clears $120+ per child) at: jogathon.net

"GrannyGrump" wrote in message
...
I am disabled, and can't clean filters easily, so I am planning on
making a veggie filter from a large water trough (Tractor Supply).
Planning on rocking this in, with a roof, so that it looks like a
wishing well...
This trough has an opening at the bottom for draining water.
I am planning on having water pumped from my pond into the top, so
that it trickles down to the bottom and back into the pond.
I figure lava rock on the bottom, then a layer of gravel, then a layer
of barley straw, with water cress and water plants on top.

Will this work?

Can you arrange a bottom drain? It makes crud removal so much easier.

No. Cleaning from the top with a wet/dry shop is how I will have to do
it.

Can you set up some sort of easy/light mechanical filter for the physical
stuff and let roots do the rest? Maybe screen in bags.

I plan on using mesh bags to hold everything. Figure that is the
easiest for me to clean.


Our WH and celery both have great root systems. The celery is in a kiddie
pool and has its roots to the bottom. The pool is thus full of roots for
the water to work its way through.

Planning on these and cress too.

Slow flow through the plants allows most of the muck to drop. The roots
collect muck and provide surface for bacteria. We think is is probably MORE
surface than lava rock. Think about a 5' x 1' mass of roots.

That's what I think will be in the one I intend to make.

Cleaning plants is a lot easier than cleaning lava rock.

Have decided against lava rock. Previous experience shows me that it
isn't a good idea.

I'm late replying, sorry.

For the filter, if you can gently slope the bottom to the center or one
side/end, you can have the muck collect and be easier to vacuum.

Let us know how it works.

Jim

--
____________________________________________
See our pond at: home.bellsouth.net\p\pwp-jameshurley
Ask me about Jog-A-Thon fundraiser (clears $120+ per child) at: jogathon.net

"GrannyGrump" wrote in message
...

Can you arrange a bottom drain? It makes crud removal so much easier.

No. Cleaning from the top with a wet/dry shop is how I will have to do
it.

Can you set up some sort of easy/light mechanical filter for the physical
stuff and let roots do the rest? Maybe screen in bags.

I plan on using mesh bags to hold everything. Figure that is the
easiest for me to clean.


Our WH and celery both have great root systems. The celery is in a
kiddie
pool and has its roots to the bottom. The pool is thus full of roots for
the water to work its way through.

Planning on these and cress too.

Slow flow through the plants allows most of the muck to drop. The roots
collect muck and provide surface for bacteria. We think is is probably
MORE
surface than lava rock. Think about a 5' x 1' mass of roots.

That's what I think will be in the one I intend to make.

Cleaning plants is a lot easier than cleaning lava rock.

Have decided against lava rock. Previous experience shows me that it
isn't a good idea.

I'm late replying, sorry.

That's okay

For the filter, if you can gently slope the bottom to the center or one
side/end, you can have the muck collect and be easier to vacuum.

I can do this.

I wonder how it would work if in addition to the above suggestion, if
I used something like a GIANT colander for the water to run into right
at the start, and then it would filter through and down...think the
muck would collect in that first?

Have decided to use a pre-formed pond (shallower than my original
planned trough) I have nothing in, for the filter, so will be working
on that this upcoming 3 day weekend...

Let us know how it works.

Will do!

You sure can use some sort of mechanical filter...coarse or fine or in
combination.

Lots of us use stuff like strapping tape to do that. Be sure that the
colander-equivalent is such that if it is filled/clogged, the runover will
still return to the pond. Otherwise, you empty the pond!

Jim

--
____________________________________________
See our pond at: home.bellsouth.net\p\pwp-jameshurley
Ask me about Jog-A-Thon fundraiser (clears $120+ per child) at: jogathon.net

"GrannyGrump" wrote in message
...

I'm late replying, sorry.

That's okay

For the filter, if you can gently slope the bottom to the center or one
side/end, you can have the muck collect and be easier to vacuum.

I can do this.

I wonder how it would work if in addition to the above suggestion, if
I used something like a GIANT colander for the water to run into right
at the start, and then it would filter through and down...think the
muck would collect in that first?

Have decided to use a pre-formed pond (shallower than my original
planned trough) I have nothing in, for the filter, so will be working
on that this upcoming 3 day weekend...

Let us know how it works.

Will do!

wrote in message ...
I want to put permanent PVC "pipes" in the VF so I can just hook up my
wet dry to them and suction out crud.

That makes me think of my aquarium undergravel filters. Your plan is
to feed from the bottom, which makes sense. This would require a
bottom grid held clear of the bottom, covered with small rocks, and
then the other media on top, with plants. Under the bottom grid would
be the feed pipe teed with a gate valve to a drain pipe. All the heavy
crud would fall to the bottom and could be removed by suction or the
drain. There would be an overflow at the top to return cleaned water
to the pond.
Does this sound workable?
--
Crashj

I want to put permanent PVC "pipes" in the VF so I can just hook up my
wet dry to them and suction out crud.

That makes me think of my aquarium undergravel filters. Your plan is
to feed from the bottom, which makes sense. This would require a
bottom grid held clear of the bottom, covered with small rocks, and
then the other media on top, with plants. Under the bottom grid would
be the feed pipe teed with a gate valve to a drain pipe. All the heavy
crud would fall to the bottom and could be removed by suction or the
drain. There would be an overflow at the top to return cleaned water
to the pond.
Does this sound workable?
--
Our filter is made of PVC pipe. Its covered with a cloth of some kind, and the
rocks are about a 1/2 a foot deep. There is a valve that we can use to drain
water from the pond, after stirring up the water. We also take our shop vac
and clean both levels of the waterfall, which are also filled with rock.








Jan
"Our Pond" Page
http://hometown.aol.com/pinkpggy/index.html

no ...ugfs always run anaerobic after a little while. I have no media on the bottom
of my veggie filters. the stuff falls to the bottom anyway so it isnt needed Ingrid

(Crashj) wrote:

wrote in message ...
I want to put permanent PVC "pipes" in the VF so I can just hook up my
wet dry to them and suction out crud.

That makes me think of my aquarium undergravel filters. Your plan is
to feed from the bottom, which makes sense. This would require a
bottom grid held clear of the bottom, covered with small rocks, and
then the other media on top, with plants. Under the bottom grid would
be the feed pipe teed with a gate valve to a drain pipe. All the heavy
crud would fall to the bottom and could be removed by suction or the
drain. There would be an overflow at the top to return cleaned water
to the pond.
Does this sound workable?



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List
http://puregold.aquaria.net/
www.drsolo.com
Solve the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Unfortunately, I receive no money, gifts, discounts or other
compensation for all the damn work I do, nor for any of the
endorsements or recommendations I make.

wrote in message ...
I want to put permanent PVC "pipes" in the VF so I can just hook up my
wet dry to them and suction out crud.

That makes me think of my aquarium undergravel filters. Your plan is
to feed from the bottom, which makes sense. This would require a
bottom grid held clear of the bottom, covered with small rocks, and
then the other media on top, with plants. Under the bottom grid would
be the feed pipe teed with a gate valve to a drain pipe. All the heavy
crud would fall to the bottom and could be removed by suction or the
drain. There would be an overflow at the top to return cleaned water
to the pond.
Does this sound workable?
--
Crashj