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#1
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Homemade Filter
Just wanted to share a very inexpensive Bio Filter with some mechanical
filtering that can easily be built at home. http://www.mvwgs.org/filter.htm |
#2
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"CanadianCowboy" wrote in message .. . Just wanted to share a very inexpensive Bio Filter with some mechanical filtering that can easily be built at home. http://www.mvwgs.org/filter.htm The problem with that filter is with trying to clean it. It is labor intensive, since you have to get it out of the pond, take it apart, clean it, put it back together (or replace the filter material if necessary) and then put it back in. |
#3
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Laughing here... "I love it, the simplicity of design, the elegance of
the milk crate, the merging of the Flintstonian period with the 21st century is a nuclear mind bomb!" For those who REALLY want to know the one and only waterfall filter that is worth the time to install it you can find it here. http://www.pondkoi.com/pond_products...ll_filters.htm It is rigid; the sides won't collapse causing the sides to bow in like all other filters. Why go to all the trouble to install a filter only to have the lid not fit in a week as the ground settles? We have tried them all in our over 300+ pond and watergarden installations. Please trust me on this no matter where you purchase a waterfall filter. |
#4
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wrote in message oups.com... Laughing here... "I love it, the simplicity of design, the elegance of the milk crate, the merging of the Flintstonian period with the 21st century is a nuclear mind bomb!" For those who REALLY want to know the one and only waterfall filter that is worth the time to install it you can find it here. http://www.pondkoi.com/pond_products...ll_filters.htm It is rigid; the sides won't collapse causing the sides to bow in like all other filters. Why go to all the trouble to install a filter only to have the lid not fit in a week as the ground settles? We have tried them all in our over 300+ pond and watergarden installations. Please trust me on this no matter where you purchase a waterfall filter. So what you are saying to us DIYers is that only your filter can possibly work? Let us know what you've been smoking so we can all avoid the same mistake you made. |
#5
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"CanadianCowboy" wrote in message .. . Just wanted to share a very inexpensive Bio Filter with some mechanical filtering that can easily be built at home. http://www.mvwgs.org/filter.htm Good filter design, I made mine out of 2 milk crates, two costco bulk packs of green scotch pads, and a few yards of gazebo screening fabric. I and a fairly significant portion of this newsgroup do not recommend using lava rocks as filter material. The pores clog up quickly and are difficult to clean, they are heavy, and do not have a good volume to surface area ratio. Consider removing the rocks, and using sun screen fabric, which you can get from any hardware store. When it's time to clean the fabric, just spread it out on the lawn, and hose it off. Light, easy to clean, cheap. -S |
#6
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wrote in message
oups.com... Laughing here... "I love it, the simplicity of design, the elegance of the milk crate, the merging of the Flintstonian period with the 21st century is a nuclear mind bomb!" For those who REALLY want to know the one and only waterfall filter that is worth the time to install it you can find it here. http://www.pondkoi.com/pond_products...ll_filters.htm It is rigid; the sides won't collapse causing the sides to bow in like all other filters. Why go to all the trouble to install a filter only to have the lid not fit in a week as the ground settles? We have tried them all in our over 300+ pond and watergarden installations. Please trust me on this no matter where you purchase a waterfall filter. Anyone can buy a prebuilt pond, and prebuilt filter, and have a pond that looks like everyone else's. Us DIYers like to build, because we believe we can do the same task either better, cheaper, or just want to learn and experiment with some ideas. I spent some time googling for various pond filters, both commercial, and DIY, I evalulated my pond's needs and I felt I could build one for less money then it would cost me to buy a premade filter. In it's current version i have I have a settling tank, a mechanical/bio filter, veg filter and more aeration then I had when I first moved to this house. My cost? a few feet of schedule 40 pipe, a few couplers, and elbows. 2 plastic drums (free), some hose, 2 milk crates from a resturant, and a few cinder blocks. The beauty is that it's all hidden behind the waterfall, so it doesn't have to look pretty, it just has to do the job. -S |
#7
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"Snooze" wrote in message m... "CanadianCowboy" wrote in message .. . Just wanted to share a very inexpensive Bio Filter with some mechanical filtering that can easily be built at home. http://www.mvwgs.org/filter.htm Good filter design, I made mine out of 2 milk crates, two costco bulk packs of green scotch pads, and a few yards of gazebo screening fabric. I and a fairly significant portion of this newsgroup do not recommend using lava rocks as filter material. The pores clog up quickly and are difficult to clean, they are heavy, and do not have a good volume to surface area ratio. Consider removing the rocks, and using sun screen fabric, which you can get from any hardware store. When it's time to clean the fabric, just spread it out on the lawn, and hose it off. Light, easy to clean, cheap. -S Hmmm. If your lava rock is clogging up, then you are not pre-filtering (or properly pre-filtering) the water first. Mechanical pre-filtering removes most of the detritus from the water, which then flows through the scoria (which should be colonized with beneficial bacteria) and comes out clean as a whistle. I've been using scoria for three years, and have never had to worry about cleaning it since the water is pre-filtered. The only thing I have to clean is the pre-filter itself, which is very easy to do, takes about 5 minutes about twice/month in the spring and once/month in the summer/fall, and rarely in the winter. Sunscreen fabric acts as an efficient mechanical filter, but has negligible biofilter properties, since by the time you get any benefit from it, it becomes clogged and you have to clean it. Hosing it down to clean it will not only get rid of the detritus that has built up, but will also get rid of most beneficial bacteria that has colonized it. Adding Aquazyme or similar product to the water is also beneficial to your pond. The bacteria not only will colonize the filter, but will grow on any surface in the pond, and add to the pond's natural filtering capabilities. Here is a link that shows the specifics of my homemade design: http://home.insightbb.com/~jryates/filter.htm Of course, if can be adapted in many ways. This is just the way I use it, and it seems to work very well. |
#8
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"George" wrote in message news:R6J4e.5965$g65.2835@attbi_s52... Hmmm. If your lava rock is clogging up, then you are not pre-filtering (or properly pre-filtering) the water first. Mechanical pre-filtering removes most of the detritus from the water, which then flows through the scoria (which should be colonized with beneficial bacteria) and comes out clean as a whistle. I've been using scoria for three years, and have never had to worry about cleaning it since the water is pre-filtered. The only thing I have to clean is the pre-filter itself, which is very easy to do, takes about 5 minutes about twice/month in the spring and once/month in the summer/fall, and rarely in the winter. Sunscreen fabric acts as an efficient mechanical filter, but has negligible biofilter properties, since by the time you get any benefit from it, it becomes clogged and you have to clean it. Hosing it down to clean it will not only get rid of the detritus that has built up, but will also get rid of most beneficial bacteria that has colonized it. Adding Aquazyme or similar product to the water is also beneficial to your pond. The bacteria not only will colonize the filter, but will grow on any surface in the pond, and add to the pond's natural filtering capabilities. Here is a link that shows the specifics of my homemade design: http://home.insightbb.com/~jryates/filter.htm Of course, if can be adapted in many ways. This is just the way I use it, and it seems to work very well. It's a nice looking filter. As for my filter, it seems to work for my pond size and fish load, so I'm happy with the results. I clean the filters once or twice a season depending on my mood. The pond ran on autopilot prior to buying the house for atleast 2 years if not more. I used a shovel to empty scoup out the much build up from the bottom of the pond, so anything less then that is fine with me. As long as the water is clear enough to see the fish near the bottom I'm happy. -S |
#9
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"CanadianCowboy" wrote in message .. . Just wanted to share a very inexpensive Bio Filter with some mechanical filtering that can easily be built at home. http://www.mvwgs.org/filter.htm Nice page. I've added a link to it from our site, http://www.iheartmypond.com/Design/DIY/Filters/. -- BV Webporgmaster of iheartmypond.com http://www.iheartmypond.com Help IHeartMyPond.com, by doing all of your eBay shopping via our eBay Affiliate Link: http://www.kqzyfj.com/click-1609574-10357516. It doesn't cost you anything, but an extra click! |
#10
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You sure are right George,
Many in our pond club members started out with filters like this, but changed when trying to pull it out of the pond needed three men and a boy to do it. It really becomes almost useless if you have an algae bloom. Tom L.L. ---------------------------- "George" wrote in message news:qio4e.1922$yg7.1075@attbi_s51... "CanadianCowboy" wrote in message .. . Just wanted to share a very inexpensive Bio Filter with some mechanical filtering that can easily be built at home. http://www.mvwgs.org/filter.htm The problem with that filter is with trying to clean it. It is labor intensive, since you have to get it out of the pond, take it apart, clean it, put it back together (or replace the filter material if necessary) and then put it back in. |
#11
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wrote in message
Laughing here... "I love it, the simplicity of design, the elegance of the milk crate, the merging of the Flintstonian period with the 21st century is a nuclear mind bomb!" See, this kind of statement just puts people on the defensive, something someone in the business I think would want to avoid. :-? For those who REALLY want to know the one and only waterfall filter that is worth the time to install it you can find it here. http://www.pondkoi.com/pond_products...ll_filters.htm It is rigid; the sides won't collapse causing the sides to bow in like all other filters. Why go to all the trouble to install a filter only to have the lid not fit in a week as the ground settles? We have tried them all in our over 300+ pond and watergarden installations. Please trust me on this no matter where you purchase a waterfall filter. George wrote: So what you are saying to us DIYers is that only your filter can possibly work? Let us know what you've been smoking so we can all avoid the same mistake you made. Though I got a chortle from the "trust me" proving that someone hasn't read Dr. Johnson's *10 Commandments of Koi Keeping* #1 being: Never, ever trust a Marketing Rep. I do have to slightly defend "lucky-puppy" in that he does say "waterfall" filter. Since there are now various brands of this filter type, I'm sure there are cheaper, thinner brands that don't hold up as he mentions. I don't think he was putting down our DYI status (just the milkcrate filter quoted). If you're going to DYI with this type of filter, at the top of your waterfall, that brand has worked the best for them in all their 300+ installations. We need to be less competitive with our attitude of, "my filter is better than yours" and learn from each other. Not every one is handy enough, or has family that is, to build them out-of-the-pond filters, so the milkcrate and low fish load may be the way that works for them. I use a lot of box & bucket filters in my small pond and stock tanks. They last all year, course I don't put very many fish in those (mostly babies) and I keep them protected from blown in debris. I use to feel when it came to DYI & cost of materials, my filter fit the bill. Now, if one has the extra bucks, when it comes to recommending filtration I point to vortex after having a fellow ponder demonstrate the ease with cleaning the bottom muck out of those. Pull a valve and wait 5 minutes. Sheesh, doesn't come much easier than that. ~ 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 |
#12
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"Snooze" wrote in message m... "CanadianCowboy" wrote in message .. . Just wanted to share a very inexpensive Bio Filter with some mechanical filtering that can easily be built at home. http://www.mvwgs.org/filter.htm Good filter design, I made mine out of 2 milk crates, two costco bulk packs of green scotch pads, and a few yards of gazebo screening fabric. I and a fairly significant portion of this newsgroup do not recommend using lava rocks as filter material. The pores clog up quickly and are difficult to clean, they are heavy, and do not have a good volume to surface area ratio. Consider removing the rocks, and using sun screen fabric, which you can get from any hardware store. When it's time to clean the fabric, just spread it out on the lawn, and hose it off. Light, easy to clean, cheap. -S The lava rock is not meant to act as a mechanical filter. It holds bacteria that eats up the fish waste. So in a sense you want it to 'plug' up. Some people use broken up plastic spoons or Styrofoam bits for this (which you have to contain with something like plastic netting). You should not be using a pump that has to have a mechanical filter in front of it to keep it from being clogged. You should be using a waterfall filter for this type of set up. If you use the other type of pump then you do need a filter on the front end and this does have to be cleaned (but even it holds good bacteria so don't clean it with anything but pond water). |
#13
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"Tom L. La Bron" wrote in message
... You sure are right George, Many in our pond club members started out with filters like this, but changed when trying to pull it out of the pond needed three men and a boy to do it. It really becomes almost useless if you have an algae bloom. Tom L.L. I think Cowboy's filter is quite elegant on many levels. I'm almost 60 years old, 5'2" on a good day and not a heavy weight. I manage with something that would weigh far more than this filter just fine (mine is a 25 gallon bucket that I pull out of the pond so I'm not only lifting the rock but the water as well). The lava rock weighs nothing and cleaning something like this will be done maybe once a year. It is also very easy to clean. For the system to work (that is if you want clear water) you need to feed the water from this into a veggie filter. If you are going to raise fish as opposed to having a pond with mosquito eaters (a few fish) in it, then you will probably want to be creating a more costly and involved system. However, I still have feeder fish I had from when I created my first pond, 3 butterfly koi, and a monster of an albino catfish (that I really should find a home for this year....) and I manage just fine. My loss of fish have come from feeding the local wildlife and not from water quality issues. ---------------------------- "George" wrote in message news:qio4e.1922$yg7.1075@attbi_s51... "CanadianCowboy" wrote in message .. . Just wanted to share a very inexpensive Bio Filter with some mechanical filtering that can easily be built at home. http://www.mvwgs.org/filter.htm The problem with that filter is with trying to clean it. It is labor intensive, since you have to get it out of the pond, take it apart, clean it, put it back together (or replace the filter material if necessary) and then put it back in. |
#14
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"DKat" wrote in message ... "Tom L. La Bron" wrote in message ... You sure are right George, Many in our pond club members started out with filters like this, but changed when trying to pull it out of the pond needed three men and a boy to do it. It really becomes almost useless if you have an algae bloom. Tom L.L. I think Cowboy's filter is quite elegant on many levels. I'm almost 60 years old, 5'2" on a good day and not a heavy weight. I manage with something that would weigh far more than this filter just fine (mine is a 25 gallon bucket that I pull out of the pond so I'm not only lifting the rock but the water as well). The lava rock weighs nothing and cleaning something like this will be done maybe once a year. It is also very easy to clean. For the system to work (that is if you want clear water) you need to feed the water from this into a veggie filter. If you are going to raise fish as opposed to having a pond with mosquito eaters (a few fish) in it, then you will probably want to be creating a more costly and involved system. However, I still have feeder fish I had from when I created my first pond, 3 butterfly koi, and a monster of an albino catfish (that I really should find a home for this year....) and I manage just fine. My loss of fish have come from feeding the local wildlife and not from water quality issues. If you use a 20 gallon plastic drum with a sealable lid, you can backflush it under pressure without ever having to move it at all. Oh, and here is a link to a picture of my albino cat: http://home.insightbb.com/~jryates/image002.jpg Note the measuring tape for scale (it sticks out 30"). |
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