On Wed, 25 May 2005 23:19:18 -0400, "Paul" wrote:

I don't get this. You see on the shelves in the stores these small boxes
that are capable of filtering a 1,000 gal. pond and people are telling me i
have to build a 50 gal. filter to do the same job. I'm
confused................................

It's like gas mileage on a car, best conditions, strip model, tail wind, 1
driver, no luggage. Those small filters on the shelf can manage a 1,000
gallon pond, with few fish, lots of plants, shade, etc. What we've found on
rec.ponds, is take the number they give you and divide by 2. So if they
claim 1,000 gallons, it will do 500 gallons. The smaller the filter the
more often you will clean it, who wants to waste time doing that? ~ jan


See my ponds and filter design:
www.jjspond.us

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

Paul wrote:

I don't get this. You see on the shelves in the stores these small boxes
that are capable of filtering a 1,000 gal. pond and people are telling me
i have to build a 50 gal. filter to do the same job. I'm
confused................................

What you see in the stores are small boxes that makers _claim_ will filter a
1,000 gallon pond. They're full of S***. And pretty soon, that little
filter box will be too. I guess they work if you're prepared to clean out
the filter material every couple of days (and I bet they expect you to use
disposable materials, rather than cleaning it).

The ones you're being advised to build will require a great deal less
maintenance.
--
derek

I don't get this. You see on the shelves in the stores these small boxes
that are capable of filtering a 1,000 gal. pond and people are telling
me
i have to build a 50 gal. filter to do the same job. I'm
confused................................

What you see in the stores are small boxes that makers _claim_ will filter
a
1,000 gallon pond. They're full of S***. And pretty soon, that little
filter box will be too. I guess they work if you're prepared to clean out
the filter material every couple of days (and I bet they expect you to use
disposable materials, rather than cleaning it).

The ones you're being advised to build will require a great deal less
maintenance.

Couldn't have said it better myself, Derek & Jan :~)))))))))))))))))))))0
Gale :~)

I don't get this. You see on the shelves in the stores these small boxes
that are capable of filtering a 1,000 gal. pond and people are telling me i
have to build a 50 gal. filter to do the same job. I'm
confused................................

Err. Say what job you want to do, with what fish and plants, and so forth.

"Natural approach" is big around here. There's a thing called a "veggie
filter" which is basically a big tank filled up with the most invasive,
fastest growing water weeds one can find (it's no coincidence that many
of the preferred species are on the 100 Most Invasive Species list).

Anyway, the plants "eat" all the excess biomatter.

If you want to read a long history about all this, goto http://groups.google.com,
click on Advanced Search, then put rec.ponds in the groups list, and type
"veggie filter".

For another alternative, goto regular google and type "bog filter" and
read the first page or two of relevant hits.

This one explains it pretty well, though:

http://www.pondsolutions.com/bog_filter.htm

The beauty of both the veggie and bog filter is that they are hidden;
they appear to be natural elements of the pond.

You don't need to buy any premade product at all, by the way. Plain
old PVC will do perfectly well. I think hacking up something like the
clean out vault picture will probably make you happy a few years from
now, though.

C//

Ok, I'm getting the picture..............Thanks
"~ janj JJsPond.us" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 25 May 2005 23:19:18 -0400, "Paul" wrote:

I don't get this. You see on the shelves in the stores these small boxes
that are capable of filtering a 1,000 gal. pond and people are telling me
i
have to build a 50 gal. filter to do the same job. I'm
confused................................

It's like gas mileage on a car, best conditions, strip model, tail wind, 1
driver, no luggage. Those small filters on the shelf can manage a 1,000
gallon pond, with few fish, lots of plants, shade, etc. What we've found
on
rec.ponds, is take the number they give you and divide by 2. So if they
claim 1,000 gallons, it will do 500 gallons. The smaller the filter the
more often you will clean it, who wants to waste time doing that? ~ jan


See my ponds and filter design:
www.jjspond.us

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

I was thinking of using a 30gal tall rubbermaid container and install a
chamber for brushes as first stage, then have it spill over to two more
stages. The second would be a medium course padding then it will trickle
down below to bio-media and exit back to pond. I should have mentioned a UV
light as the very first stage.Everything else mentioned follows in order.
Would this give enough filtration???? Thanks...............Paul
"Courageous" wrote in message
...

I don't get this. You see on the shelves in the stores these small boxes
that are capable of filtering a 1,000 gal. pond and people are telling me
i
have to build a 50 gal. filter to do the same job. I'm
confused................................

Err. Say what job you want to do, with what fish and plants, and so forth.

"Natural approach" is big around here. There's a thing called a "veggie
filter" which is basically a big tank filled up with the most invasive,
fastest growing water weeds one can find (it's no coincidence that many
of the preferred species are on the 100 Most Invasive Species list).

Anyway, the plants "eat" all the excess biomatter.

If you want to read a long history about all this, goto
http://groups.google.com,
click on Advanced Search, then put rec.ponds in the groups list, and type
"veggie filter".

For another alternative, goto regular google and type "bog filter" and
read the first page or two of relevant hits.

This one explains it pretty well, though:

http://www.pondsolutions.com/bog_filter.htm

The beauty of both the veggie and bog filter is that they are hidden;
they appear to be natural elements of the pond.

You don't need to buy any premade product at all, by the way. Plain
old PVC will do perfectly well. I think hacking up something like the
clean out vault picture will probably make you happy a few years from
now, though.

C//

On Sun, 29 May 2005 13:00:24 -0400, "Paul" wrote:

I was thinking of using a 30gal tall rubbermaid container and install a
chamber for brushes as first stage, then have it spill over to two more
stages. The second would be a medium course padding then it will trickle
down below to bio-media and exit back to pond. I should have mentioned a UV
light as the very first stage.Everything else mentioned follows in order.
Would this give enough filtration???? Thanks...............Paul

How big is the pond, how many fish and type(s), how many plants? 30 gallons
will do an average 300 gallon pond. Average meaning: a few too many
goldfish, and plants.

I filter my 1,000 gallon Lily pond with a 40 gallon planter, but it is
heavily planted w/over a dozen lilies, 2 lotus, 4 Iris, Lizard Tail, and
anacharis. No fish currently, a gazillion tadpoles. Water is clear, but the
pH took off again, and thus so has the string algae. But I can see the
bottom, so a little filter with a small load can manage.

If this rubber maid isn't normally used to contain water (like their stock
tanks) it will bow out and crack if not install in the ground for support.
~ jan

See my Lily Pond:
www.jjspond.us

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

Thanks, didn't think of that, bowing. I have one more question. Does it
matter if the Bio-media is stacked high, like 5 to inches thick? or spread
out more and only 2 to 3 inches thick/high in a container.Which would build
more beneficial bacteria. Thanks
"~ janj JJsPond.us" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 29 May 2005 13:00:24 -0400, "Paul" wrote:

I was thinking of using a 30gal tall rubbermaid container and install a
chamber for brushes as first stage, then have it spill over to two more
stages. The second would be a medium course padding then it will trickle
down below to bio-media and exit back to pond. I should have mentioned a
UV
light as the very first stage.Everything else mentioned follows in order.
Would this give enough filtration???? Thanks...............Paul

How big is the pond, how many fish and type(s), how many plants? 30
gallons
will do an average 300 gallon pond. Average meaning: a few too many
goldfish, and plants.

I filter my 1,000 gallon Lily pond with a 40 gallon planter, but it is
heavily planted w/over a dozen lilies, 2 lotus, 4 Iris, Lizard Tail, and
anacharis. No fish currently, a gazillion tadpoles. Water is clear, but
the
pH took off again, and thus so has the string algae. But I can see the
bottom, so a little filter with a small load can manage.

If this rubber maid isn't normally used to contain water (like their stock
tanks) it will bow out and crack if not install in the ground for support.
~ jan

See my Lily Pond:
www.jjspond.us

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

On Sun, 29 May 2005 17:11:03 -0400, "Paul" wrote:

Thanks, didn't think of that, bowing. I have one more question. Does it
matter if the Bio-media is stacked high, like 5 to inches thick? or spread
out more and only 2 to 3 inches thick/high in a container.Which would build
more beneficial bacteria. Thanks

Which would build more beneficial bacteria? The limitation is based on
surface area for it to cling to, food & air. I have 8 one inch sheets
horizontal flow, space between them would be just that, space. ~ jan

~Power to the Porg, Flow On!~