Some pictures of our homemade bead filter if anyone's interested

http://www.infohitsystems.ltd.uk/Gal...5&sort=by_name

--
Regards - Rodney Pont
The from address exists but is mostly dumped,
please send any emails to the address below
e-mail ngpsm4 (at) infohitsystems (dot) ltd (dot) uk

"Rodney Pont" wrote in message
news:atcfzvasbuvgflfgrzfygqhx.ih3gim2.pminews@ouse ...
Some pictures of our homemade bead filter if anyone's interested

http://www.infohitsystems.ltd.uk/Gal...5&sort=by_name

--
Regards - Rodney Pont
The from address exists but is mostly dumped,
please send any emails to the address below
e-mail ngpsm4 (at) infohitsystems (dot) ltd (dot) uk


Nice. I like the way the plants are arranged.

Rodney Pont wrote:

Some pictures of our homemade bead filter if anyone's interested

http://www.infohitsystems.ltd.uk/Gal...5&sort=by_name



Good job and great looking pond! :-) .

In the last picture, 'finished' I notice you have what looks like a 2
1/2 return pipe. What is your water flow like? Has it bothered the
fish? I ask because the water flow return to my pond is pretty high and
I was wondering how that might affect the fish and plants. So far is
just sounds like a small river and the fish seem to enjoy playing in the
flow.
Have a great day and thanks.
W. Dale

Good looking pond and the filter pictorial is great.

On Thu, 26 May 2005 07:13:34 +0100 (BST), "Rodney Pont"
wrote:

===Some pictures of our homemade bead filter if anyone's interested
===
===http://www.infohitsystems.ltd.uk/Gal...5&sort=by_name


==============================================
Put some color in your cheeks...garden naked!

~~~~ }((((o ~~~~~~ }{{{{o ~~~~~~~ }(((((o

On Thu, 26 May 2005 09:57:31 GMT, George wrote:

Nice. I like the way the plants are arranged.

Thanks George. The planting is left to Rosemary. Our lives are just not
worth getting involved in planting :-)

We are the ones who have to spend our summers netting the petals off
the pond though :-)

--
Regards - Rodney Pont
The from address exists but is mostly dumped,
please send any emails to the address below
e-mail ngpsm4 (at) infohitsystems (dot) ltd (dot) uk

Gorgeous setting! Interesting choice of the barrel, fermentation. ~ jan


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

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

"Rodney Pont" wrote in message
news:atcfzvasbuvgflfgrzfygqhx.ih3gim2.pminews@ouse ...
Some pictures of our homemade bead filter if anyone's interested


http://www.infohitsystems.ltd.uk/Gal...5&sort=by_name
=====================
It looks like you have almost be a plumber to get all that hose-work
right..... beautiful pond. :-)
--
McKoi.... the frugal ponder...
EVERYONE: "Please check people's headers for forgeries
before flushing." NAMES ARE BEING FORGED.
~~~ }((((o ~~~ }{{{{o ~~~ }(((((o

On Thu, 26 May 2005 06:10:43 -0600, Wilmdale wrote:

In the last picture, 'finished' I notice you have what looks like a 2
1/2 return pipe. What is your water flow like? Has it bothered the
fish? I ask because the water flow return to my pond is pretty high and
I was wondering how that might affect the fish and plants. So far is
just sounds like a small river and the fish seem to enjoy playing in the
flow.

That's a 40mm pipe (about 1 3/4inch) and it's used as an overflow from
the bio filter. It does get a trickle when the bead filter has been
backwashed and then there is a slight surface movement but nothing
significant.

We have two pumps in the pond. The filter one is a Blagdon Torrent 8000
and the waterfall one is a Tetra OFX11500. I'm in the UK so those
numbers are litres/hour but they are shifting about 1,200 gallons/hour
and both return via the waterfall/stream. The flow from the streams
cause the surface to rotate about once every 10 minutes or so but there
isn't any flow in the pond noticable on the oxygenators, they stick
straight up and are not slanting towards the pumps.

The waterfall pump is raised off the bottom so that it's flow doesn't
disturb the lower levels of water and it's not run all of the time. The
fish do sometimes play in the waterfall flow but there are plenty of
places for them to go and rest. They had a visit from a Heron last week
so they are still spending most of their time at the bottom around the
planting baskets.

--
Regards - Rodney Pont
The from address exists but is mostly dumped,
please send any emails to the address below
e-mail ngpsm4 (at) infohitsystems (dot) ltd (dot) uk

On Thu, 26 May 2005 08:26:56 -0700, ~ janj JJsPond.us wrote:

Gorgeous setting! Interesting choice of the barrel, fermentation. ~ jan

BV inspired? I'd been looking round for something suitable for a long
while and saw this in Wilko (a hardware chain in the UK - Mostly in the
north) for GBP10 (roughly USD16). I got the size wrong in the comments,
it's only 5 gallons, now corrected.

I don't know whether you remember the problems we had at the beginning
of last year with the systemic bacteria but you helped with the
diagnosis and then we got an antibiotic from the vet. I think the root
cause was the poor filtration and we have been working on it since
then. We have a distinct lack of space for the traditional approach.

We tried a Fishmate pressurised filter but it even let tadpoles
through!!! We fitted inlet and outlet screens to it last year and
filled it with beads and that at least got it to filter. Unfortunately
it's connections were so restrictive that we couldn't get sufficient
water flow for it to keep the bottom clean and the backflush wasn't
very effective. This wasn't helped by the Otter Maximus pump, a caged
solids handling pump where once the lower intakes of the cage clogged
it only filtered the clear water taken in from the upper half of the
cage. We didn't get inches of muck on the bottom but I knew there had
to be some way of getting it it better. The Fishmate was too small
anyway and we were having to backflush it every day and dismantle it
every few weeks to wash the muck off the beads.

Luckily the Otter Maximus failed this year and we got a Blagdon Torrent
pump http://www.pumpsandspares.com/blagdo...orrent8000.php which
has a bottom intake and works very like a bottom drain. When we first
started this one up we had to backflush the filter three times a day so
we didn't let it run overnight but now it's only every two or three
days and even then the flow is as high as it was with the freshly
cleaned Fishmate. It will probably get backflushed once a week even if
it doesn't need it since it's a handy way of ensuring the partial water
changes.

Wow, I'm sorry but I think I got carried away a bit. It's hard to stop
me talking about ponds :-)

--
Regards - Rodney Pont
The from address exists but is mostly dumped,
please send any emails to the address below
e-mail ngpsm4 (at) infohitsystems (dot) ltd (dot) uk

On Thu, 26 May 2005 10:45:02 -0500, Reel McKoi wrote:

It looks like you have almost be a plumber to get all that hose-work
right..... beautiful pond. :-)

I always have trouble cutting pipes to the correct length when 45
degree bends are involved. I learnt many years ago to cut them too long
and keep cutting half an inch off until they fit :-)

I don't understand why, a tape measure should work the same for them as
for 90 degree bends but it never does for me :-)

The pond could be a few thousand gallons better, after all there is an
acre of garden wasted on plants :-)

--
Regards - Rodney Pont
The from address exists but is mostly dumped,
please send any emails to the address below
e-mail ngpsm4 (at) infohitsystems (dot) ltd (dot) uk

Wow, I'm sorry but I think I got carried away a bit. It's hard to stop
me talking about ponds :-)

:-) You're on topic what's to be sorry about? Glad it is all working out.
~ jan

~Power to the Porg, Flow On!~

"Rodney Pont" wrote in message
news:atcfzvasbuvgflfgrzfygqhx.ih55651.pminews@ouse ...
On Thu, 26 May 2005 10:45:02 -0500, Reel McKoi wrote:

It looks like you have almost be a plumber to get all that hose-work
right..... beautiful pond. :-)

I always have trouble cutting pipes to the correct length when 45
degree bends are involved. I learnt many years ago to cut them too long
and keep cutting half an inch off until they fit :-)

I don't understand why, a tape measure should work the same for them as
for 90 degree bends but it never does for me :-)

The pond could be a few thousand gallons better, after all there is an
acre of garden wasted on plants :-)
==================================
My second 2000 gallon pond is where my old veggie patch used to be. :-)))

Actually, the first pond is also in the older garden spot. Now I grow my
peppers and tomatoes alongside the driveway and buy everything else. It
was worth it!

--
McKoi.... the frugal ponder...
EVERYONE: "Please check people's headers for forgeries
before flushing." NAMES ARE BEING FORGED.
~~~ }((((o ~~~ }{{{{o ~~~ }(((((o

I've have been wanting to try a bead filter but could not afford it, I do
however have an old 5gallon wine barrel as you show in your pictures. Do
you have any plans of this setup and where did you find the beads for the
unit.

Thanks
Jon
"Rodney Pont" wrote in message
news:atcfzvasbuvgflfgrzfygqhx.ih3gim2.pminews@ouse ...
Some pictures of our homemade bead filter if anyone's interested


http://www.infohitsystems.ltd.uk/Gal...5&sort=by_name

--
Regards - Rodney Pont
The from address exists but is mostly dumped,
please send any emails to the address below
e-mail ngpsm4 (at) infohitsystems (dot) ltd (dot) uk

On Fri, 27 May 2005 19:51:23 +0100, jon wrote:

I've have been wanting to try a bead filter but could not afford it, I =
do
however have an old 5gallon wine barrel as you show in your pictures. =
Do
you have any plans of this setup and where did you find the beads for t=
he
unit.

I don't have a plan as such, apart from what I scribbled on a piece of
paper to work out what pipework I needed but I've tried an ascii plan
below, you will need a fixed font to make any sense of it but it may be
enough with the photographs. I may put another valve on the outlet to
force the backflush water through the tank.

I got the beads from http://www.aquajac.co.uk/, enter the site and
click on 'Beads and Fittings'. I got my valves at
http://www.koicarp.net/pvc_plumbing/valves.html I used the 1 1/2 inch
Valterra slide valves at =9C5.85 ex VAT, they do need sleeves to fit to
pipework, I made my own but koicarp can supply them, you just need to
ask. The unions also cam from
http://www.koicarp.net/pvc_plumbing/...vent_pipe.html and you can
get your pipework and fittings there as well. I got my bulkhead
fittings from a local Koi dealer. I don't know whether a solvent weld
tank connector will do for the inlet since the strainer must fit inside
it.

The outlet strainer was made from a piece of leftover UPVC ventilation
pipe I got from http://www.bes.ltd.uk (from the menu
Installation/Ventilation/Ventilation, Ducting & Accessories) the 100mm
EasiPipe (I wrongly put 125mm on the photo - I'll change that). I
bought most of my solvent weld waste pipe and fittings from them as
well but they had stocking problems this time and it took ages for me
to get things. A large B&Q might have things but you will have to make
sure they can be sovent welded. I got my solvent from B&Q.

For the end caps of the strainers I cut two thin bits off each pipe and
cut a section out so that the circle would fit inside the pipe. I cut a
circle out from bit of flat ventilation pipe, also from that page at
bes, and sandwiched it between the two bits of thin pipe and solvent
welded them in place. I used two bits of flat plastic for the top of
the outlet strainer and chamfered the edges so that it would screw over
the bulkhead fitting. Plasticard from a model shop should do for the
caps.

The inlet strainer didn't have any slots cut in the end cap since I
didn't want any water spraying up and disturbing the beads.

If you want any advice on building this you are welcome to contact me
(see my sig). Unless someone else in the group is interested :-)

||u
__________||
/ _________ |
|| ||
|| _||u_
|| ___| |___
|| | |
|| | |
|| | |
|| | |
|| | |
|| | |
back || | |
flush ||u | |
valve =AA |_____ ______|
|| ||u
|| ||_______
|| | ___V___u
_______||_________|| drain
____________V______/ valve
u ^
inlet
valve

u is where I put a union so that I can dismantle it

--
Regards - Rodney Pont
The from address exists but is mostly dumped,
please send any emails to the address below
e-mail ngpsm4 (at) infohitsystems (dot) ltd (dot) uk

Thanks for taking the time out to include all the links etc, I'll order some
bits and have a go at constructing one for my pond.
Thanks again
Jon

"Rodney Pont" wrote in message
news:atcfzvasbuvgflfgrzfygqhx.ih73pr0.pminews@ouse ...
On Fri, 27 May 2005 19:51:23 +0100, jon wrote:

I've have been wanting to try a bead filter but could not afford it, I do
however have an old 5gallon wine barrel as you show in your pictures. Do
you have any plans of this setup and where did you find the beads for the
unit.

I don't have a plan as such, apart from what I scribbled on a piece of
paper to work out what pipework I needed but I've tried an ascii plan
below, you will need a fixed font to make any sense of it but it may be
enough with the photographs. I may put another valve on the outlet to
force the backflush water through the tank.

I got the beads from http://www.aquajac.co.uk/, enter the site and
click on 'Beads and Fittings'. I got my valves at
http://www.koicarp.net/pvc_plumbing/valves.html I used the 1 1/2 inch
Valterra slide valves at o5.85 ex VAT, they do need sleeves to fit to
pipework, I made my own but koicarp can supply them, you just need to
ask. The unions also cam from
http://www.koicarp.net/pvc_plumbing/...vent_pipe.html and you can
get your pipework and fittings there as well. I got my bulkhead
fittings from a local Koi dealer. I don't know whether a solvent weld
tank connector will do for the inlet since the strainer must fit inside
it.

The outlet strainer was made from a piece of leftover UPVC ventilation
pipe I got from http://www.bes.ltd.uk (from the menu
Installation/Ventilation/Ventilation, Ducting & Accessories) the 100mm
EasiPipe (I wrongly put 125mm on the photo - I'll change that). I
bought most of my solvent weld waste pipe and fittings from them as
well but they had stocking problems this time and it took ages for me
to get things. A large B&Q might have things but you will have to make
sure they can be sovent welded. I got my solvent from B&Q.

For the end caps of the strainers I cut two thin bits off each pipe and
cut a section out so that the circle would fit inside the pipe. I cut a
circle out from bit of flat ventilation pipe, also from that page at
bes, and sandwiched it between the two bits of thin pipe and solvent
welded them in place. I used two bits of flat plastic for the top of
the outlet strainer and chamfered the edges so that it would screw over
the bulkhead fitting. Plasticard from a model shop should do for the
caps.

The inlet strainer didn't have any slots cut in the end cap since I
didn't want any water spraying up and disturbing the beads.

If you want any advice on building this you are welcome to contact me
(see my sig). Unless someone else in the group is interested :-)

||u
__________||
/ _________ |
|| ||
|| _||u_
|| ___| |___
|| | |
|| | |
|| | |
|| | |
|| | |
|| | |
back || | |
flush ||u | |
valve ª |_____ ______|
|| ||u
|| ||_______
|| | ___V___u
_______||_________|| drain
____________V______/ valve
u ^
inlet
valve

u is where I put a union so that I can dismantle it

--
Regards - Rodney Pont
The from address exists but is mostly dumped,
please send any emails to the address below
e-mail ngpsm4 (at) infohitsystems (dot) ltd (dot) uk